Other Is a paragraph enough?

[CastoffCaptain]

May I remind people that an entire chapter can be a single sentence.

William Faulkner:

"My mother is a fish."

 

[Super Villain Nova]

In context of my post, I was discussing what they look like, not what they're doing.
I agree that visual descriptions of the scene around them or how they're reacting are important.
I meant describing them in the context of a character customization screen.

Understandable.

For me describing of clothing and such is actually hard at times. Sometimes you have a vision of what your character would wear or look, and it can become confusing when trying to describe that part of things. I leave my descriptions of clothing to a small part of my posts. (depending on the time of the rp. If it's morning I will state what they are wearing, but after that I wont mention it until the character has to change clothing... Like in real life. I wont express the color of his shirt in multiple posts.)

 

[Super Villain Nova]

May I remind people that an entire chapter can be a single sentence.

William Faulkner:

"My mother is a fish."

One liner....

A more in-depth one liner comes from Shakespeare.

"He died."

 

[Hall Kervean]

"Jesus Wept."

 

[Hall Kervean]

But in all seriousness, there's a book called "How to write a sentence and how to read one."
If one paragraph was filled with some of those sentences?
Also
100 Word Story
100-Word Stories
5 100-word stories from celebrated authors

 

[Super Villain Nova]

"Jesus Wept."

All great one liners, but those are in books... Not rps.

If someone posted those after I placed a lot of effort into my characters and post.... I would drop the rp in a heat beat.

All my efforts for nothing.

 

[rae2nerdy]

First off... No one was yelling at anyone. I have stated plenty of times that my words are 'MY' opinion.

I personally feel that a paragraph is a one liner because there's no real depth to it.

We do all come here to have fun. And I look for rpers that want to post just as much as me.

Out of curiosity what do you consider a paragraph? Or one-liner for that matter?

I mean I was told for years that a paragraph was at least four sentences ( although some people have since told me that like single line of dialogue could also count as a paragraph so maybe I was just labelling paragraphs wrong ).

Also what do you consider a one-liner? Again I was always told that meant a literal one line of text. So I actually agree a paragraph ( assuming it's one line of dialogue or even four short sentences ) could certainly be a one-liner.

Now I personally don't necessarily mind one-liners ( I am more about being able to actually interact with characters and have something to respond to than I am the exact amount of details involved in either of those things ). But just wanted to say that assuming I have the definitions of both paragraph and one-liner correct I certainly agree that a single paragraph counts as one-line of text.

 

[Super Villain Nova]

Out of curiosity what do you consider a paragraph? Or one-liner for that matter?

I mean I was told for years that a paragraph was at least four sentences ( although some people have since told me that like single line of dialogue could also count as a paragraph so maybe I was just labelling paragraphs wrong ).

Also what do you consider a one-liner? Again I was always told that meant a literal one line of text. So I actually agree a paragraph ( assuming it's one line of dialogue or even four short sentences ) could certainly be a one-liner.

Now I personally don't necessarily mind one-liners ( I am more about being able to actually interact with characters and have something to respond to than I am the exact amount of details involved in either of those things ). But just wanted to say that assuming I have the definitions of both paragraph and one-liner correct I certainly agree that a single paragraph counts as one-line of text.

Imagine four lines of dialog.

Or one line of action and then three lines of dialog.

One liners to me are lack of expression and thought towards a character and post.

 

[BackSet]

Imagine four lines of dialog.

Or one line of action and then three lines of dialog.

One liners to me are lack of expression and thought towards a character and post.

So if I make a paragraph that puts a lot of expression and thought towards a character and post it doesn't count as a one liner?

 

[BackSet]

All great one liners, but those are in books... Not rps.

The irony. Especially after we all have most definitely compared RPs to books at some point.

 

[BackSet]

Re: clothing description: I don't even describe my characters clothes unless they change something about what they are wearing. After all, the appearance is in the CS which everybody should have read (I think it's good to have read the CS of everybody ahead of time to know what to expect from each character and how your character might react to that character).

