Creating your character.

Before you can start to role-play, you have to create your character:
This can be a character as complicated or incomplicated as you choose and are comfortable with.

A few things to think about when creating your character.
- Personality
- Appearance
- Background
- Quirks and/or habits

Before you begin playing your character, here are some questions you could ask yourself:
Who is your character?
What has your character been through in life that made him/her this way?
What is his/her goal in life?
What does he/she believe in?
What is his/her background and upbringing?
Is your character good? Evil? Somewhere in between?

By answering all of these questions, you build up a picture of what your character is like, and it gives information for you to draw upon when you RP. You can go as far as you like with this, even building up a personal profile for yourself with details that others do not need to see, but will find out through interaction with your character.
E.g. what is your character's favourite colour?
Favourite book?
Does he/she have any family?
Is he rowdy?
Quiet?
Charming?
Friendly?
Deceitful?

By building this profile, you are breathing life into your character. A lot of it may never be used but think about real life. You may get into a conversation with other people you meet and even if these questions may not be asked, they do colour the way you converse. They define who you are, and this is no different for your character.

Once you have done this, you will have a clearer picture, and you might already have ideas about how your character might react in different circumstances.

Acting the Part:
This is the meat and bones of role-playing. In fact, this is what the word actually means - playing a role. In other words, you are just acting the part of your character for the time you are playing the game. This is not as difficult as it might sound. You already have the background information you need. You know who your character is, what his/her aims are, you just need to put that into practice.

Keep it real:
No matter what kind of role you have chosen to play. Try and keep your character and his/her behaviour as realistic as possible. 

One of the biggest things to effect the way you play your character is his/her alignment - whether he/she is good, evil, or neutral. A common misconception about alignment is that it is very black and white, but this is not necessarily the case. Just like in the real world, there are many shades of good and evil.

Keep in mind:
When you start role-playing with the character you have created. Your character’s personality will develop through the things and events that happen to him/her. Other characters he/she meets and has relationships (in whatever form) with will shape your character and his/hers feelings about and/or views on certain things.

You can start out with an incredibly detailed background for your character and have certain ideas of where you see your character going in the future. But .. the fun of role-playing is just, that no matter how determined you are to lead your character a certain way, one meeting with a stranger could turn his/her life totally upside down. You are not the only one in control of what happens. Role-playing is interactive.