so I have a small rant that I just want to get off my chest.
I’ve seen a lot of posts that tend to concern when a partner for a thread doesn’t respond, (and tbh this isn’t going to be a popular opinion) but I feel there should never be a reason to NOT take your writing partner’s feelings into consideration.
I know just as well as anyone that things do happen. Life, work, loss of muse, writers block etc etc and yes I agree that these aren’t things that need to be condemned because shit happens. There’s no foul in that. If it’s not your jam it’s just not your jam. Sometimes you just don’t have control and there is NOTHING wrong with that.
But where I DO take issue is when people don’t inform their partner of any of these things. Yes you should care for yourself and role playing should be fun for you but I don’t think it’s fair for it to be fun at the expense of another persons feelings.
There are people on the other sides of those muses you interact with, people who love their character and adore when their character gets to interact with others. There are people who get invested in things and for a person to NOT give them a heads up about any of the afore mentioned things just because they don’t want to be stressed is absolutely irresponsible.
Because in reality you make that person feel bad. Nothing stings more than to get all excited to write with someone only to have them ignore you and pay attention to literally everyone else. It makes the person question if they’re bad or boring or etc etc. to me that kind of jazz is VERY unfair.
It’s okay to drop threads
It’s okay to take your time
It’s okay to lose the muse for a thread
It’s okay to forget you had something
It’s okay to enjoy one thread more than another
What is NOT okay is to make another person feel invisible.
Be kind man. Just give that person the courtesy of the heads up. Is it gonna suck? Yeah of course, but better to know the truth than to have your writing partner wonder where they went wrong.
I’d personally rather have someone tell me: “I’ve lost the muse for the thread” or “Hey sorry no can do.” Or “I’m sorry but I don’t want to write with you.” Than to be treated like I don’t matter,or like I’m some kind of boring individual who doesn’t know how to write well.
If you say something like this your writing partner, at least can know that:
They aren’t a failure at role playing
They don’t have to waste time waiting on you to respond and will be able to focus on other things
They can try to propose something that might be better suited for the two of you
They can leave you to role play without asking you if you forgot
They won’t feel like their bothering/annoying you
And this rant isn’t done.
On to the matter of basic manners yeah?
I don’t know if it’s because I’m from an older generation but I was always taught that if someone is trying to speak with you it’s rude not to give the person a moment of your time. I know that socializing and interacting is really difficult for people and sometimes it’s even stressful, but that doesn’t excuse a person to be rude. That doesn’t excuse you to ignore a person. At the end of the day yet again your feelings do matter but so do those of the other person.
If someone contacts you don’t be a dingus and ignore them. You’re more than entitled to tell a person “no” especially if the other person is aggressive but it should always be on you and me and everyone to be the better and bigger person. You can say no without offending anyone simply by saying: “no thank you.”
In short always be aware of your needs, put yourself first but be kind and respectful too. It’s possible to look out for your well being without hurting someone’s feelings by accident.
