Need a third opinion here

[Caligula]

I posted an ad on a subreddit and got rejected. After reaching out, the mod told me vaguely that some dialogue in my writing samples didn't meet the literacy requirements of the sub. When I look over it, I can't seem to find the glaring issue so maybe someone who's a better writer can tell me what I need to fix? Here are the samples.

 

[Strange Days]

Took a quick skim through it and honestly it just seems like flat-out detailed writing with no real issues aside from personal preferences I guess, don't see how it wouldn't meet most of the requirements I've seen on subs. It's a good read!

Although I've also had similar experiences with my own writing and it not being 'advanced' enough despite the positive feedback and interest I normally get from long-term partners on/off-site.

I personally feel no need to bloat my posts with purple prose so that may clash with that idea.

 

[Caligula]

Although I've also had similar experiences with my own writing and it not being 'advanced' enough despite the positive feedback and interest I normally get from long-term partners on/off-site.

The sub does say it's specifically for advanced literate roleplaying so I suspected that could be the problem, but they didn't want to outright say my writing wasn't up to par. Them singling out the dialogue threw me off though lol

 

[Fairess]

For what it's worth, I took a good read through your sample and also thought it meets pretty much every standard there is for 'advanced' writing. There are some very minor syntax bits in the dialogue (parentheses facing the wrong direction, using a comma instead of a period incorrectly on some of the tags, sentence fragments within the dialogue -- and I don't at all consider fragments in the context of what I saw errors, especially in dialogue). Like, they are nitpicking to an extreme degree to the point where you probably dodged a bullet.

I honestly find 'literacy' to be an insulting measure of someone's ability regardless (either you can read/write or you can't, and people who can't aren't on RP forums; it's a matter of style and experience). So. Take what they said with a grain of salt is my advice!

 

[Strange Days]

The sub does say it's specifically for advanced literate roleplaying so I suspected that could be the problem, but they didn't want to outright say my writing wasn't up to par. Them singling out the dialogue threw me off though lol

Yeah, I know which one you're talking about, can't say I've had good experiences on there. I'd say you dodged a bullet - but at least someone else will get to enjoy your writing without feeling the need to put it down, that level of nitpicking is absurd.

 

[Caligula]

For what it's worth, I took a good read through your sample and also thought it meets pretty much every standard there is for 'advanced' writing. There are some very minor syntax bits in the dialogue (parentheses facing the wrong direction, using a comma instead of a period incorrectly on some of the tags, sentence fragments within the dialogue -- and I don't at all consider fragments in the context of what I saw errors, especially in dialogue). Like, they are nitpicking to an extreme degree to the point where you probably dodged a bullet.

I honestly find 'literacy' to be an insulting measure of someone's ability regardless (either you can read/write or you can't, and people who can't aren't on RP forums; it's a matter of style and experience). So. Take what they said with a grain of salt is my advice!

The backward quotation marks are the bane of my existence Happens almost every time I copy/paste something from a different site. And you're right about that comma placement, I have a bad habit of adding them to dialogue when it's not needed

Yeah, I know which one you're talking about, can't say I've had good experiences on there. I'd say you dodged a bullet - but at least someone else will get to enjoy your writing without feeling the need to put it down, that level of nitpicking is absurd.

It is a bit much so I think I'm gonna let that subreddit go. Thank you for the much-needed confidence boost, I'm glad someone enjoyed it lol

 

[Siph]

I haven't RPed on Reddit myself but if the moderation on other subreddits I'm active in is anything to go by, it's likely they're just making up excuses to arbitrarily remove things they don't personally like.

Like others already said, your writing looks great and you shouldn't let one person's vague critique discourage you from writing.

 

[Cosmic Witch]

I also gave a read to your sample and I can say I genuinely liked it. The metaphors are very descriptive without venturing into purple prose and I would certainly call you an advanced/literate writer. Everyone makes small mistakes and even the authors on the best lists have entire teams of editors paid to fix exactly those errors. Like the comments above said: the response you got was very nitpicky and you dodged a bullet. Probably best you avoid people that think they're some kind of god's gift to Earth and don't acknowledge most us write for the fun on it.

 

[Salt-In-The-Wound]

After looking through your sample, I couldn't find many points of contention. Sure, I'd probably give it a rewrite if I was fixing on sending it into a Publisher, but as far as Roleplay goes what you wrote honestly goes above and beyond the line of duty. I think that the moderator just doesn't like the style or content of your writing and is trying to rationalize that bias.

Don't let it get to you, at the end of the day writing is a personal medium and people love nothing more than to try and find functional reasons to justify their personal preferences.

Criticism is necessary for you to progress as a writer, but always make sure to separate criticism from pedantry.

 

[Silvered Sutures]

I'm not seeing any glaring issues, but I would need to know which subreddit you sent it to so that I can know what the rules of said subreddit are.

 

[Caligula]

I'm not seeing any glaring issues, but I would need to know which subreddit you sent it to so that I can know what the rules of said subreddit are.

Well, there were a couple minor issues, as Fairess pointed out, which are edited now. But yeah, it does come off as nitpicky on the mods part considering from what I saw briefly skimming the sub, there were posts with writing samples not much better than mine, though they could be trying to go for an even more advanced novella type of crowd now judging by this

I haven't RPed on Reddit myself but if the moderation on other subreddits I'm active in is anything to go by, it's likely they're just making up excuses to arbitrarily remove things they don't personally like.

Like others already said, your writing looks great and you shouldn't let one person's vague critique discourage you from writing.

I thought this could've also been an issue, particularly with the fandom, which has themes some would object to and a fanbase that can be intense about opinions on certain characters



Thanks to everyone who replied to the thread and apologies for not replying sooner, I took a huge unplanned hiatus from RP, and consequently this site