What advice would you give to someone new to rp?
roleplay what you want, the way you want to rp it.
by “what you want” i mean that you shouldn’t try to follow any kinds of trends and should, instead, focus solely on the themes/characters/plots that interest you (provided, of course, that they aren’t harmful, bigoted, or downright fucked up). if you feel comfortable writing canon characters only, that is perfectly fine. if you only want to write ocs, don’t let the rpc’s aggressive focus on fandom deter you. if you’re a writer of color, don’t feel forced to write white characters just because they tend to get all the attention. write the themes that interest you, that fascinate you. don’t be afraid to try new things, but it should be something that you want to do, not that you feel forced to do. for that matter, don’t let anyone rope you into rping something you don’t want.
by “the way you want to rp it”, i mean that there’s many ways to rp. for me, it’s writing and plotting ooc. for others, it might be solely the plotting ooc part with occasional memes, with character blogs for musings/inspiration purposes. for others, it’s almost exclusively social media themed threads like snapchat threads and text messages. while for me, roleplaying means writing, for others it might not be. they might struggle with writing, but want to roleplay, so for them it’s simply an effort in characterization/development/what not that you get to do with another person, and that’s perfectly fine. all of these are forms of rp, and they’re fine. find people that want similar things that you do, and enjoy yourself.
you need to show interest.
i would give this advise to practically anyone who struggles gaining traction with their roleplaying, either with getting people to enjoy their content or finding new partners. roleplay is communication and collaboration, so you need to be willing to split the focus. ergo, it can’t all be about you.
ask people about their characters. send the memes first. start the conversations first. show interest first. like people’s headcanons. compliment their writing and characters. offer your ideas about possible interactions and dynamics. take what information they give you and build based on it. basically, give people what you’d like to be given. don’t be pushy, of course, or pester. everyone works at a different pace (for example, i work at the same pace as a snail’s, and can’t talk to someone every day). but if you’re mutuals with someone, just showing them love on the dashboard can go a long way. at the end of the day, we all want the attention – so be willing to give it. chances are, it will be reciprocated.
