WZCW Discussion Thread

[Bernkastel]

I don't work like that at all. I usually keep a huge storyline angle outside in DC's real life, and incorporate it show to show.

Example: I had DC and Lindsey constantly fighting and it was going to lead to them breaking up yet again. This went on for about three months. Disagreements and such, into yelling, and then pushing the button into domestic violence. It was intense. Throughout all of that, and the locations (Playboy Mansion, NYC hotel, an airport, etc, I still put emphasis on the match he had that round.

With TSA I have simultaneous angles going. I have a direction DC is going in his life as well as with his career. And everyone involved has a part to play to some extent. I pretty much make it up as I go, but stick with an overall plan. What you're seeing now wasn't supposed to happen til well after KC, but I bumped it up after two losses.

Development of what goes on in the fed should always be paramount. You can have a side story - I usually include mini one off's with Celeste - that go on and on, and can be incorporated into the shows if pushed hard enough, but the stuff everyone will focus on is WZCW related.

The people that become unstoppable are the ones that manage to blend their characters "real life" problems with their "fed" problems. If you do this, and create a balance, then you will see the result.

 

[TheRealDC]

Oh I tangle fed related matters into this all as well. My RP this round had to happen for events following. I needed the introduction of Lindsey. But everything that happens throughout, whether it's a match with Angel, a tag team match with Mason, doesn't matter what or who... My story progresses alongside of it. I do have that balance. Even though he isn't with GM or Westhoff it still effects him. Everything will flow well together, stay tuned, I'll show ya!

 

[Thriller Ant]

Fun fact, I hate RPs that just drag on. If you write a long RP, make sure it flows and keeps the reader entertained. Nothing worse than a big shit sandwich RP that requires more than one bite.

This x1000. Ty wrote some of the longest RPs I've ever read, but he did a great job of making them feel significantly shorter than they actually were. There's nothing worse than a 3,000 word RP that feels like 30,000 words.

 

[Барбоса]

Barbosa's current overall storyline with SHIT has been going for basically 11 months with several others tied in - Alhazred, Empire, Saxoteur, Showtime, Constantine, Kravinoff and now Holmes and Celeste.

 

[TheRealDC]

Barbosa's current overall storyline with SHIT has been going for basically 11 months with several others tied in - Alhazred, Empire, Saxoteur, Showtime, Constantine, Kravinoff and now Holmes and Celeste.

A million times this. Storylines can, potentially, elevate other characters and their own storylines. Crisscrossing character angles and seeing what happens is a beautiful thing sometimes. DC doesn't need to face Mikey, James, or Derek every week for that to remain fresh in his mind. I can have my own angle and still work with it through whatever comes my way. All of our characters are coworkers, and anyone with coworkers can vouch that they tend to drag you into BS you don't really want to be a part of.

 

[Lee]

This x1000. Ty wrote some of the longest RPs I've ever read, but he did a great job of making them feel significantly shorter than they actually were. There's nothing worse than a 3,000 word RP that feels like 30,000 words.

I even think 3,000 is a bit too long. For me the ideal length is 1,500 which is what I always aim for. I always take needless bits out as well.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I even think 3,000 is a bit too long. For me the ideal length is 1,500 which is what I always aim for. I always take needless bits out as well.

Oh I do too. I've only broken 1,000 like 3 or 4 times ever.

 

[Lee]

Yeah and that keeps it more fun and easier to read.

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

Wait... You guys count your words...?

 

[Thriller Ant]

Wait... You guys count your words...?

Word tells me automatically

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Wait... You guys count your words...?

I usually drive half way across the city and get my accountant to do it. That or ask one of the guys through PM to tell me.

 

[TheRealDC]

Some books are read in a day. Others are read periodically. Word counting is kind of dumb, never understood the uproar. If it's too long give it a chance. It's up to the writer to produce a good story and keep the reader. All the reader has to do is read. If the reader cares about the word count he's never going to read the greatest story ever told.

Unless its Twilight, then shoot yourself, cause it'll never get better.

 

[Lee]

Wait... You guys count your words...?

Tools > Word count > 862 words.

 

[Lee]

Some books are read in a day. Others are read periodically. Word counting is kind of dumb, never understood the uproar. If it's too long give it a chance. It's up to the writer to produce a good story and keep the reader. All the reader has to do is read. If the reader cares about the word count he's never going to read the greatest story ever told.

Unless its Twilight, then shoot yourself, cause it'll never get better.

Yeah but few can keep that, the logic seems to be "big match, I'll make it long" when actually it could be halved.

 

[Барбоса]

Personally, I think that anyone who thinks that word count does not matter is kidding themselves.

Too short and it covers nothing. Too long and you are going to bore your audience.

When I am teaching, I tell my students that as well as keeping to whatever word limit they have being a skill they have to learn, they need to keep their marker in mind too. Sure, they are getting paid to do that job and will do it to the best of their ability but at the end of the day, they are human and given that they could be marking hundreds of scripts in a relatively short period of time, if you produce a long-winded, rambling piece or something that is too short to really get to the crux of the arguments involved then you have provided that marker with plenty of ammunition to mark you down.

