How to not suck at writing.

[Mickey Finn]

Cajun Nights, a White Wolf MUSH (using original rules, because it's that old): shakron.zapto.org 7373
Webpage: http://cajun.stopard.com

Roger Zelazny's Amber (1st series): http://wiki.roadtoamber.com/ (Takes place after 2nd book)

MUSHClient is what I currently use.

[drza]

I am no expert, but  when I have trouble getting into a characters head I base it loosely on someone I know/have heard/read about. Even if I don't entirely understand why someone does something you can reasonably predict what someone would do in a circumstance and often that is good enough. It helps build mystery  Seems to me that if you leave something open it gives the reader room to fill in blanks on their own which can be fun. Heck that's 90% of this forum.

Cajun Guy

I sometimes do something similar.  One of my characters went from 'wooden, almost place-holder" to possibly my favorite one to write once I started pretending that the character was a friend of mine.  I no longer even have to think when writing that character's dialog, and it actually makes everyone else easier to write as well because I can see the scene from multiple POVs.

[Nickeris86]

yeah i have been using role playing to develop my characters and stories for a couple of years now. it works great. especially if you really like the character

although my most tried and true method of creating characters is to take a single aspect of my own personality and develop a character around it. for instance my most resent character has a powerful sense of justice which i stemmed from my own desire to see wrongs righted.

this really helps me get into the head of the character because its my head to an extent. even if the character is a different gender or has a different moral sense than i do, if they share a single aspect of my own personality then i can relate to them better.

[Janathian]

Another option for character Development/RP is the Red Dragon Inn: http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/index.php

Formerly part of AOL's Free Form Gaming Forum, it is a chat room based Free Form roleplaying game. Free Form meaning you could run into a World of Darkness Werewolf enjoying a meal with a D&D Based Wizard, or a Vulcan in Starfleet, or a dragon or a typical Stokeresque Vampire.

Free Form does have its share of eyebrow raising players, but all in all, if you don't want to interact with someone, you just ignore them.

[meg_evonne]

another route is to pull out any studies on the Briggs/Meyers (myers?) personality test.  It will give you all sorts of realistic character traits--just don't go outside the lines initially or they'll all turn into a mushy gooey mess that no one would believe.

[jeno]

For characterization:

Building Your Imaginary Friends

It's coming from a fic writing perspective, but it has some interesting thoughts on getting into your character's head (by letting them in yours).

And the follow up:

Questioning Your Imaginary Friend