Tried to roleplay on a chatting site, and some girl didn't have standards scribbled on her profile - and a friend was daring me to make a starter with her.
I tried, and got shot down, hard. "You can obviously tell I write better than you so run along and play with people your level. You'll never be able to play with me because by the time you're my level? I'm still above you."
As someone who's written stuff on and off this site that's made people if I was already an accomplished author and shit like that, let me say this:
That person who acted that way is nothing less than an example of exactly what no writer, professional or otherwise, should EVER act like.I'm not going to say that roleplaying itself is an art, but roleplaying is a means by which we can improve our abilities in the various arts which it emulates. It's MEANT to be fun. It's MEANT to be enjoyable. What's more, there's no wrong way of doing it.
The reason I still roleplay despite definitely being in the "I'm writing a book" stage is roleplaying frequently exposes me to other ways of writing, other forms of storytelling, and in other words expands my idea of what I can do. I've seen people who thought they weren't that great churn out an absolutely novel concept. I've seen people develop distinct writing styles that I don't think I could repeat without feeling and writing like a phony. It's fun, and it's exposure to new ideas.
If someone doesn't even give another roleplayer a chance and says "I'd never roleplay with you; you'll never be at my level," I'm frankly going to assume they're a glorified fanfic writer that uses hackneyed premises and otherwise has the social grace of an orangutan. Fuck 'em. Seriously. It's one thing to be proud of your work, but it's quite another to assume that a given person will NEVER create anything of comparable value. What's more, it makes our medium that much harder to get into.
Here's my own TL;DR:
Roleplaying is a wonderful medium, and it's a great way to practice over time and get better at what you do. It's a great way to have fun. I say that if you want to become a better writer and are afraid you aren't improving at a pace you like, throw yourself into the shark pool. Let yourself be immersed in the fiction you WANT to write like. It may make you feel uncertain, but it's the best way to go.
Also, huge series of paragraphs aren't always the best. Sometimes, all you need is a few sparse sentences to get your point across.
With that said, remember to always be open to constructive criticism. For instance, whenever I've helped someone else critique their own work in the past, I've ALWAYS erred on the side of being harsh rather than being soft. It takes honest, potentially mean-sounding criticism to get better at what you write. It's what my mom did, what my best English teachers in high school did, what my history professors did, and what roleplayers online have done as well. Their criticism helped me become the writer I am.
But more than anything, just immerse yourself. Have fun. And if you want to improve, you
will.
