We have a lot of very talented writers here, more than most RP boards I have seen, and the standard has been set pretty high. I love the fact that most of our RP's here are just as fun for other people to read as they are for the writers to write. Not many other places can say that. If you are new to RP, or writing in general, it can seem a little intimidating when you first get started. So here are a few helpeful tips to help new RP'ers get started.

1) Only write your character. Sometimes this isn't as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we want something to happen a certain way and we write other characters reactions without meaning to. This should be avoided. If you are playing Sam, then you should only write Sam's actions and reactions. If you come to a point where Dean has to react to what you've done, stop. Don't assume anything.

2) Don't contradict your partners. If your partner writes that something happens a certain way, don't write that it happens a different way. This only breeds confusion between the writers and readers alike, and hurts the story as a whole.

3) Be consistent. I know sometimes its hard, especially on long stories, to keep the details straight. But if you are in doubt, even a little, go back and make sure. Writing something, then a few chapters down, contradicting it, only hurts the story and breeds confusion.

4) Be realistic. Yes, I know, how realistic is two brothers fighting supernatural creatures to begin with? But despite that, the show is still set in the real world with real world consequences. For instance, if a bone is broken, it takes weeks to heal unless you give a plausable reason otherwise. Remember the old 50's Batman show where in any situation Batman just happened to have the exact gadget he needed (even named for the situation)? Yeah, things like that don't happen in the real world and makes it that much difficult to suspend disbelief when they are read. If you want something to happen, think of a reasonable, believable, way it could happen.

5) Sam and Dean are not contortionists. This kind of goes back to the Be Realistic tip, only it applies more to love scenes. Please, think about what positions you are actually putting the boys in while having sex. If you don't think you could do it, chances are, they couldn't do it either. If imagining yourself doing it makes you think 'ouch' yeah probably want to think of a different sex pose.

6) The story is about the plot, not the porn. I know, we all love writing Sam and Dean getting it on. But it is the acutal plot that makes or breaks a story. A story that is all porn and no plot is not only boring to write but also boring to read. There is no reason to rush into the sex. It will happen, trust me, and when it does it will be much better if the porn is part of the story, not the other way around.

7) Quality not quantity. Really, don't try to rush to write your responses as fast as possible, this is not a race. Take some time to think about it. You might be surprised what you can actually come up with when you take the time to, and it will help you grow as a writer.

8) Proper grammar and spelling is a MUST. You don't have to be the best writer in the world, but for the sake of your partners and readers, please use spellcheck and proper grammar. A few mispelled words here and there aren't really going to bother anyone. But constant spelling and grammar mistakes make things extremely hard to read, which not only makes it difficult for your partners but turns away readers as well.

9) Stay in contact with your writing partner. Whether through instant message, the board's chat room, or PM, it is a good idea to stay in contact with your writing partner and plan out a little how you'd both like the story to go. You don't have to plan out everything, and often surprises can add to the storyline, but at the same time they can also kill a story pretty fast. Also, if something happens in the story that you don't like, don't be afraid to tell your partner.

10) Show, don't tell. Ever hear the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, guess what, you can also create a picture through words. A few lines of dialogue and 'stage actions' might get the job done, but there is so much more you can do to bring life to the character and the scene. Here are a few examples of what you can include in a post to really give life to your character:

a) What is your character thinking? Yes, your character might be saying one thing, but he could be thinking something completely different. This can add a whole new layer to the story. What isn't being said is just as important as what is being said. It also helps your partner gain more insight into your character, and helps them better form their own replies. Though remember, unless mind reading is a skill your character possesses, use caution when reacting strongly to what another character is thinking.

b)What is your character feeling? Again, very, very important to giving your character real personality. It is a good thing not to leave anything to chance when writing. It is so easy to misinterpret things, and misinterpretation only breeds confusion. We, as humans, see so much when we are looking at someone, reading their body language and facial expressions. When we're just looking at words on a screen, that is missing and needs to be replaced somehow. So telling your partner how your character is feeling, how they are reacting to the situation. It will give a lot more depth to your character and your story.

c) What is your character doing? This might seem simple, but its often not. Think about reading long lines of dialogue. What is the character doing during this dialogue? Are they standing there with a blank face and their hands at their sides? Most likely not. If your character is smiling, you should write that. If they are waving their arms around, or pacing back and forth, you should say that too. Chances are when you are writing you picture what they are doing in your head, so describe it. Don't leave it up to interpretation. Once again, leaving your characters actions to interpretation can lead to confusion and contradictions.

Thats all I can think of at the moment, more might be added at a later time. If anyone else has any helpful tips, please feel free to add them as well.

I would add a few things that come to mind, as each of the below have been (and still are at times) common errors I have made.

1)Be wary of purple prose. Bits of purple are wonderful. Page upon page is wearying. What is purple prose?

Sam's brilliant smile shone like a thousand suns while his aqua colored eyes danced with the mischief of gypsies dancing around a towering fire in the heat of the night. The hand that reached cautiously toward his older sibling, a man more handsome that the Greek gods themselves on the craggy moutains of Olympus, was trembling like a purple flower caught and wind whipped in a thurnderous storm. The cacophony of both their moans were a pirouette of sounds that challenged the sirens of the deepest blue sea in the soul baring moans of need when Sam's shaking hand finally dared touch that silken skin of his Adonis-like brother...

