Forums » Help » is it possible to write too much?

is it possible to write too much?

Yes, I think it is possible. Where exactly that 'too much' line is though, is subjective.

I think these are some warning signs (and I have done ALL of these from time to time in an effort to write more, usually trying to match some of my awesome partners, so I try to catch myself when I start falling into one of these traps.)

• Repeating details that were already mentioned within the same post.
• Going off a huge tangent about something irrelevant to the story. Details are great! But are you beginning to bore the reader by describing the atoms in the character's peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
• Advancing the story so much that it bypasses points where other players would likely have taken some kind of action. This can border on (or cross into) god-modding, but I really don't think everyone does it on purpose. They just feel pressure to hit a certain word count so just have their character DO more stuff.

Not sure who said it, but I really like the gist of this quote and I think it's applicable here!

...i do not think i did any of those...

maybe a solid wall of text can be intimidating to some people? i only wrote 17-hundred words

It is worth keeping in mind that folks have different preferences about length. Some delight in reading several paragraphs or more each post, while others don't want to deal with more than a couple lines at a time. It's good to discuss things like this with prospective partners to figure out a length to be aiming for, or if post length preferences might actually make you incompatible for enjoyable RP. Myself, I tend to favor reading and writing about 1-3 paragraphs per post, but I'm often willing to try aiming for 3-7 paragraphs if I'm expecting the RP to be worth the effort and provide sufficient material to work with for responses. (Or, well, that's stuck in past tense at the moment, but that's beside the point.)

And then it's also possible to just have intimidating formatting. I don't know if your posts here are indicative of your writing for RPs at all (I'm noting no capital letters, and don't know if you take other shortcuts as well or if you have different styles for IC vs OOC), but you did mention "wall of text," so just in case, I'm point out that breaking things up into paragraphs is extremely helpful. Having just one giant lump of text, or having excessively large paragraphs, can make reading very difficult. I recall the standard expectation from classes is to aim for each paragraph to be about 3-5 sentences, although that's certainly flexible to the needs of sensible subject grouping.

One more thing to keep in mind is just communication in general. Are you worried that you might have overwhelmed a specific person? If it's been at least a couple days or longer than a period you agreed on for response time, it might be worth sending the person quick message just to check in. You can ask if the length is a problem, or if something came up, or if they just need time to work on a response, etc. After all, everyone is going to have different preferences and needs!

no, i do not use capital letters, and oh! when i said wall of text, i didnt mean a big lump of words, i do separate everythig into neat paragraphs, and usually make an effort to make them all the same length(i dont know why i do that to be honest)

um, right now i am inquiring about a group i am currently in, so its severl people, but i think they are busy (i hope they are busy lmao)

does the lack of my capital letters annoy you?

Capital letters do help in identifying where sentences begin and end, and there are those who are bothered when none are used or when they are misused, and even more who have biases that may lead them to assume that someone who skips capitals, some form of punctuation, or other "proper" writing standards would likely be a lower quality writer overall.

There are folks with various ways of writing here too, though.

There are also those who have writing standards set in place for the sake of immersion. I lose my immersion to the story if there are too many grammatical and spelling mistakes. I am not, nor will I ever, be asking for perfection. However, if a writer can't be bothered to use decent grammar in their writing then I have no interest writing with that person. Especially if that writer has me reading novel length reply of 1700 words.

ah, i understand now! capitalization is the only thing i leave out in my writing. it bugs me when someone starts a sentence with the same word more than 2 times in succession

i suppose there are turn ons and turn offs to writing too haha

Definitely! It's not a matter of trying to crucify anyone for not having the same writing skills, it's simply about the enjoyment of what you're reading. I don't think anyone is less valuable, less capable, or terrible as a writer based on their abilities with grammar and spelling. However, I definitely have trouble getting in to a story written with poor grammar or poor spelling. I've never been perfect, I certainly make plenty of mistakes, but I try my best to ensure that my mistakes aren't going to break my immersion or the other writer's immersion.

I definitely wouldn't have very much fun reading a published book with poorly written grammar or spelling, so why would I be okay with giving that to my writing partners? Or how could I possibly enjoy something a writing partner gives me if their half of the story is written without any type of care.

We're detail oriented people, I believe, and even something as simple as a lowercase i where it should be a capitalized one is enough to pull me out of my headspace and take away from the story. I don't think your lack of capitals makes you a terrible writer though. I don't think it means you're not capable of writing a really good story, but I can see why it could cause someone to not find as much enjoyment in a story if they were subjected to never getting that care for grammar or spelling that they may be putting into the story too.