To Fluff or not to Fluff, the real RP question.

[0rganist]

So y'all.

Lately upon doing some ding dang writing, I have realized that upon improving my writing here and there, I have come to love detail in my paragraphs, or even sentences.

However, it has proven hard for me to keep something simple, without feeling that I'm failing my partner by not describing something enough.

Recently, thanks to one of the veteran-writers here, I started learning and reading on scene setting, and basic screenplay that can be implemented into a RP - which is great! I want to improve in every aspect I can. But I feel like for my personal style, I would not be able to write something so simple and to the point without risking losing quality.

This has proven to be an issue specially with dialogue, since I don't want it to become a "character A speaks", second post "character B responds to action and speaks also" because in its core, that also sounds very... bland? Kind of like a response to what the previous character did rather than do something to drive the plot forward...?

I just want different points of views on this, is fluff good in certain aspects and if so, when would it be considered a good thing?

If not, why not? How can I overcome fluffing something when there is a lack of subsistence in a post?

 

[Ragenaut]

I think the collaborative post should help when it comes to 1x1 discussion. It turns one line of going back and forth into a full scene of discussion, and you can actually interrupt people mid sentence, if you plan things that way

With a bit of coordination, it should help reduce that source of fluff massively.

 

[Sen]

It's just the matter of finding the right spot between details and too much fluff. It's a bit difficult but collaborating with your partner(s) should make this easier by working together on a post, like Ragenaut said.

If it's too bland then fluff it up. But when it goes to the point where the focus is no longer on the action, then it's too much.

 

[Nilum]

No. Don't fluff. Don't shove things into a post just to make it "feel" bigger.

Instead, break the mindset that you need to make things humongous for your partner's sake. A 1x1 rightfully should have shorter responses than a group role play, because there are less active actors in any given scene. A 1x1 at its best reads off like an endless collaborative post where in two writers are constantly interweaving their thoughts with one another, sometimes downright line by line. Group role plays often lower the number of actors in any given scene until it reaches a point where every actor has a given role to play in that particular scene, allowing each post to weave together into a single narrative whole.

View posts less as "objects that should stand on their own" and more as "collective pieces of a greater whole." You know you've written something well when you can go from post to post and have it flow smoothly--and if that means you write one line, then you better damn well write just one line.

 

[Twisted]

Honestly I think it's both of the writers job's to ensure their partner has something else to respond to, and with
that "fluff" you talk about. Its important in the introductions of the scenes, if something is suspenseful, sure...
I feel as though sometimes "fluff" can get in the way of the main story. People get lost in details...
ahh..
I suppose its a balance that needs practice is all.