Yes, it's beautiful at first. But after nine pages of it, it's over whelming. You can simplify:

Sam smiled, his eyes laughing. Even so, his hand shook as he touched his handsome brother's chest and they both moaned with desire.

Sometimes that works fine but it is a little bland. Usually what works best is simplification with a little smattering of adjectives and adverbs and avoid the fifty dollar words 99% of the time. Also avoid words that are obscure or extremely uncommon unless there is a really good reason to have it. It I stress. Not them. Finding a happy medium might be something like this.

Sam's smile was bright as his hazel eyes filled with mirth. With a trembling hand he reached toward his older brother, fearful of the reaction he might get and the rejection he might find. Sam had always seen in his brother's strong and handsome features something akin to perfection and he wanted to touch that perfection in ways a brother shouldn't. They both moaned with passion when Sam's hand finally came to rest lightly on Dean's chest.

In the first stories I wrote when I was younger, I loved purple prose. I have had several good friends beat it out of me for which I am thankful. I occasionally slip in a little purple when the scene calls for it, but a light hand is essential. My mentor and good friend told me to write a paragraph, then go back in and remove every adjective or adverb. It is easier to edit than to expand. So feel free to purple it up, but then go back and find the true gems amid the overwhelming glitter before posting


2) White Room Syndrome. This is, quite honestly, my worst habit and one I still haven't beaten. I find it very hard to give a scene a sense of place without overdoing it, making it an info dump, or leaving it out all together. This harkens back to Ithiel's comment of dialogue and what are the people doing as they talk. What are they seeing or hearing or smelling?

3) Info dumps. You want to convey to the reader some knowledge but if you start off with 'As you know...' well if the other person knows then you're telling it for the benefit of the reader. Weave it into the story. Instead of saying somthing like, "As you know, vampires exsauginate (oops $50 word) their victims. You'll find two holes in their neck of course where the vampire bit them and drank their blood. Obviously once enough blood has been taken from the victim, the vampire feeds the victim its blood and they'll dig their ways out of the grave that night, rising to become a vampire themselves."

As you know, of course, obviously, are all screaming clues of info dumps. I'm unfortunately very good at info dumps without using those words, but they are still info dumps and should be avoided. Better to weave the info into the story and let the details reveal themselves: Vampires. Dean and Sam glanced at one another when they heard the coroner's report. Victims drained of blood, punctures to the neck and worst of all, empty graves. Some son-of-a-bitch was making their own little army of supernatural soldiers. The brothers would have to stake out the cemetary and newly dug graves and be ready for when the next vampire rose.
This gives the reader all the same information without turning it into a lecture.

I highly recommend reading a few writing books. The 38 most common fiction writing mistakes is very good and I can find every single one of those in some of the various stories I've written through the years. There are a slew of good writing books our there. I encourage every new writer (and even some of us old hands) to take the time to thumb through some of them

4) Thesauruses are dangerous. I have always loved looking up in a thesaurus alternate words to use. Unfortunately, though the words may be somewhat synonomous, often times they aren't. Be sure of what a definition of a word is if it's not a word you commonly use. I have been quite startled by a couple words that I thought I knew what they meant only to look them up and discover I was mistaken.

There are other details of grammar I could expound upon, but unless you intend to be a publishing author, most people will never know. A simple example of the subtleties of grammatical rules is the ellipse versus the hyphen. A hyphen indicates interrupted thought or speech. Ellipses represent thoughts that were not intended to be finished by the speaker. And don't over use ellipses. I can state with one hundred percent accuracy, I overuse ellipses. Always have and probably always will. When I am writing a story that I actually hope to publish, that is one of the very first things I scour my story for and attempt to remove them all.

5) Don't be afraid to walk away and come back to re-read your tag, and don't be afraid to have someone beta your tag (i.e. read it and give you criticism). If you do have a beta and you are serious about improving your writing, you must have a thick skin. If all they do it tell you how wonderful it all is, they aren't helping you grow as a writer. But in the beginning is hurts to hear sometimes so be sure you truly can handle constructive criticism. The first time I had someone truly critique my story I was devastated. She was wrong! The story was great! A blind man could see that! ...And then I reread her comments after I calmed down (about three weeks later) and realized that dammit, she was right.

Since I've done little re-reading of the above post, breaking one of my own rules, you'll probably find typos and dropped words.

Some of the above is for the wanna be professional writers. Some is an old hand merely showing new writers that we've *all* made these mistakes, and sometimes, still do and not to get discouraged. Writing just for fun is great. But even when writing for fun, you should think about some of these things. You'll likely find much greater joy in writing. I have.

Very important!

PACING!

Pacing in a story is eeeeeeeverything. For god's sake, don't rush to the good parts. This is something I am admittedly guilty of time and time again. When you know a good part is coming up, the first instinct is to hurry up and get to that part, skipping whatever might lead up to it. This can be a very bad thing in a lot of cases. The story will be sweeter if you draw it all out.