 

[Super Villain Nova]

So if I make a paragraph that puts a lot of expression and thought towards a character and post it doesn't count as a one liner?

Please provide an example.

 

[BackSet]

Please provide an example.

Gonna have to do some digging through various RPs. Much easier than making one from scratch.

 

[Hall Kervean]

All great one liners, but those are in books... Not rps.

If someone posted those after I placed a lot of effort into my characters and post.... I would drop the rp in a heat beat.

All my efforts for nothing.

Again, you're failing to distinguish the difference between a one-liner and a paragraph.
One-liners can be brilliant, but they're not enough.
A paragraph can be enough. It honestly can.
If it gives you enough to work with, then it's up to you to make something better back for them. If you don't want to, ok.
But as long as you have enough to work with, it's enough.

 

[Faustus Schuster]

Personally, I feel that one paragraph isn't enough. Not because I don't think the other is trying hard enough, but because I base all of my replies on what's been said before. I like to make them logical and concrete. If, for instance, I say something along the lines of

Johnny Weiss followed the corridor for what seemed an eternity, however, no matter how long he walked, the tinny sound of the music box never seemed to get any closer. In fact, it actually seemed a little quieter to him, now. He began to panic, feeling that this was the kind of thing that people describe in their nightmares, but Johnny was awake, wasn't he? He pinched his arm to check, and when he felt the pressure on his arm, he knew that he was fully awake. This merely frightened him more.

If someone replies with

The killer was right behind him, and the music suddenly got louder as Johnny felt the knife sink in between his shoulders.

I will be... satisfied, but it isn't what I prefer.

If they replied with

The killer had followed Johnny this whole time, and had began to muffle the music box he carried with him with a pillow, giving the illusion that Johnny had been walking further from it, when in reality, the killer had slowly been approaching him this whole time. The moment that Johnny checked to see if he was awake, the killer smirked, a malicious and sadistic look entered his eyes, as he slowly raised a knife above Johnny's unsuspecting form, dropping the pillow and allowing the music to ring through the hallway. Just as Johnny started in shock from the sudden loudness, the killer plunged the knife deeply between Johnny's shoulderblades, ending his short but miserable life in one fell swoop.

I would be ECSTATIC to see this, instead.

However... if the took a foot or more of scrolling space, compared to my four inches of starter... I would feel overwhelmed... like charlie bucket in a candy store with a hundred dollars. I would do my best to respond well, but I would feel like I couldn't do well enough, no matter how hard I tried, or how much they liked it.

 

[Super Villain Nova]

Again, you're failing to distinguish the difference between a one-liner and a paragraph.
One-liners can be brilliant, but they're not enough.
A paragraph can be enough. It honestly can.
If it gives you enough to work with, then it's up to you to make something better back for them. If you don't want to, ok.
But as long as you have enough to work with, it's enough.

What is enough to work with?

 

[Faustus Schuster]

NOTICE
I didn't use perfect grammar. I used run on sentences for the reply example.

If it gives me the information, and I can understand it, then I don't mind how good or bad the grammar is.

 

[BackSet]

"Oof."

The impact hadn't affected Grant much but he had almost knocked the smaller boy down.

"Sorry about that." He said quickly. "It's completely my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going and- your ring is glowing." Grant said this in a rather nonchalant manner as if it happened all the time. In truth it wasn't the strangest thing he'd ever seen. The ring looked kind of familiar, though. It almost looked similar to... "The dome?" Grant wondered. "You wouldn't happen to come from the dome would you?" This was directed at the other boy.

I believe this paragraph sums my character up very nicely.

 

[Caroline1539]

Whoa, this thread got waaaaaay saltier than it was when I first saw it.

But uh, little thought from me here since I don't think that the poll does the question justice; to be perfectly honest, I think that a paragraph can be a successful and satisfying response. Sometimes, people don't have the want to write more than that, and that's okay.

Personally, I always write 2-5 paragraphs, depending on the situation and scene at hand. I'm prone to inserting as much detail as I can into a reply, and I have a great amount of enjoyment for doing so. But does everyone? No.

