Writing Posts - Curse of the 'One Liner' At Tales of Adventure, we encourage in depth roleplay.  It helps deepen the story-line, makes for better reading, and does wonders to improve your writing skills.  That's not to say short, fun posts and threads are not allowed or unwelcome - we have plenty of room for both.  However, when a member has spent hours gruelling over a lengthy, descriptive post, only to have someone reply: "Grog saw the newcomer.  Picking up his ale, he joined him at a table and said, "Hello, I'm Grog.  Can I join you?" ... well, it can be a little disheartening. So, how do you avoid these dreaded one-liners?  Here are three points to start you off. 1: Your character's senses What does your character see, hear, taste, smell and touch? Not all senses need to be mentioned - you aren't writing a list - but at least one or two is necessary in every post. It adds flavour.  It adds colour.  And, if your writing skill is up to the task...why not try to make good use of all five senses in one post.   Tips on writing the senses:  Avoid passive voice!  Passive sentences will usually include 'was' and are boring, short and do not help a reader visualise what is happening to a character.  Instead of saying: "It was hot" or "Grog was hot" invite the reader to participate in the experience of, in this case, heat.  Think picture-evoking phrases.  For example: "Heat shimmered above the ground" or "Sweat slicked Grog's hair to his head."  See the difference?  Ultimately, the more active sentences are the longer ones, and thus your post's quantity and quality will be improved.  If you feel you want some practise, have a go at finding sensory alternatives to these: It was cold The rain was heavy She was nervous 2: Your character's thoughts and feelings What is your character thinking about?  How does he feel? What thoughts could be running through his mind?  What does he think about what he sees, hears, tastes, smells or touches?  What does he think about the other characters?  Who does he like?  Who does he hate?  Thoughts are important because they explore your character - flat characters do not make for a fun rp.  Think of your favourite book.  Now think of what that book would be like if you never got to see the main character's thoughts and feelings.  Boring, huh?  Stories need conflict, and conflicts are often more than simply plot-related; characters interact, they argue, they have strong opinions, or are push-overs.  If you don't write your character's thoughts and feelings, you're writing an automon, and where's he conflict or interest in that?    If you think about this for a good few seconds (and yes, it might take a while longer, too) then writing about your characters thoughts or feelings could very well be more than a line or two.  Not only have you written a decent post, but you've added to the growth and interest of your character! Tips of writing thoughts and feelings:  A lot of people struggle with this and it's understandable.  After all, you are being asked to write from someone else's point of view (and while you might share personality traits and opinions with your character, you should be thinking of them as a seperate person).  How do you begin to go about that?  It's probably best to at least start with your own thoughts and feelings; think about how you might react in a situation, then progress to consider how your character might differ or be similar.  Draw upon your character's memories (good and bad - try not to fall into angst!), on his prejudices, likes and dislikes.    Often, a good character profile will help, and if you're struggling to get into your character's head, maybe it's time to head back to the drawing board.  You should ideally know as much about your characters as you know about yourself. And remember, not all this information needs to be present - in a story or in an rp.  PD James says that only about 30% of what an author knows about a character should be explicit in a story.   3: Character dialogue And lastly...what is your character going to say?  Is he going to spill all his thoughts, or is he going to be circumspect?  Is he going to lie or tell the truth?  Is what he has to say intelligent, or stupid?  Relevent or irrelevent? Again, a lot of this will depend on how thorough you were at the character creation stage.  The better you know your character, the more at ease you will feel filling in his dialogue. Add your line or lines of dialogue to what your character sees, hears, tastes, touches or smells, combined with what he is thinking about or how he feels...and guess what, you've got yourself a decent post.   Idea credited to Fox_Dragoni