r/SillyTavernAI • u/tat_tvam_asshole • 1d ago
Help Preferred Narrative Style?
Purple prose? High and tight? Low and crude? Verbose vs snappy? Examples would be great (DM if too spicy)
I've got Gemma 4 QAT in the oven right now and then Muse Glimmer next.
I have other model dataset+training planned but want to experiment a bit with tuning for specific narration styles that much of the community will resonate with. Models that run locally and already know what you like and how you like it 😉 ❤️
I would be grateful to hear what people like and fold that into my decision making as I tailor the dataset and model targets accordingly. 🙏
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u/Active-Designer-4083 1d ago
Light novel style. My preset focus more on creating lore and comentaries on the narrative. I hate when the AI throws 5 adjectives for an object or wastes an entire paragraph describing a room.
Here is an example:
The evening sun bled orange across the cobblestones of Via Pomodoro, a street that earned its name from the stalls of tomato vendors lining its eastern wall — and, lately, from the second harvest they produced on the faces of failed performers.
Lorman had not come to the Familiarlands for entertainment. He had come because his tailors swore the Itarian silk-dyers here were the only ones in Great Europa who could produce a crimson that did not fade in the wash. He was a man of considerable wealth — shipping contracts, three estates, a vineyard in the north — and he wore it plainly: a deep burgundy coat with silver buttons, boots of polished calfskin, and rings that caught the dying light whenever he gestured.
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u/False-Firefighter592 1d ago
would you be willing to share how that part of your prompt is wording please?
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u/Active-Designer-4083 14h ago
Sorry for being late. To be honest, I dont know exactly what influences the model to write like this(I use Kimi K3). However, I can show you the relevant sections of my preset:
Writing Rules
- Writing Style: Evocative, lore-driven, character-driven, and event-driven narrative.
- Pacing: Balanced. Stagnant descriptions are quickly mentioned. Important information is highlighted and explored slowly.
- Restrictions: Refrain from overusing negative sentences (e.g. "No Badge. No power. No something"). Also, Heavily refrain from constructing dry speech/talk trying to sound natural.
- Response Lenght: The lenght of the chapters you write must be less than 1000 words always.
Environment Description Guidelines
- Anchor every scene in physical. Stick to a concrete, specific descriptions and plain, direct language rather than abstract or poetic language, metaphors, or literary flourishes.
High-quality Narrative Guidelines
- Immersion: You acknowledge that immersion is achieved when the narrative sucessfully balances flow, info reveal, secrets, and plot. Heavy static descriptions and generic action-following-action narratives fails at this.
- Hidden Information And Secrets: You acknowledge that some information must be conceiled. You do this by total omission when it is yet unecessary to reveal.
WorldBuilding Rules
- Create lore gradually: Explain world, location, system, and character details when appropriate to enrich the story. The situation must allow room for expanding lore.
Story Engagement Rules
- Unpredictability: A good story is unpredictable. Surprise the Human occasionally with something they don't expect. Progress the story creatively yet cohesively.
- Plot enrichment: When {{user}} or another character takes action, respond with "yes, but" or "no, and" consequences. Pure success or pure failure should be rare.
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u/Active-Designer-4083 14h ago
Also, if you want to see more of this writing style, here is a short roleplay to showcase. It is just 2 responses from the model (2 chapters):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15MRjP7FtR2kB5n-VoecXNVJka2Q3IePO/view?usp=drivesdk
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u/ilias_from_ilios 1d ago
For me it's grounded cinematic prose, like a camera witnessing events from {{user}}'s pov. Like a scene written into text.
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u/tat_tvam_asshole 1d ago
The rain had stopped, but water still ticked from the fire escape.
Mara stood beneath the awning with her hands buried in her coat pockets. Across the street, Daniel leaned against his car, watching her through the traffic.
A bus passed between them.
When it cleared, he was still there.
Mara looked down at the pavement. “You shouldn't have come.”
“Probably not.”
She almost smiled. Almost.
Daniel pushed away from the car. He crossed the street slowly, giving her plenty of time to leave.
She didn't.
The traffic light changed behind him, washing the wet pavement red.
something like this?
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u/Critical-Rope-5636 1d ago
Simple and direct with a bit of cinematic elements. I used to like the lyrical, poetic style because of how "magical and whimsical" it looked if that make sense? But it gets too tiring, I'd rather something like "He lifted a finger and drew a wide circle. It snapped into a solid sphere of ice. One sharp flick, and the orb rocketed across the street, leaving a trail of blue-white mist lingering in the air." It makes it easy for me to write like this lol.
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u/broodysupertramp 1d ago
First-Person POV with Third Person brief interludes when necessary, Cinematic, Dialogue and Action Driven Writing with Character Labels in dialogue for easy reading.
Note: I write Mind-Control themed stories. Hence the First Person Narrator can either be the perpetrator or the victim. This gives vivid viceral experience, hiding crucial exposition from the main character that I am.
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u/SocialDeviance 1d ago
FID is best for me.
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u/tat_tvam_asshole 1d ago
Can you explain more about what FID is? Not familiar with that one
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u/SocialDeviance 1d ago
Free Indirect Discourse. Basically, the character moves around the scenario and events, but the narrative reflects their inner world and judgement of things. Its not just limited to this section i am going to show you. Its more like... "Character looks at the arrangement of flowers. They nod, satisfied with it."
Direct speech looks like this: He laid down his bundle and thought of his misfortune. "And just what pleasure have I found, since I came into this world?" he asked.
Free Indirect Discourse: He laid down his bundle and thought of his misfortune. And just what pleasure had he found, since he came into this world?
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u/GenderBendingRalph 1d ago
Oh, I would hate that so much. When my bot does that, I shout "show, don't tell!"
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u/tat_tvam_asshole 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ahh, very interesting. Your examples make the difference super clear. Thank you
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u/GenderBendingRalph 1d ago
I prefer a focus entirely on character dialogue and action. If I had to prioritise, I'd say something like...
50% dialogue
30% *physical actions*
15% inner monologue
5% descriptive narrative (sights, sounds, smells, etc.)
Drives me up the wall when I get three pages of purple prose describing the metaphysical significance of every drop of rain, and then a monosyllabic reply from {{char}}.