Forums » RP Discussion » Literate RP

What does that mean to you?

Officially it means, one can read and write, without judge of level or accuracy.

But I think here you mean the writing skills of someone, am I wrong ? I don't see myself anymore as literate, more someone using the English language, more or less accurate. I'd love to gain the skills of certain people on RPR.

Literate for me means : without faults (at least trying to). The writer has a rich vocabulary, uses all possibilities of the language, including idiomatic phrases and different phase conjugation. The descriptions are detailed and colorful (not using different font colors !), the reader must be able to imagine the scene, the feelings of the persona, the reigning atmosphere.

I'd say it's the ability to write to a certain standard of quality. For example, you could say:

'Joot opened the door and saw his aunt and smiled.'

Or, if you were a 'literate roleplayer':

'Joot moved his right paw to the door handle, eager to visit his aunt for the first time in months. He had so much to do with school, his parents, his friends; and while he liked doing all that, he also likes his aunt and wants to visit her! And so, he pulled open the door to his aunt's house and smiled wide as soon as he saw her."

You see? This scene has some major differences to it. It gives context and backstory (Jooters hasnt visited his aunt in a while and is excited to see her), it gives emotion and imagery (tells us which hand he was using, how his smile was wide and not small or toothy), it gives us characterization (Joot is a polite and bubbly kid), and it doesn't control the other person's character (no 'his aunt greeted him with a hug and told him she missed him).
Of course, there is more you can add and that's not always needed in every messages; sometimes messages can be shorter and don't have to be as detailed, but I'd say that as long as you can meet those criteria, you're a literate roleplayer!
Now, highly literate is a different thing, and I'd go into it but it's 1 am for me rn!

Oh, and also a lack of misspelling or improper grammar is needed for literate rp. Can't forget that!

It's the RP I occasionally produce when my phone euro auto correct hasn't taken the wheel.

More seriously though, I've always found it a strange descriptor since if you're RPing at all I assume you must be literate.

Everyone here (except in very special cases) is literate. I don't twist it to mean people who aren't capable of making complex paragraphs befitting of being the second coming of Lord of the Rings (Or whatever novels are usually pretty popular lol.). I go by the dictionary meaning of it(pick one, it is not hard to accept that they will all hold the same meaning). Notice my sarcasm, I am not going to target anyone and I hope this post isn't a means to vent out frustrations of certain users for their apparent ineptitude in the english language. They will see this eventually and it could possibly serve as a harmful pretense to a site I thought to be inclusive.

A reminder that I am merely confused (seen by my joke, a bit of humor would not hurt) and concerned about the potential connotations this post carries. Forgive my cynicism because, despite the inclusivity of the site, we are still all strangers. Trust is not something to be given out like sweets after all. I understand if there are preferences for sentences and paragraphs (I am in one RP that does this, but I do not complain) though, I simply do not enjoy being impolite about it.

Uh oh! It IS an investigative and frustration-venting post (Hopefully with a positive twist)!

In all seriousness; I appreciate all of these responses. It's been about a year since my long-desired return to text-based RP. My issue is not new. This is the internet, after all.

I can appreciate writers seeking partners to match their taste & style. No doubt it helps immersion within a story setting. I refer to this in our year 2025 as "matching the vibes". (Oh no, I am old. It's ok everyone. My body aches & long sleep-dresses are really quite fantastic.)

AND YET I find myself frustrated by the popular lingo and "unwritten rules" which seem to be so prevalent among text-based role players now. Imagine a TTRPG DM requesting unpaid but trained actors to play at their table. Their pretend... game.

Maybe my feelings about respectability politics are crashing against my sensitive Sally nature. I dunno.

Just interesting to me that people feel so comfortable using language in such a sort of... micro-aggressive fashion?

Oops, I think I was too naïve, as I don't want to frustrate anyone. Maybe I'm too old too then... I should have mentioned that it's my opinion (might be even of some others...), mine !!
Literate means to know to read and write, nothing more.

And You're right to say that it's some unwritten rule mixing literate proficiency and literacy !!

So don't get fooled by this silly doe, that can read and write OOC, maybe not IC...

Oh gosh! Never apologize!

I actually wrote a bit of a ramble about this awhile back.

Truly this conversation is tradition.

As someone who veers more towards calling myself a “mirror length player”, as long as I can understand and visualize our characters in a scene without wondering if they grew an extra limb, I’m pretty willing to write any length, and assume we’re all “literate” writers. Hobby about collaborative writing kinda leans itself to that.

My gripes lie elsewhere, with those who use their novella length ‘prowess’ to control my character or otherwise “meta game” a scene to their advantage without communicating it.

Or giving me 6 paragraphs of inner dialogue and only a single line to react to.

BUT I digress! I’d rather just list my average post length or just work with the writing style of my partner.

I will say I prefer at least three sentences, but I sure do hope that’s not a stretch, and it’s a preference, not a requirement - esp if we’re vibing.

Very valid!