 

[Con T.]

Coming from a guy who's last RP was like 4,000 words...

Meh; if it feels long, it probably is. But I also read some RP's in bits and pieces during the day.

I know RP's aren't supposed to be novels. But there's gotta be some meat to them

 

[Lee]

That's why I said about 1,500 is ideal.

 

[Con T.]

That's why I said about 1,500 is ideal.

Understood, and I feel the same way. But long length has worked for me so far for character development, why give it up now?

 

[TheRealDC]

Set a word limit for yourself? I never do that. Last time I tried that was when I debuted here. What I had posted was to me a short RP. Then feedback was saying it was too long. I've been told how long RPs are.

Also one of the reasons word count is a joke.

D.C. takes his pen out of his pocket. S.H.I.T. does the same.

DC takes his pen out of his pocket. SHIT does the same.

Copy paste both of those sentences one at at a time and give me a word count for both.

 

[Lee]

Understood, and I feel the same way. But long length has worked for me so far for character development, why give it up now?

I was replying to Barbarossa, and my complaints weren't directed at you. If someone can keep up the steam in a long RP then go for it, if they can't like some people then they shouldn't.

 

[Барбоса]

That's why I said about 1,500 is ideal.

That would be pretty much my average target, although normally I get closer to the 2,000 mark.

Like you, I think 3,000+ is pushing it and it would need to be a good piece to not drag.

 

[JGlass]

There's no magic number for RP length. There's no magic range for RP length either. It's all about keeping the RP interesting and engaging whether it takes 1,000 words or 5,000 words.

 

[Miko]

I agree with Lee.

I've looked at some of the longer RP's and not naming names, I can honestly say I'd have condensed a fair few of them down to nearly a third of the length with the important stuff still intact and probably made them an easier read as well. I don't need to know what colours the curtains are and every bit of detail of teenage angst your character is going through. In fact I've found some of them borderline pretentious. However, what Dynamite said does ring true more often than not, about length does win, but we're RP'ing for an e-fed, not adding chapters to War and Peace.

I think if I was voting one of my first rules would be; If I can't comfortably read it in one sitting then it loses, unless your up against an even more pretentious piece or a complete pile of crap. Length affects that less than you'd think though, I'll read a long RP if it's good, but once you start to make Dicken's look concise and beating around a trivial point far too much just to show off your vocabulary then it's not good and I can't see how it has a place on the RP board. I read very few long RP's as it happens.

 

[Shotaro]

Yeah but few can keep that, the logic seems to be "big match, I'll make it long" when actually it could be halved.

I always try to tell the story I'm telling, if it ends up being long it ends up being long but if it feels long I always edit it. I think my longest RP came in at about 4,500 words. It is also as far as I remember widely considered to be my best RP.

Personally, I think that anyone who thinks that word count does not matter is kidding themselves.

Too short and it covers nothing. Too long and you are going to bore your audience.

When I am teaching, I tell my students that as well as keeping to whatever word limit they have being a skill they have to learn, they need to keep their marker in mind too. Sure, they are getting paid to do that job and will do it to the best of their ability but at the end of the day, they are human and given that they could be marking hundreds of scripts in a relatively short period of time, if you produce a long-winded, rambling piece or something that is too short to really get to the crux of the arguments involved then you have provided that marker with plenty of ammunition to mark you down.

That's why I said about 1,500 is ideal.

I agree, my average length is somewhere around there.

Understood, and I feel the same way. But long length has worked for me so far for character development, why give it up now?

There will come a point where you don't have enough story to tell to flesh out a story. Bare in mind that twenty RPs of 4,000 words each is the same length as a goosebumps book

Set a word limit for yourself? I never do that. Last time I tried that was when I debuted here. What I had posted was to me a short RP. Then feedback was saying it was too long. I've been told how long RPs are.

Also one of the reasons word count is a joke.

D.C. takes his pen out of his pocket. S.H.I.T. does the same.

DC takes his pen out of his pocket. SHIT does the same.

Copy paste both of those sentences one at at a time and give me a word count for both.

When I say word count I mean it in terms of reading length, also how long the RP feels. Unless I'm talking about something being done excessively, which is specifically what I was doing in your feedback.

There's no magic number for RP length. There's no magic range for RP length either. It's all about keeping the RP interesting and engaging whether it takes 1,000 words or 5,000 words.

This is also true but there is also the element of writing skill. We've all seen RPs that feel twenty times longer than they are and I actually think that a word limit isn't such a bad idea. I'm not saying an unreasonable amount but I do think that when we have over 40 guys on the roster (as we have in the past) it's got to be tough for creative to read essentially a book in a few days and then rate each chapter for quality.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I don't think I've ever looked at my word count for an RP. Although I do tend to not read long RPs mainly because I have a short attention span.