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Pose Composition (What makes a good pose?)
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I can’t respond to more than one or two people in a pose, even in a group. It starts to feel way too unnatural. I’ll mix up who the 1-2 people are in each pose in the scene, but yeah I’m not responding to 5 people in each round.
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I agree wholeheartedly with the list @IoleRae (I seriously thought that was a lower-case l, not a capital I) put together: Response, Action, Prompt.
I agree with @Solstice and @imstillhere that acknowledging those around you is important, even if it’s just glancing at a newcomer and then shifting back to your ongoing conversation – if you’re ICly ignoring something or someone, pose that you’re doing it so they know it’s IC, not OOC. The proviso from @Pavel that this be done within reason is a good one.
I agree with @Pavel on the format: third person, present tense. I’ve been doing this long enough that anything else throws me off.
I agree with @Pyrephox that advancing the scene is critical, because this really helps make sure this doesn’t end up being a dinner that lasts forever or a briefing in the back of a Raptor that goes on for hours rather than being “on the way down.”
I’m going to restate something @Jennkryst said in my own words: a pose should tell you something about the character. Whether it’s a bit of body language or small details about their look or some bit of wording that is distinctly “them,” I think that the best poses tell you something specific about the character.
And I’m going to go a little beyond what @Pyrephox was talking about (I think), and say that every couple of poses at least the setting of the scene should be acknowledged. If you’re at a sports complex, dribble a basketball or take a shot. If you’re in the back of a Raptor on an orbital insertion, jostle about. If you’re in the midst of a medieval feast, step out of the way of an overloaded server, or make them go around you (this gets back to the point about telling something about the character).
Use those poses to ground the scene in the setting and reveal something about the character. And also to react, act, and hook.
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Things like:
“He does think about them in such a way.”
When I really meant
“He doesn’t think about them in such a way.”
So on and so forth
Can when I meant can’t(or vice versa)
Was when I meant wasn’t(or vice versa)
etc etc
Stuff like that. I do it all the time and it drives me nuts when I don’t catch it. So I have to quickly say ‘Wait, no, he doesn’t actually hate that character.’
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I really like this question so I wanted to give my hot take on it. Too often I feel out of touch with my character or with the story and this makes me self-conscious. I personally wouldn’t define the feeling as being “rusty” when it comes to RP, but rather how confident I am feeling about my writing.
The Response, Action, Prompt (RAP) method is a good foundation. Nothing irks me more than having a scene with someone where it’s like pulling teeth to get them to actually give me something back in return. That’s usually when I hear crickets in my head. I also like what someone mentioned as the next step to Advance. Make sure the scene is moving forward towards some goal, whatever goal that may be.
A lot of this also comes down to the chemistry you have with other players. Sometimes it’s really good and other times it lacks. I like for there to be more than just dialogue and short actions but sometimes that’s all a pose requires, too. I guess it depends on the scene and how it’s moving.
I don’t need purple prose. Keep purple prose for a scene set, maybe, or maybe not. It’s not my jam. It’s a lot of words that essentially say nothing. I think folks can really paint a nice picture and still be concise. It’s quality over quantity especially since at my age if you start writing me a full on novel, I’m probably not going to read it all or you will be disappointed that I am not going to give that back to you.
I also RP mostly from my phone these days and that has set the parameters of my recent RP style as well as what I can visually handle from others.
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@Testament said in Pose Composition (What makes a good pose?):
@crawfish More like my brain has a tendency or running faster than my hands type. So I tend to just, skip words, I guess. In my head I’m pretty sure I typed them, when I actually didn’t.
That’s what I mean when I say that I just want to make sure all the words are in the right order.
I do this /all the damn time/ lately. Then I feel silly going OOPS, skipped a word again. Insert >->> Word.
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Also if we’re deviating from 3-5 line poses, short poses are better than long poses. Fight me. (Don’t though, I’m baby.)
as previously stated, good day.
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Thirty line poses are grand! With one other person.
Third person arrives, those poses should shrink faster than a white girl on mushrooms.
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I lean towards adopting a saying from writing – a story (or pose) is as long as it needs to be.
If you can say it with three lines? Do so. If it takes three paragraphs? Do so.
But that also means, don’t bloat your pose with needless trivia in order to make it seem bigger. Less is more.
Personally, I like writing long poses because I am accustomed to writing fiction and moving the story on through the character’s eyes. But I will try to adapt in any given scene to whoever else is there. If they prefer quick back-and-forth conversation? That’s what we do. If they run async and we swap a pose a day? Expect me to write considerably more.
But even so, even if you have a week to write your pose, don’t write a novel unless what you want to communicate in order to move the story on really takes up that novel. If the other players wanted to read novels, they know where the library is.
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Response, Action, Prompt. The response focusing on the action from the other person, otherwise can end up in a response-response loop from something a couple of poses down making for a meaty paragraph which falls out of context.
I’ll toss something else in that the pose needs to be understandable. That is, hopefully, it conveys the point trying to get across. Subtilties usually get lost in the text based form and it ends up making not as much sense as intended.
Lastly replacing long words, or several, when just one do. I’ve probably done it, and seen it before, where someone will “elegantly dip their chin to their chest” which is a long way of saying nods after you typed nod already or recently. Same time if I try and pull this face in the mirror, am I nodding or am I making the chin rolls appear.
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@farfalla said in Pose Composition (What makes a good pose?):
Also if we’re deviating from 3-5 line poses, short poses are better than long poses. Fight me. (Don’t though, I’m baby.)
Why use many word when few word do?
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Gather 2 to 5 ingredients. Add words to taste. Bring to a rolling boil. Add salt.
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@Solstice Boil?
I draw things! http://www.mahaldoodles.com
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@crawfish - Broil. Let’s get fancy with it.
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MICROWAVE, but put a coffee mug of water in there, too.
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Let’s go full chaotic evil with it, then, and put a coffee mug of water with a tea bag in it before microwaving.
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@Solstice said in Pose Composition (What makes a good pose?):
Let’s go full chaotic evil with it, then, and put a coffee mug of water with a tea bag in it before microwaving.
Accurate metaphor for my posing style.
