Charrie Tips

[Leena, Money don't grow on trees]

So I saw this on another group, and I think every group should have one so yeah. Here we go, write down any tips you think would benefit others in charrie making, rping, or modding :P

[Leena, Money don't grow on trees]

Hmmmm so some tips.
*Puts on a sergeants hat*

-Don't make the history five sentences, make it paragraphs. This is an advanced group, lets act like it people.
-Take the advise and wisdom of those with longer years at doing this than yourself, or that are just plain more advanced than you. It'll help, trust me.
-Don't copy/paste from Wikipedia, first of all that's just lazy, second of all, you'll probably be found out and it makes you look STUPID(yep I said it)
-DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, STEAL OTHERS CHARACTERS, DO NOT COPY/PASTE DO NOT TAKE CREDIT, NONE OF IT eheh okay?
-Take your dang time, do not rush it, if you do, it'll be a crappy character that no one will want to read, let alone rp with
-When you EVENTUALLY, get around to rping, DO NOT WRITE ONE OR TWO SENTENCE LINES, like that's just disrespectful to this group. IT SAYS ADVANCED PEOPLE, HACK IT OR GTFO. Okay? Make it a paragraph or two or three, hell I've made it 6 or 7. IF YOU CANNOT THINK OF SOMETHING right then, well tell your partner(s) you're rping with, "Look I need a bit, I don't have inspiration at the moment" Be mature. Don't go writing half-(view spoiler) post just because you want to get their reply in as quick as possible.
-RESPECT YOUR MODS, AND MODS RESPECT EACH OTHER, this is very big.
-Leaving a group because you're not ready for it is nothing to be ashamed of, nor is asking for help.
-Don't go all 'I have all the power and can't be killed' on people. Its boring and unrealistic. In a couple of my groups I have people dying(haha) to have their charries killed off. C'mon, you can make more charries, suck it up buttercup.
-Oh yeah, have fun :)

[Kikki]

I take no credit for this list, its been compiled from the advice and tips of lots of friends.

- Do not romanticize abuse, depression, mental illnesses or anything like that.

-Not every character needs a tragic backstory to be 'special' or 'important'. You can have just as much fun with a 'normal' character.

-Please note that the entire world is not Caucasian and stick thin. There are plenty of beautiful people of varying races and sizes. Fiend

-If your FC is Japanese, give them a Japanese last name. If they're German, give them a German last name, and so on.

-Don't use a Korean FC for a Japanese character, a Japanese FC for a Chinese character, etc. Because they are NOT all the same.

-Heterochromia is not a common occurrence.

-It never hurts to make characters that are outside of your comfort zone. Experiment, try something new, you might end up liking them more than your other characters.

-Not all strong female characters are badasses. A strong female character should be well-rounded and that's it. They don't have to kick butt all the time, they don't have to be sassy and sarcastic. They just have to be flawed, realistic characters. A nice, sweet female character is the same as a nice, sweet boy character. One isn't overly perfect just because of their gender.

-Your character's personality doesn't have to match their appearance. Someone sweet-looking can be a total jerk or douche. And reversely, someone with that know-it-all smirk and sexy body could be the most innocent person in the room.

-Don't be afraid to make a character who contradicts themselves. Make a hypocrite; it's only human. Make a character who's vain as fuck and cares what other people think, but also isn't completely superficial. Make someone who's too loyal to their friends or make someone who's too detached. Don't be afraid to make the John Adams of the group - someone who's simultaneously at the same time WHAT UP 2014 PSAT incredibly arrogant and incredibly insecure. Don't be afraid to pull a Jefferson and make a character who's more than eloquent on paper but terrible at speaking in person, or vice versa. Make them struggle in school, or make them excel. Make them wish they were skinnier or curvier or whatever the fuck you want. Make them jealous of people but content at the same time. Make your character have a crush on more than one person at a time - hell, have them string along someone just for the fun of it. Have them be good at sports or suck at sports. Make them artistic or maybe they don't have a musical bone in their body. Make them a pushover, or make them ruthless. MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS HUMAN. big cred on Bree for this one. Its a really good tip

-(to elaborate upon what I said before, taken from the mouth of Dyanne) If you're making a character with a mental illness, research the heck out of that thing. Do not romanticize it, sugarcoat it, use it as a well-timed plot device. Be realistic and be courteous to real-life people, treat the subject with class, don't mutate it into something it's not. PEOPLE/CHARACTERS ARE MORE THAN THEIR MENTAL DISORDER. It's a part of them, but it's not even close to all of them. Also, your character does NOT need a tragic backstory to have a mental disorder. They can come from a perfectly normal, happy family and be plagued by schizophrenia.

-You can't just use amnesia as an excuse not to write a history.

-Make sure your character matches the roleplay, as in IF IT'S IN ANCIENT EGYPT YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD NOT BE BLONDE WITH BLUE EYES. BRITNEY SPEARS IS NOT A GOOD CHOICE FOR SUCH A ROLEPLAY. fiends post

-dig deeper to your character's personality. it doesn't matter if you do a stereotype at first, if you developed him with depth, like a real person, you'll be able to ace that realistic feel. Put yourself in their shoes and by that I don't mean that you go in there as you and think about how you would react to whatever scene you're imagining. Introspect and internalize, adapt his character, take your character's role and see the world with their eyes. I promise that it'll be an amazing experience that will win you an equally amazing character.

-OCD is not interchangeable with perfectionism.

-Do not try to change the bounds of a mental illness just because what it actually is doesn't fit your character.

-Your face claim and your character is not interchangeable. Add new stuff to your character. Traits you wouldn't expect.

-Your character is not a superhuman who has skill on everything. And make equivalent weaknesses to xe's strenghts