A question about "literate" expectations.

[w i g g l e c a k e]

(I don't really know where in the guild to post this thread, so... very sorry if it's not in the right place. Move me? C: )

All right, so, I have a question for you literate RPers:

Is it typical for a literate RP to require you to write a lot in every post? I keep looking for RPs and most of the literate ones I find want you to write x number of paragraphs or x number of words per post and I'm like, "I'm here to have fun, not write an essay."

Wordy as I can sometimes be, I like my sentences to get the job done and I can't always meet those sorts of requirements, so I'm always a little intimidated upon wandering into RPs where people are making 5-paragraph posts.

So do I just have bad luck, or are most literate RPs like this? o___o;  

[Kokoro Ni Todoku]

As ridiculous as this may be, but gaia has seemed to have created a set of 'levels' of literacy; all on it's own. This just means, that the mass majority of gaia users tend to use these terms, to base the levels of literacy.

It may, or may not go as followed:

"text talkers", "illiterate", "semi-literate" or "semi-lit" for short, "literate", and "advanced literate" or "avdanced-lit".

Now the word "literacy" is clearly definded by dictionary.com as:

-the quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write.

But when it comes to gaian roleplaying, this is most often not the case. The reason being that some gaian users, sometimes define a person's literacy based on how "pretty" the graphics are on their post.

As for your question goes, all I can say is.... Yes! Most of the literate RPs do have quite the long posts. This is only because, most writers like to put "A LOT" of effort when it comes to their individual writting. Honestly however, based on my own self opinion. I believe that literacy, should be based in the manner you present it. It should be clear and understandable. There's no use writing an entire six to five paragraphed self monologue of your character, only having to find out that the readers of your post couldn't understand a single thing you have said. It's a balance.

But don't let this ruin your day. Just remember, that literacy isn't in the length of your posts. It's how well you deliver your message across smoothly, to your readers. Besides, it also boils down to prefference. Some people just preffer that you write four to six paragraphs, since he or she might love to read?

GUIDES TOWARDS GAIAN LITERACY:

"txt talk"
- Believe it or not, there are some people that do RP using text talk. As you may or may not know, but text talk is merely shortening your words. Like so: TNX 4 BING WID ME 2DAY (thanks for being with me today.) And text talking is considered to be the lowest form of literacy. (here on gaia)

"illiterate"
- Well illiterate, is illiterate. I just means, that you can't write and possibly can't read. This usually applies to posts such as this: Apple he ate it bekuz he was hungry. In this category, using * to separate a dialogue and a character's action, is also considered illiterate, an example would be: *Jamil kisses Miyuki* I love you Miyuki. *He hugs Miyuki*

"semi-lit"
- Now semi-lit is sort of your hybrid(two things mix together). This consists of posts on the normal level. Such as, correct sentence structures, and at least more than one line. Less typos, and reasonable writing. Usualy people who make semi-lit RP's include minor graphics, such as: pictures, character skeleton, theme songs, and etc

"literate"
- Take note, that in this level of RPing... that you are at the point, where there are hardly any typos (thanks to spell check), and that people are posting at least a paragraph or two (ammount of paragraphs and sentences still vary from each RP creator). A pragraph constitutes to at least 5 sentences minimum. It is at this level, where most of the RPers you'll encounter here will have a "speech bubble".

A speech bubble is merely the designs of your post. You may have seen others have pictures of their character on the side and some other neat stuff on their posts. Those are what you call "speech bubbles"

"advanced-lit"
- Finally, andvanced-lits are where you would usualy find your elites. These people tend to require you to post at least four or more paragraphs. And they would also posses a very well laid out role play. Advanced-lit roleplays are also usually long-term, as well as organized. And the writing skills are quite high.

Despite all this, literacy is still ones capability of delivering their message across to the reader. If you can understand what you wrote, but the others can't? Then wouldn't it be useless?

Well, I hope that this helps answer your question. Please feel free to ask any further questions you may have. We'll be more than welcome to answer them for you.

 

[momadness5151]

May I add some more?


First off all, I think at most RPs they tend to think more of being literate as long posts and really describing what you are saying. For example if you say "Cameron escaped" that would most likely not be considered literate. You would usually tell how he escaped and how he felt and that could turn into a few paragraphs right there. I don't think most people go by how pretty the post is, as far as I know. Most don't even use the dictionary definition. Usually it's more of legthy posts, useing your words very careful, using "big words" that most people don't know and overall using good grammar, spelling and sentence structure.


So, in awnser to your question, most people do consider literate to be long, but I think That is because it's hard to be literate in just a sentence or paragraph.