Writing Weakpoints

[TyrantKingKuma]

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Alliteration, the bread and butter of cheap writing tricks. Is one of my greatest joys and one of my greatest weaknesses as a writer, because I abuse it mercilessly. I also end up using a lot of purple prose from time to time and when I RP my posts usually are between 2-7 word pages long.... Which are your own self-admitted Writing Weakpoints?


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[Dusky]

I won't say I neglect physical description, exactly, but I rarely set a scene. I don't pay nearly enough attention to physical surroundings.

 

[TyrantKingKuma]

I won't say I neglect physical description, exactly, but I rarely set a scene. I don't pay nearly enough attention to physical surroundings.

I have the opposite problem, many times I've described a location to a unholy amount of detail

 

[sakigamis]

I have an unreasonable amount of trouble writing believable swear-heavy dialogue for someone who swears as much as I do. For that reason I mostly write characters who rarely or never swear.


If I have control of more than half the characters involved in a scenario my writing gets really... bad. Dialogue starts to get too similar between the characters and my descriptions get shorter.

 

[ApfelSeine]

My weak points are usually starting and ending a story. I can rarely think of the perfect way to start off a story, and I never know quite where to end it (I kinda like to keep on going until I get bored xD ).


I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I have trouble working on things that I'm not good at. I suppose that setting description is also a bit of a weak point for me. I just can't bring myself to go on about the "smells and taste" of a room as my teacher suggests I do. I suppose that's more of a writing preference than a weakness though. I prefer to focus on characters; specifically their actions and expressions. I care much more about what characters are doing than where they are doing it.

 

[Teabags]

I have the problem of switching between present and past tense, especially when doing two rps at one at the opposite end of the spectrum!

 

[hexaphenylbenzene]

i use an absurd amount of commas. honestly, no one needs the amount of commas i use. it's ridiculous. i also tend to get hung up at certain points and then just abandon the work entirely because i can't get past one rough spot.

 

[TyrantKingKuma]

I oversell in fights... I don't know, I like getting my characters into deep messes and then making them come out on top through grit, force of will and utter badassery defying the odds is almost pathological with some of my character who seem to never leave a fight intact

 

[call me rae]

Homonymns and other minor grammatical issues. I mean it's never so bad that people don't know what the heck I'm talking about. But I have a real hard time figuring out the proper place to put like commas, semi-colons, break up a sentence, or using the correct version of a homonym.

 

[Grey]

I over-rely on dialogue, I assume readers can intuit more than is necessarily the case, and I have an affection hyper-specialized metaphors.


I think. Help me out here, 'Noms, I'm terrible at this.

 

[Drosera]

I can't write in past-tense. I usually play stupid or obnoxious characters or I made fun of them in game. I abuse of metaphors and long sentences from the viewpoint of a random object. I tend to describe a lot and stay in surface, not delving inside the character's thoughts (because for me, I play for other people, and I give them what they/their characters can know about what's happening with my own char, so no inner monologue...)

 

[Syndrome]

I tend to over-dramatize things and am often guilty of using unnecessary descriptive words to the point of taking away from the actual post.

 

[Alexandra]

I over-rely on dialogue, I assume readers can intuit more than is necessarily the case, and I have an affection hyper-specialized metaphors.
I think. Help me out here, 'Noms, I'm terrible at this.

Mostly the assumptions we know how the sausages are made.


For my part, I don't practise enough, so I end up muddying tenses and running sentences on far too long.

 

[n i h i l i s m]

I can't write a character who has an even somewhat cheery disposition, unless their real personality is cruel and terrible.


Wow this feels like an AA meeting.

 

[TyrantKingKuma]

I can't write a character who has an even somewhat cheery disposition, unless their real personality is cruel and terrible.
Wow this feels like an AA meeting.

Admiting your problems is the first step to solving them, so the analogy is quite correct

 

[Dusky]

I over-rely on dialogue, I assume readers can intuit more than is necessarily the case, and I have an affection hyper-specialized metaphors.
I think. Help me out here, 'Noms, I'm terrible at this.

I don't actually have anything to add, you got all the ones I would have said.


