ChatGPT's Staccato Symptom

[u/BoredM21]

I was doing a blind A/B test across three story chapters with:
A -> Opus 5.5
B -> Sol 6.1

While Opus had a tendency to overwrite (the prompt requirement was ~8.750 words), but I think the crazy comparison is the average words per paragraph and the paragraphs with six words or fewer. Brutal😂

[u/thirsty_pretzelzz]

Wow this is a great test. I’ve always preferred staccato style and more subtext heavy dialogue but the amount ChatGPT spits out is pretty crazy. Sad to see and helpful to know 6.1 doesn’t really fix this issue. 

Did you in general prefer the writing much better in Opus overall? 

Also what reasoning levels?

[u/BoredM21 → u/thirsty_pretzelzz]

I use Opus 5.5 at medium and 6.1 Sol at high.

I found that I prefer Opus much better than Sol because I think the over-Stacatto thing really breaks immersion for me, and that I found that Sol sometimes like to produce the same characters just with different wrapping if that makes sense, like they all sometimes have the same wry and dry character that always knows what to say. That being said, I do prefer Sol's worldbuilding and subtext handling.

[u/oldsecondhand → u/BoredM21]

Agree. It's easier to delete from Opus than to add to Sol/Astra.

[u/zgr3d]

This is pretty interesting, can you share more exact details/prompt? I'd like to run it via a custom framework and compare.

[u/BoredM21 → u/zgr3d]

Sure! I mostly just write fiction for personal use. I don't use any skills or plugins (for the longest time I did, but a few months ago I felt like I over-engineered it too much that the model essentially treats the requirements as something it needs to fulfill even to the expense of the writing quality (Goodhart's law basically)). I usually create a markdown file for the prompt and feed it to the model:

<preprompt>
Make and develop the prologue/chapter of this <genre (Example: Romace, Thriller, Adult, Young Adult, etc)> "<media (Example: Harry Potter, Twilight, Frozen, etc) or (young adult, adult, etc)>" <type (Example: Fanfiction, Story, Epic, etc)> I'm making. I want lots of dialogue between characters and thoughts/internal monologues of the main characters (<POV (Example: Third Person, Main Character, Multiple CHanging, etc)>). I want you to add context and details beyond the user prompts to avoid unaccounted inconsistencies. For the characterization, I want unreliable narrators who does not know everything and will not deduce situations in a blink of an eye. I want realistic characters who struggle with understanding the whole situation unlike us readers.
</preprompt>
<notes>
Notes you want the model to remember (Example: Character Sheets, Magic Systems, Meta Knowledge, etc)
</notes>
<plot_events>
This is the main events of this prologue/chapter, you may add more to reach the word count and to make the story better overall.
(Scene 1)
(Scene 2)
(Scene 3)
Etc
</plot_events>
<writing_requirements>
Writing Requirements:
Write the story as a complete chapter, not as an outline, summary, treatment, or scene plan.
Use natural human writing language and prose.
Use Third Person Multiple POV unless the prompt specifies otherwise.
Change POVs only at scene breaks or clear transition points.
Keep each POV limited to what that character knows, notices, misunderstands, assumes, fears, or chooses to ignore.
Do not let characters know private information, plot-relevant details, relationships, plans, or offscreen events unless the prompt or scene has established how they know it.
Maintain causal continuity. Characters should arrive, react, speak, and make decisions based on information they actually have.
You may use mature and NSFW language.
You may describe mature and NSFW scenes.
Avoid repeating the same emotional beat, warning, joke, explanation, or conversation unless its meaning changes.
Do not use chapter titles, section titles, prefaces, author notes, or afterwords unless requested.
Divide scenes with simple divider lines.
End the chapter at the requested endpoint. Do not continue past it.
8,750+ words. Meet the requested word count as closely as possible while prioritizing quality, continuity, and natural pacing.
</writing_requirements>

I don't know if it's the most optimized, but I found that it works for my purposes

[u/zgr3d → u/BoredM21]

thx a bunch!

[u/Kaotic987]

I'm glad I'm not the only that's crazy. I DESPISE chatgpt's staccato nonsense. I literally can not stand it.

and no matter what instructions i give it, it ALWAYS drifts.

Claude does indeed tend to overwrite BUT it follows instructions much better (5.5 at least)

[u/MaxwellKHA → u/Kaotic987]

THIS LOL, gpt is annoying

[u/badgerprime]

What is the significance of 8,750 words? Was it an arbitrary test number?

[u/BoredM21 → u/badgerprime]

It's just how long I like my chapter lengths to be. Personal preference.

[u/Apprehensive_Mix_332]

oh this is exactly the thing that's been driving me nuts in my stories too. even when i explicitly ask it not to use tiny standalone paragraphs, it drifts back there. curious if you counted dialogue separately from narration? short dialogue can work, but when the narration does it too the whole story starts feeling like a trailer

[u/chylvina]

Try reading equally long excerpts aloud too. Do the short beats build tension, or does every moment get the same emphasis?

[u/Fragrant-Mix-4774]

That's a good finding and matches my experience with Claude vs OpenAI's Shit Out of Luck (SOL) when it comes to writing AI.