Literacy Expectations

–adjective
1. able to read and write.
2. having or showing knowledge of literature, writing, etc.; literary; well-read.
3. characterized by skill, lucidity, polish, or the like: His writing is literate but cold and clinical.

Our Definition: Literate

it M3@nS u dnt t@1K 1iK DiS - ily, but no

Chat or L33t speak is strictly prohibited. We don't mean to be overly straitlaced, but as admins and creators of this site we have the prerogative to set the criteria for your posts. Our intent isn't to encumber your writing but to enhance it. Essentially, being literate means adhering to the following precepts. And yes, the purpose of this post was to make you pull out a dictionary at least once.


We need your posts to be two solid paragraphs. A solid paragraph is a minimum of five lines, not sentences. If you're not sure if your paragraph is long enough, then click the preview button and count. Now, if your paragraphs are shorter but you have a lot of them, then your post may still be long enough. Basically we're asking for ten lines. As with anything, if you're not sure, ask an admin, but a good rule of thumb is that your post has to be longer than your signature (about 350 pixels tall). Now, we need some examples up in here.

This, children, counts as a full line because it's more than halfway.

This does not.

The paragraph under Our Definition: Literate does not count as a solid paragraph, but the first paragraph in this section does. Combined they would be just short of a post; however, his section alone is long enough to be a post because it has ten good lines. Not hard to do, yes?

Grammar

Your grammar does not have to be perfect, but we need it to be at a decent level. We understand if grammar just isn't your thing, and everyone makes mistakes, but there's a difference between honest mistakes and just plain ignoring the proper conventions. You must capitalize names and the first word in each sentence. You must put a period at the end of each sentence. Always. As with that last sentence, sometimes proper grammar can be tossed aside for stylistic purposes, but it needs to be clear that there is a purpose to it other than laziness. In poetry it is acceptable to use no caps or punctuation to make a point, but it needs to be clear what the point is or at least that there is one. For example:

Honest Mistakes:
Jake washed his feet in the stream and the water was cold; but he didn't mind. It was a hot day.

Just Plain Wrong:
jake washed his feat in the streem and the water was cold but he didnt mind it was a hot day

Stylistic
Jake fell down in the cafeteria. And everyone laughed. They would pay. But not yet.

or

my soul is crushed
shattered like glass
who knew it was so fragile?

If you have any questions on grammar just ask our resident Grammar Nazi, Purple, or if you want some practice post a request in the tutoring section.


Unfortunately we can't tell you you have to write well because defining good writing would take far too long and be far too difficult. However, we can say this: always try to give your readers something to work with. In a roleplay, the better your post is the better the reply is going to be and so on. If you need to spend a paragraph or two rambling or ranting or just dealing with your characters inner thoughts and past to get your length requirement, then so be it. But you also need to include some kind of interaction between the characters, something your character says or does that would effect others. Basically, your character cannot ignore everything another character does and walk away. It makes people hate to roleplay with you, and it doesn't make for a good plot. Your character can be anti-social, but then can't be non-human. Real people react to their surroundings in some way or another.

The same sort of rule applies to the writing here. We won't tell you that you can't post something, but please take the writing section seriously. If you post something, that means someone (i.e. an admin) has to read it and comment on it. That takes time and it's not always fun (no offense) so if you post something, please check it for comments, and please post it with the intention of improving on it. If you want to post something you're finished with just to show it off, that's fine, but if someone takes the time to read it and makes a suggestion, consider it. Especially be open to fixing any typos or mistakes that are pointed out. You do this to save the admins' nerves more than anything else, but as happy admins are less likely to yell or ban, then it's good for you as well.

General No-No's

• Every other word in a post shouldn't be a cuss word unless that is just the character's personality. In normal writing cussing is best kept to a minimum unless making a point.
  
• Abbreviations shouldn't be used in writing or in a character's speech unless they literally say "O-M-G, I-L-Y, my B-F-F!"
  
• No excessive punctuation. You end a sentence with one question mark or one exclamation mark. There is no reason to use ten or even three. No one is that excited or curious. Remember that putting ?! or !? at the end of a sentence is fine, as long as there's only one set.
  
• Silence is not a quotation. We don't need to see "......" in your post. If they aren't talking, write that, don't put a bunch of dots in quotation marks.
  
• Be careful with your squiggles. ~ is not a punctuation mark. It can be used to draw out words or give them a certain mood, but you still have to use a period or other ending punctuation mark, and we don't need to see a whole row of them.
  
• Don't just skim through posts. If someone takes the time to write a reply, take the time to read it thoroughly. You may think it doesn't matter, but if you're skimming you're going to miss stuff, and it will reflect in your reply.
  
• Don't be stubborn about your posts. If your reply doesn't go with the post before it or misses some piece of information, that's fine. We all slip up sometimes, but if the person you're roleplaying with points this out and asks you to redo or change a part of your post, do it. Even if you think it's okay, consider what they say and give them your reasons for having it the way it is. If you don't and just ignore them then the admins will get involved, and it won't be pretty.
  

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