I can correct your grammar if you like? *an affection FOR hyper-specialized metaphors

 

[kibou]

It's not directly writing, but motivation is a huge issue for me, and actually sitting down and writing. Often my excitement runs out somewhere between the steps of finding out about an rp, thinking of a new character or which existing OC to use (and how to alter them for the new rp), submitting the sheet, and then writing the first post or two. My excitement for things in general runs out pretty quickly if I don't have any new stimulation to renew those feelings, so I run out of steam fast. I applied for sunbather's tokyo ghoul rp when it first started, wrote out a character sheet, plotted with people and contributed to the rp in general, provided my stupid knowledge of tokyo ghoul canon lore, but when it came time to joining threads or making my own... I had totally lost the drive.


It prevents me from even joining rps sometimes, since I know from experience GMing my own rps exactly how detrimental it is for a player who signed up and posted to have to leave. So usually I try to talk to the GM and make sure that if I do end up leaving or having a really slow posting speed, it won't pull the other players down or bring the rp to a sad, preventable halt. After all, it would suck if I ended up getting a bad reputation and started being denied from rps from the get-go :,) I do find rps that I stay with until they end because of other problems!


Honestly, it's kind of frustrating, because rping is one of my hobbies.


Actual writing problems, however.... I consider myself to be bad with metaphors. Specifically metaphors, other types of figurative language I'm usually okay at. Sure, if forced, I could think up a metaphor for anything but that doesn't mean it'd be good or eloquent. In general, except maybe for hyperboles, my writing is pretty plain. It's descriptive and gets the point across, but it tends to be pretty literal.


Also, my use of... approximizing-words. That's definitely not the correct term, but I tend to use phrases like "tend to use," "kind of frustrating," "maybe for hyperboles," and etc, really often. Whether or not it makes things actually more precise, I dunno. I think I read that using them was a part of my region's accent at one point? (Because I was totally curious what my accent was like to other people, but that's totally unrelated.) Who knows where I got the habit. Certainly, they can be used in uncertainy especially when it comes to words like "maybe" and "kind of," (and I do intentionally use "maybe" and "kind of" when trying to be friendly or like I'm not being an obnoxious know-it-all) but that's not always the case.


Will I make an effort to stop? Maybe.


I might have a difficult time coming up with normal characters or keeping characters personalities (or at least emotions?) as consistent as I'd like.


Being a total weirdo irl, I'll forever be stuck wondering exactly how not-weird my supposedly normal characters are. Although, I had a really fun experience playing a normal character in a relaxed rp where he encountered the characters of players that were... edgy? kind of mary-sue-ish? definitely weird. and I gave him reactions that, realistically, people would have. Demon boy sitting in a tree throws a bunch of sharp things to attempt to instigate a fight? OC responds with a "what the fuck" and avoids the person for better things.... although, that's getting away from the original point. The majority of the time my characters are oddballs in one way or another. It's an easy escape I should stop using for the betterment of my writing.


And... this post ended up being a lot longer than I intended. That happens often too. Going under or above appropriate/required post length. That's probably a common one, though.


Introspection really is a helpful thing, but I'll stop now. :,)

 

[HeyGayzelle]

I'm not particularly good with story prompts, both writing my own and getting mentally invested in someone else's prompt, even if it's a fairly good one. I can appreciate them for their ability to provide a concise picture of a story or setting's general concept, but I feel like they almost always leave something considerable out that makes it hard to be drawn and to bring a sense of personal investment to the story. I think that a lot of RP prompts read more like someone is pitching a show, novel, or short story than an RP where it's important to begin with a strong grasp on the characters, setting, backdrop, relationships, and conflict in order to play it convincingly. I generally prefer to start out by throwing out broad themes, concepts, and a general mechanism that will drive the initial sense of dramatic momentum. The downside to this is that it's not like I can expect people to know my storytelling sensibilities through osmosis or anything, so there's an element of trial and error involved.


I'm also not totally sure whether I'd consider this a weakness or just a preference, but I just can't really do something with heavy horror undertones in a freeform RP. I can't consistently roleplay the emotion of fear with any sense of sincerity without an underlying mechanism which actually sustains the impression of uncertainty that horror relies on to work. Rules-based tabletop RPGs have the dice, videogames have the challenges, and other mediums traditionally manage this suspense by just denying the audience any direct control over the events of the story whatsoever, but freeform RP seems to introduce nothing relevantly similar I believe this makes the experience feel comparatively hollow and insincere. It's one of those things where I feel slightly justified in my view since I can actually defend it with a reason, yet I've still observed that plenty of people play freeform horror RPs and seemingly do not experience this issue whatsoever.

 

[Tenebrous]

I can never finish off a story because of how easily bored I get. Other than plot wise stuff, not really much.


