Forums » RP Discussion » Share your writing tips & advices... ✍️

Hey, y'all. I've seen many posts asking for character & writing advice. I hope this topic hasn't been touched on yet.
In this post, you can share your writing, RPing & character development advice, resources, and lessons you learned that other writers might find helpful. You can post something fully yours, or maybe someone else's advice that helped you develop your creative writing. I'm wondering what kind of tips other writers will share here.

While there are articles on RPR with basic writing advice, you can post something from yourself to help others improve.

Basic forum rules apply to this post: keep stuff civil and PG-13.

I often listen to music while roleplaying. It helps me be more in touch with my character or the setting of the place. I make a playlist for each of my character on Spotify.



Feel free to tweak however you like or want!

I personally have a good imagination, so this might not be the best for everyone, since not everyone is good at envisioning things in their mind, but generally I try to picture how my character would react, what they would say, look like, do, react, then try to describe that in words. It mainly use this for private RP’s or combat RP’s, since those are the ones I put the most effort into, but it also isn’t very effective if the post you are responding to doesn’t give you a lot of inspiration or content to work off of.

I didn't plan on replying to anyone on this topic but screw it. Huge YES. Usually, when I roleplay or write my characters' profile, I look up some fitting playlists (eg. melancholic music while writing a sad, yet not overly dramatic scene) and then try to imagine what my character does, with that music in the background, like it was a soundtrack for that RP. So yeah, that method is a mix of your music advice + YinYang_Creator's advice.

This. This right here.

Y'all can write with music on? My head focuses in on the lyrics and get in the way of words


No writing advice from me, I hardly have the expertise. But the first thing I learned here was: if it's boring to write, it's probably boring to read. So I skip ahead and write the exciting stuff, and the gaps tend to fill themselves

Alright here we go.

Follow you're own path. Okay, so you want to follow someone else's advice? Great! Do it! Nothing wrong with that. In fact, its a great way to improve you're own writing and how you do you're character bio's. But here's where my advice comes in. Don't copy them. Don't try and be them. Follow you're own path. Use what works for you and throw away the rest.

This is a little like real life, clothes and the latest fashion trend. Its oh so freeing to wear what you want and do what you want to do rather than doing, and wearing, what everyone else is. Don't follow the crowd. Chart you're own course. Same for writing.

In short: Try not to be the next Stephen King or other famous writer. Do you and only you.

Write to entertain yourself, not your partner. Don't think too hard about your writing being good enough. It is validation enough that your roleplay partner is writing with you to begin with.

Collaborative writing is about compromising in many regards, but never let someone else control the narrative unless you want them to.

The moment replying starts feeling like a chore, it's time to either call it quits or bring up the issues. I'm guilty of not doing this on one or two occasions.

Being flaked on sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Not really. Even if it hurts.

You don't owe anyone anything at all. Your time is yours to do as you please with.

You and your roleplay partner must communicate your wants and needs.

You're doing alright. You're good enough. So am I!

My problem is I get some ideas in my head at the most inopportune time. A method I use to try and capture these strays is I will try and write out a summary in Notes on my phone as soon as I can. Later when I have time, I mine my Notes and see if the ideas still has legs with me. Many do. Many don't. I then work them into either an ongoing storyline, make a new storyline, or use to enhance characters. My advice is to have a handy note app to write down random thoughts than may come when you are in the middle of something.

As far as writing, I like to try and write more on the fly than having to plan every detail of an RP. Sometimes the flow is there, and sometimes nothing wants to make sense. I have learned to try not to overthink replies, but sometimes I draw blanks when I read what I have to work with.

I need to take this one to heart more often!

You make a lot of good points but this one, so, so much. If you log onto RPR and it feels like an obligation, maybe reconsider a few things to do with the writing - taking it in another direction, trying a new prompt, or maybe even putting it on pause and trying another character/setting. I've found from personal experience that forcing myself to reply to something I am not keen for is the faster way to burn myself out completely when it comes to creative writing, which is far more debilitating creatively to recover from.

READ 8D

can't grow veggies without dirt, no good dirt without digested veggies. feed your braincow good veggies, let that cow chew, ruminate, digest --

eventually you'll have good dirt to harvest new and different veggies from!

it's an apt metaphor because yes, we all have to write like crap before we can cultivate something better. just keep readfeeding that braincow, especially in times of writer's block, and you'll have a veritable plot of... plots.

Something else I find helpful is daydreaming about you're RP. Don't try and think about plots or ideas, just daydream and let it flow. The ideas will come all on their own. When they do, write it down so you don't forget. While daydreaming, go on some grand adventure with that RP. Let you're mind wander. Laugh at the humorous scenes, cry at the sad ones.

Oooh Oven I love your brain worms. they also help cultivate good soil for good crops.. so on and so forth.

I honestly completely agree with this, its really helpful for me to have at least something to write or type my ideas with and on as I do other things and to go with the flow of things. And similarly, I also like to always have something to write with when I go on a trip or something like that and write down whatever I find interesting or cool as well as ideas that pop up so not only do I have the ideas I thought of I have some other things to help if I get writer's block!

Y'all imagine more than the cringey stuff you did when you were 12? Wow.

You all gave such amazing writing tips! And I agree so much with -Knight-. Tips & pieces of advice are amazing, but it's even better to use them to create your own way instead of adapting to them fully.
Here is something from me:
1. Banshee already touched on that subject. Many people with communication issues experience such situations. You don't like what someone wrote? Did you feel offended by it? It's valid. We all have our own experiences in life. What is important is to NOT HIDE IT. Just write OOC and try to explain it honestly. You don't need to go in-depth into your private life to explain yourself. Just be honest. Remember, RP is supposed to be fun. When you and your RP partners don't care about each other's boundaries, it can quickly stop being fun and lead to ghosting or OOC drama.
TL;DR: Be honest with your RP partners. Don't be afraid to point out that you don't like something that happened in IC or OOC just because you don't want to be seen as "weak" or "triggered".
2. I'M BEGGING YOU. Care for your pet rocks to prevent The Rockpocaly- Sorry, wrong thread.

WHAT

Care for the rocks. Or The Rockpocaly will come.

Wow, all of this valueful writing advice. It's a treasure chest!

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Ah, ill-temperedness, my oldest friend. I have it myself, and can blow up (not literally) at times. Here are some different ways one might use it in writing:

1. A character could be both ill-tempered, and not the type to hold grudges. Either, they view holding grudges too bothersome or have a tendency to forget what they were mad about.

2. Ill-temperedness can be used as a insecurity. A character can worry if they blow up at the wrong person or if their anger will scare off the ones they care about.

3. Anger management/therapy isn't a magical goodbye anger place, but it can help someone. One can be forced to do it, or they choose to do it out of free will or another's encouragement.

4. Ill-tempered people ain't always the mean bully; they can be the sweetest person and still be short-tempered.

5. Ill-temperedness doesn't equal no self-restraint. Examples are not making a big scene, attempting to calm down, or not cussing if the character is a prude about swearing usually.

6. Ill-temperedness isn't a toxic trait. Yes, it could lead to abuse or the person doing/saying something they didn't mean, but it is not something that should be looked at like a poisonous thing. Personally, I dealt with people telling me that being ill-tempered is a bad thing or a red flag.

7. The character doesn't have to get angry at every single thing. There could be some things that they can be quite chill about.

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Now, I am no expert on people so don't take this as a guide to deal with a ill-tempered person. I bid my adieu so here's a gif of my favorite ill-tempered character: Donald Duck!