Your first post is your impression in a roleplay. You represent yourself in a first post. Whether is is the first post in the roleplay period, or your character's first post, it's a very important thing. Belangrijk. Viktigt. Importante. You get the point, non?


Making the first post in an entire roleplay puts you under a lot of pressure, no joke. You want to open the roleplay on a good note, but you want to make a post short enough that your partner or any others won't be insanely intimidated. Here's your first lesson, take notes now, hehehe. Base your first post upon who you're roleplaying with. If you're not roleplaying literately, don't make the post a giant essay. If you're roleplaying literately, type to your heart's content. However, my advice for open roleplayers is to make a few good paragraphs. At least four lines will usually give ample room for description and nicely places prose, yet have little content, thus attracting more modest posters. Well...unless you're looking for literate roleplayers, then, again, type to your heart's content! Just be sure to keep your audience in mind. This goes for all roleplays; be it small groups, large groups, open, Multiverse, chat, forum, or closed, these are components essential to making a roleplay great.

What do I put in the very first post of a roleplay!?
Again, I've stressed the importance of watching your audience and having a strong opening. So, this is what you've all been waiting for, corriger, correct? Your first post should include just enough to make it attractive and stylish, yet make sure it's not stuffed with dreaded purple prose, for purple prose spreads swine flu (not really, but it's bad)! So, when you're posting, go through this checklist, and make sure everything is checked off. Okay, maybe not everything, but include enough of a mix of these to interest people.

• Your personality: Put your twist on your words. Don't be flat or boring. Flat and boring make Jack a flat and boring boy that everyone wishes to throw off a cliff to rid the world of his intense flatness and boringness. Word choice, tone, sentence structure, formatting, even just slipping some humor in there makes a difference! Reflect. Yourself.
• Your character's personality: While your personality is important, your character is the priority. Again, I can't stress the importance of diction (word choice), sentence structure, and maybe even some humor or thoughts! Be creative. Put yourself into your character's shoes and think. What would my character say, think, and do in this situation?
• Description: Maybe it's prose, but done nicely, it can really enhance a scene. Think about it! Describing really puts a place or character into perspective! It gives you a feeling of where you are, what the character is like, and what the world is like. try making it through your character's eyes as well. No, not first person, but describe the world as if you were your character looking at it. Think about it. Ponder. Inquire. Describe. Imagine. Um...that spells...um...PIDI...never mind, no acronym there. But think about it. What sounds better?
  

  James walked into a bar.

  
  or this post
  

  James walked into a small yet quaint bar. Its cherry floors shone, its oak walls were plastered with posters of various shapes, sizes, and colors. The counter was finely polished granite, with a row of leather barstools lined up in front of it. The lights illuminated the room in a soft light, and the tables were cleaned and finely polished.

• Effort: Effort makes a difference. I understand, some people might not be good smellers spellers, and some might not be grammer grammar nuts, but if you just show that you've made an effort, people will be attracted. Being into your work does a lot.
• NPC: NPC, Non Player Controlled. These are characters that no one controls, but obviously exist. Face it. Unless it's a certain situation, most likely post apocalyptic, you will not be the only person in a roleplay, period, no matter if no one else is roleplaying. Throwing an NPC in will allow you to make longer posts (for literate), or to spice up a scene. Think about it. You need drama? Bring in an NPC and fight or something. NPC fights are not recommended in chat roleplay, especially Gambit's. Heed my warning.
• Love: Yes, it sounds quite hippie and out there, but this is an ingredient that must go into ever post. If you do not love what you write, and write what you love, you will fail. Plain and simple. Love what you're doing, put your soul into the work. Just don't go crazy and say that your characters are part of you or whatever. I'm only saying that you need to at least care about what you write.

Minor Note: NPC is an acronym for Non-Player Character, not Non-Player Controlled.

Obviously, they aren't controlled by the player.

Edit: When someone says "NPC" character," they're just being recursive. Non-player character characters are the thing, ya' know!