But when it comes to writing, I have a lot to berate myself for;

1. I have a wide vocabulary. But most of the times, I can't string words into sentences easily nor can I find the appropriate words to use. Namely, because I hate using a certain word often
   
2. My writing strictly depends on my mood.
   
3. I don't care for detailing the surroundings too much. Just a brief description of the area will do for me and is what I can do
   
4. My posts focus too much on my character's thoughts, feelings and views. SEND HELP
   
5. I genuinely feel that I'm so incompetent in writing that I have to write out multiple drafts and read go to a freaking grammar checker. Okay, maybe it's because of my lack of self-confidence.
   

 

[Lotusy]

I, unfortunately, have the absolutely unholy habit of sometimes invoking the wrong type of voice (Active/Passive). I mean, sometimes I'll put, "The car hit a deer", but in the next sentence, switch it up to "the deer got his by a car". Usually I catch it, but it's an absolute pain to go through, and it would probably make my language teachers cringe in fear.


In addition to that, I always have trouble trying to separate paragraphs. Don't get me wrong, I can do it, but every time I try, my mind reverts to essay form, i.e. "Where's that topic sentence? Get that transition sentence in there, you little s***!"


Also, not really a writing point, but I'm sure it's plagued lots of people here at some point - procrastination. Just ugh. I only have one deadline-based RP, but by all that is holy I can't bring myself to work until two days before my time to post. :/

 

[YukkiRose]

I'm actually really descriptive when I write. I can easily portray a mood and setting no problem. My issues spring up when I'm writing the character, though. Due to... life issues, I can never really write and act as a character unless I think really hard about their personality. Even then, the whole thing comes out slapped on and they aren't really themselves. They're a little more bland and I tend to overexaggerate their flaws to the point where if a character is usually a pretty epic fighter, I make them look weaker than they should be. This is because I have an irrational hatred for OP characters, especially in fiction. I'm afraid that if I don't address their flaws, it'd make me look like this godmodder or just overall terrible RPer. I'm currently working on finding a solution to this, but I have no leads.


I also seem to do things in roleplays that everyone else nope's out on. Like in a four swords roleplay I did, the Links were lost in the Lost Woods. I played as Green, and I had him get separated from the others. Because this version of the woods is pretty trippy and dark, I started to have him hallucinate pretty creepy s***. I wondered why everyone lost interest.

 

[Pine]

I can only really think of one thing off the top of my head, which I'm assuming is because this is something I have to move past before I can go on to refine other areas of my writing. Essentially, I have no restraint with what I will write about. When I make a post, I think through everything that's going on during that scene and go ahead with describing it all. I like to think I've cut purple prose from my writing altogether, in that I don't prattle on in a "John has always loved his green shoes" sort of way that I see a lot of roleplayers using to beef up the quantity of their posts, but even if everything I write contributes to scene description, I'm certain there are some things that could just as well be left unsaid. This is more acceptable to do when roleplay if I want to take complete control of establishing a scene, but for any standalone pieces, I really need to learn how to properly prioritize the things I want to write about.


This is mostly due to a lack of patience on my part. As soon as I'm done writing a post I immediately want to read whatever response my partner can come up with, so I never take the time to proofread. In fact, nine out of ten times, I hate reading my own writing lmao. I take a lot more pride in the characters I come up with than my actual writing, in and of itself. Then since I have absolutely no self control with how much I write, I end up writing a shit ton, and since I know I'll be writing a shit ton, I procrastinate even more.

 

[RememberTheName]

I find that my weak points are:


1. I have a hard time explaining things in detail. It's either barely any information or way to much.


2.I bash on my writing a lot and I will compare my writing style to my partners.


3. I feel like no matter how much thought I put into a character that he/she is always missing something that could make them better.

 

[ViAdvena]

I can't write a character who has an even somewhat cheery disposition, unless their real personality is cruel and terrible.

Ahaha, I'm the exact opposite xD Most of the time my cold and composed character tend to be a closet dork.


As for my other weakness, I have a difficulty describing the gesture/body language/movement of my character. My posts are mostly composed of what my character think and observe, but very little about their visible reaction. This is bad because I actually prefer to show how things affect my character through their expression rather than writing their inner thought, but it's hard @_@

 

[Pine]

3. I feel like no matter how much thought I put into a character that he/she is always missing something that could make them better.

I would argue this isn't really a weak point. That just means you can just spot what's missing and continually work to develop a character, which is just another way of improvement/bettering yourself as a writer. Nothing you do will ever feel absolutely complete, I don't think.