How to maximize minimalism?

[Wolfsbane706]

First things first: I'm going to try and keep this from devolving into a rant. I want advice, not to blast my problems to the world.

Now that that's been said, a summary: I'm kind of a minimalist. Minimum effort, maximum output, that's my motto. I don't want to make my posts all colorful and laden with memory-eating GIFs and image files. I'll use a little formatting to point certain things out, but otherwise I'm just gonna use plain old text. My question is, how do I capitalize on it? A couple paragraphs usually suffices, but my style severely clashes with my current group and it's making me feel twitchy.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

You shouldn't worry about your post length compared to your group's. As long as you are giving adequate information in your post for others to respond to, I believe your post length doesn't necessarily matter.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

You shouldn't worry about your post length compared to your group's. As long as you are giving adequate information in your post for others to respond to, I believe your post length doesn't necessarily matter.

It's not really post length that concerns me. It's more that they're comparitively bland when set up against the other posts in the topic. The only addendums they have are the required header and separate formatting for thoughts. The dialogue isn't even a separate color.

 

[Kestrel]

Try being overly descriptive first. Write a shitton, as much as you possibly can. Then let it sit a day or two and after that break; come back to it to condense the post to it's most important details. Write 12 pages. Cut 10.

The trick to minimalism is using the right detail. How can I tell as much as possible in as little words as possible. To do this you must first define what you have to tell, only then you can start cutting.

 

[Adelaide]

It's not really post length that concerns me. It's more that they're comparitively bland when set up against the other posts in the topic. The only addendums they have are the required header and separate formatting for thoughts. The dialogue isn't even a separate color.

So just to clarify, is this about writing or about bling? I'm reading it to be about all the bbcode bells and whistles that some people glut their posts with. If you can't tell by my word choice, I'm not fond of all that extra. A picture, maybe a colored border at most is where I'm at. Has anyone in your group complained or commented on your spartan style? Or is this just you feeling self conscious about being different? I think that unless the GM has asked you to include such frills or if you honestly feel it is impacting your ability to RP with them, then just keep at what makes you comfortable and focus on the writing.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

So just to clarify, is this about writing or about bling? I'm reading it to be about all the bbcode bells and whistles that some people glut their posts with. If you can't tell by my word choice, I'm not fond of all that extra. A picture, maybe a colored border at most is where I'm at. Has anyone in your group complained or commented on your spartan style? Or is this just you feeling self conscious about being different? I think that unless the GM has asked you to include such frills or if you honestly feel it is impacting your ability to RP with them, then just keep at what makes you comfortable and focus on the writing.

I think it's just me being self-conscious (I do that a lot). From reading the posts from the others, I'm pretty much the only one who takes the "no frills" approach. The content of my posts is supposedly fine (as in, nobody complains unless I get a detail or two wrong), but I still can't help but feel that they're lacking something and would be appreciated more if I stuck frills on them. I suppose I could just stop playing with such a comparatively young group (I don't have much of a connection to them anyway), but there really aren't that many RPs that pique my interest. I simply don't know what kind of approach to take.

Also, I'm with you: I hate those frills, and think they bog down posts unnecessarily, but some people like them and I happened to get stuck with a bunch of said people. So, it's either A: continue feeling like I'm lacking something, B: Quit the RP for a really stupid reason, or C: Start using something that takes up too much time and is 100% useless and unnecessary.

 

[Adelaide]

I think it's just me being self-conscious (I do that a lot). From reading the posts from the others, I'm pretty much the only one who takes the "no frills" approach. The content of my posts is supposedly fine (as in, nobody complains unless I get a detail or two wrong), but I still can't help but feel that they're lacking something and would be appreciated more if I stuck frills on them. I suppose I could just stop playing with such a comparatively young group (I don't have much of a connection to them anyway), but there really aren't that many RPs that pique my interest. I simply don't know what kind of approach to take.

Also, I'm with you: I hate those frills, and think they bog down posts unnecessarily, but some people like them and I happened to get stuck with a bunch of said people. So, it's either A: continue feeling like I'm lacking something, B: Quit the RP for a really stupid reason, or C: Start using something that takes up too much time and is 100% useless and unnecessary.

Well if you are enjoying outside the self-conscious aspect of it then I say keep at it. Maybe add an image to the post if that would help you feel like you blend in more. I have no idea the levels of bling you are up against but an image of your character might be a good middle ground. I usually "cheat" with formatting and just quote my last post for the coding. I use the bbcode editor and just take out the quotes and the old text and slap in the new stuff. Saves me from having to remember the color border I use or the image location.

Maybe you might also want to look around for another group to join that is more in line with your aesthetics while you are at it.

 

[Wolfsbane706]

Well if you are enjoying outside the self-conscious aspect of it then I say keep at it. Maybe add an image to the post if that would help you feel like you blend in more. I have no idea the levels of bling you are up against but an image of your character might be a good middle ground. I usually "cheat" with formatting and just quote my last post for the coding. I use the bbcode editor and just take out the quotes and the old text and slap in the new stuff. Saves me from having to remember the color border I use or the image location.

Maybe you might also want to look around for another group to join that is more in line with your aesthetics while you are at it.

I'll work on finding a new group (or rather, one to be actually a part of rather than just a collection of people who happen to be in the same RP) but given that there's no feature or forum for it and I have very niche interests, it's going to be quite a pain in the ass.

 

[Shas'Ui]

Now that that's been said, a summary: I'm kind of a minimalist. Minimum effort, maximum output, that's my motto. I don't want to make my posts all colorful and laden with memory-eating GIFs and image files. I'll use a little formatting to point certain things out, but otherwise I'm just gonna use plain old text. My question is, how do I capitalize on it? A couple paragraphs usually suffices, but my style severely clashes with my current group and it's making me feel twitchy.

If y'ain't a fan of quantity, always go for quality. Eloquence, vocabulary, and prose. Aside from that, confidence is something that you already seem to have-- all that's left is getting comfortable with it. You know your style, you know what you can contribute; don't be intimidated by the fancy dresses everyone else puts their posts in, a subtle elegance means just as much.​