Pose Composition (What makes a good pose?)

[Solstice]

@farfalla

Thirty line poses are grand! With one other person.

Third person arrives, those poses should shrink faster than a white girl on mushrooms.

[L. B. Heuschkel]

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.

[Duke Whisky]

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.

[Pavel]

@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?

[Solstice]

Gather 2 to 5 ingredients. Add words to taste. Bring to a rolling boil. Add salt.

[crawfish]

@Solstice Boil?

[Duke Whisky]

@crawfish - Broil. Let’s get fancy with it.

[Jennkryst]

MICROWAVE, but put a coffee mug of water in there, too.

[Solstice]

Let’s go full chaotic evil with it, then, and put a coffee mug of water with a tea bag in it before microwaving.

[Herja]

@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.