💮 How to start a RP blog 💮

astral-glass:

Before I start please keep in mind that there are no specific rules on how your blog should be! I’m just explaining the common set ups and what not that most rpers use!

Also I’m going to organize this in steps because steps help my overwhelmed brain

1.)   The first step to starting a RP blog is deciding on your muse, or the character you’re going to write as. It can be any muse you want! You can even have multiple muses for one blog if you’d like (but that does make organizing a bit harder). You can write as a canon character, an oc, a canon character with your own headcanons, whatever! 
     Just ask yourself: is this a character I’m going to want to write for a while? Is this a character that I feel comfy portraying? Choosing a character without thinking this over may lead you to give up or delete quickly because you find that you don’t enjoy them! This is okay though! It’s good to experiment and find out who you write the best!

2.)   Once you have your muse chosen, maybe practice writing with them a bit? This is optional of course, but practice may help you decide if they’re right for you or not.

3.)   Look at you! You got your muse! That’s awesome! Now, time to make the blog! The URL is fun to work with but may also be difficult to figure out. Go with whatever your heart desires! Look at examples too! Here’s how I chose mine:
      Peregrine (as in peregrine falcon, the animal Avi represents and owns) was taken, so I changed my i to 3 i’s (a popular trend ha ha). Avian’s url is peregriiine because the word peregrine represents her in multiple ways (I’ll explain how later).

4.)   Got your URL? Radical. Time to give your blog a nice theme! You don’t HAVE to do this, but I highly recommend it. In all honesty, people are going to want to interact with you more if you have a well put together theme and blog.
Finding a theme may be difficult but there are blogs made just to help with that!

@theme-hunters for example

Or, go look at some rp blogs and see if you like any of their themes! Grab the code from the maker, plug it in, and viola! Now you just have to put all your images and text and colors that you want! With this in mind, try to think of a specific color scheme and aesthetic for your muse. It will help with the look I promise!

5.)   Got your theme and images? Wowee you’re really close! Now it’s time to make your pages. There are 3 very important pages to have:

An open and easily accessible ask box, a bio/about page for your muse, and a rules page

– Ask box: This one is easy. Have it open so people can send in starters and memes! The big one is having it easily accessible in your theme. It doesn’t HAVE to be, because people can find it and sometimes it’s worth the aesthetic, but it’s just easier for your RP partners!

– About page: Please have a link/tab about your muse (esp if it’s an OC!). People have to know who you’re writing! If it’s a canon character you’re writing as (ex RED demoman) then you don’t have to put too much there since most people already know the basics about him! But! You can add in your own headcanons if you’d like! I recommend looking at some other RP blog bios to find out how you want to structure your’s :0

– Rules: This one actually isn’t required for people to RP with you, but I recommend it for your own sake. Because different people go by different standards and most (good) RPers make sure to check them first. Some important things to add is how you feel about certain writing topics (ex: No smut because I am a minor/I don’t like it, gore and violence is okay, etc). Again, looking at other rule pages will give you ideas for how to structure it

-Other: There are other (optional) pages to include as well, such as a list of verses (like AU’s and what not), relationships (list of their relationship with other rp partners), etc! Anything you also want to have available!

6.)  Your pages are done, your theme is set, you’re almost ready to go! Now here’s the most difficult part: Starting to write. I recommend 3 things:
 ~ reblogging RP/ ASK memes (lists of certain things that other people can send you)
~making a promo post to get yourself out there
~and most importantly SEND STARTERS TO OTHER PEOPLE FIRST
     This may seem like the hardest task to fulfill but it’s the most efficient way to get started. You can’t just wait for people to find you. You gotta fling yourself at others! Once you do that, people will follow you and send things themselves! It’s very anxiety-inducing for some people (me!!!me!!) but it’s worth it I promise

7.)  YOU DID IT! You are now writing little stories with your muse and another’s muse! How cool is that? You can write about anything ever! You can write small little silly threads (or a series of replies to the same story) or even long extended ones that are deep and thick with development :0!!! Possibilities are endless!!! YOU DID IT YEAAAAAAAH!!!

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Now for some extra tips just for fun!

~ Having specific tags for things is REALLY helpful in organizing your content!

~ You don’t just have to reblog memes and replies; you can reblog images or posts that relate to your (such as an aesthetic that follows them or some musings!) I have tags for each of these things
~ For those tags, I recommend looking at other people’s tags for ideas on what to tag and how to tag it. I’m a dork and made really fancy tags with quotes and all that but you don’t have too!
~ Also add fun things to your blog, like a music player for tunes to set the mood for your muse!
~ Also, some people like to use little icons or art pieces in there responses to show their muse’s expression. This is optional but really fun! You don’t have to be an artist, you can just use other people’s art (with permission but most people don’t do that because they state that their icons are not their own art.)
~ Make sure to be respectful and kind to your fellow rp partners!
~ Roleplaying is a hobby. People do it for fun. Do NOT feel obligated to do a reply super quickly if you have other things going on. 
~ Have fun omg

For those who are unsure even HOW to write rp responses, there is no set way! You just write how you wish as long as you write your muse and give your partner enough to work with!

(Any questions or example requests? Send me an ask)