Everyone has different tastes in what they like as far as roleplays go, and everyone has a different writing style than everyone else. Just because I like to craft long responses doesn't mean that everyone does, and that's completely fine. I'll stick with what I like, and they can stick with theirs.

If your styles and preferences for writing aren't compatible, then don't write with each other. It's that simple.

Now please, could we tone it down just a little bit in here? I hate to see conflict, especially when it isn't exactly warranted.

 

[BackSet]

Dammit! Grant thought. Dammit! dammit! dammit!

Grant Kimoto aka daemon tamer Kimoto had been spit out of the space between dimensions known as the dome. Grant had always hated that place. He preferred to travel between dimensions under his own power. Unfourtanetly after a botched dimension hop, that's what he called it, he had landed in the dome. After that he wandered around for a bit before being thrown through a doorway somehow and ending up in a place he barely recognized. Still, the dome had its reasons for sending people places and Grant figured he'd better figure out what they were before it found him.

Here's another one. This is part of a larger response but it could easily be used as a standalone response.

 

[Caroline1539]

I believe this paragraph sums my character up very nicely.

Now see, that is a perfect example of what a paragraph can do! That gave me just enough information to instantly warm to your character, even though I haven't met him before!

 

[BackSet]

I should bring this character over to this site. I do like him a lot. He is very enjoyable to play. But I'm getting off topic.

 

[BackSet]

But uh, little thought from me here since I don't think that the poll does the question justice;

The polls a secondary thing actually. I didn't have it in originally. I just added it as an afterthought. I really made this for the debate.

 

[Hall Kervean]

What is enough to work with?

That's based on your writing ability, passion, and creativity.


If Steve is watching Greg and greg gives this one liner:
Greg moved across the field and saw Steve and raised his gun.
Steve can reply
Steve glanced up from his original target in a moment of frustration about the pests that fluttered and buzzed around him. In that moment, he saw a dark figure that contrasted against the grass moving swiftly through it, sending waves outwards. He clearly wasn't a hunter, or a very good one if he was; this violated hunting 101. He was drawn out of his thoughts when he saw the figure stop moving and raise his weapon towards him. In a sudden mix of panic and focus, he brought his rifle around and quickly aimed towards the dark figure, firing a shot. He had probably missed, he realized, but at least it had been close. His clear inexperience meant that even if it hadn't zipped right nearby him, he'd probably been scared off from the shot.



That was a one liner.

You're talking about a paragraph.

 

[BackSet]

For anybody who was wondering, here's the full post I took that excerpt from:

Dammit! Grant thought. Dammit! dammit! dammit!

Grant Kimoto aka daemon tamer Kimoto had been spit out of the space between dimensions known as the dome. Grant had always hated that place. He preferred to travel between dimensions under his own power. Unfourtanetly after a botched dimension hop, that's what he called it, he had landed in the dome. After that he wandered around for a bit before being thrown through a doorway somehow and ending up in a place he barely recognized. Still, the dome had its reasons for sending people places and Grant figured he'd better figure out what they were before it found him.

He took a good look at his surroundings and realized he was in a town of some sort. There didn't seem to be anyone around but he figured the sight of a glowing female with ears and a tail would probably scare people so he un transformed. Kyro, his fox daemon, transformed out of his amulet form and grant transformed into his civilian form wich was that of a teenaged guy who looked supremely annoyed. Annoyed was more or less his default look, really.

"Where are we?" Kyro asked.

"If I knew that answer so would you." Grant said, annoyed as usual. His statement was more or less true. Ever since he'd met Kyro the pair had been inseparable, much to grant's annoyance. He continued to argue with the daemon and didn't notice where he was going until it was too late and he ran straight into a boy in a blue tunic.

Tells you more than just the one paragraph but you can still do with just one paragraph. Without the extra info you wouldn't know that Grant can a. Transform into a magical girl and vice-versa and b. Has a magical fox daemon but the first paragraph still gives you enough info to have an encounter with Grant.