Don't forget about the Summer RP Challenge: Taking Chances! You might find a way to incorporate this month's Guild challenge with that of the RP section!

Last month we talked a bit about taking chances to overcome fear. Fear of failure is one of the major differences between children and adults: it's a learned behaviour, and it doesn't always help us! It's one thing to be afraid of things that can really hurt us, like knowing not to touch a hot stove or jump out of a moving car.

It's another thing entirely when we don't do things just because we're afraid it might not be perfect. Perfection is not an achievable goal! Perfection is, by definition, not possible. Even trying to approach perfection is hard—and it usually requires having something to refine, rather than arriving there from the start. Writing in particular tends to get more perfect with editing, not spontaneously generated on the first pass. Don't stress so much over what might happen if you aren't as good as you want to be. You might create something faulty with a sparkle of great that you can edit and improve it with additional time!

What is a challenge?
A challenge is an objective (or objectives) that a single Writing and Roleplaying Guild member strives to attain, based on the outlined criteria. This is not a competition against others—your only rival is yourself.
Find out more about Writing and Roleplaying Guild challenges: Guild Challenges, Contests, and Games!

What counts as "embracing failure" for this Challenge?
Think about something in your writing you avoid because you fear not being "good enough". Where are you letting perfectionism hold you back? Find something that's been easier to avoid than to act on. Be honest with yourself—if your work on that element isn't as awesome as you wanted it to be, is that the end of the world? If you do try, and you make some progress, how would that help you? This is probably a case where the potential reward is worth the attempt! So attempt it!

Identify something writing and/or roleplaying-related that you are afraid of failing at. Try it anyway!

What are the requirements for this challenge?
Commit to embracing failure to your writing practice for August!

• Write a Profile for a character that you want to play, but are intimidated about doing justice to!
  
• Actually start the project for a great idea that seems so awesome that writing even the first sentence is daunting!
  
• If you're stuck with an existing project, come up with a few possible "next chapters" and write a bit of each! Maybe one of them is what you've been looking for!
  

How do I participate in the challenge?
There are several ways to participate!

• Post in this thread with what you are afraid of failing at (writing and roleplaying-related) that you will attempt this month.
  
• Discuss the challenge in this thread.
  
• Request feedback on your own work in this thread.
  
• Provide feedback* on someone else's work (who has requested it) in this thread.
  *Do not provide feedback if the author has not requested it. Doing so will disqualify you from this challenge.
  

How do I complete the challenge?
Post in this thread with your plans and follow up before EOD Friday, August 31st with your results!

I am definitely afraid of failing at portraying male characters. I have tendency to resort to females characteristics, actions, and mannerisms, because I enjoy writing as/for females more than males. I have been told in fanfiction reviews before that I sometimes make my male characters do/say some pretty feminine things, and so that's always been an insecurity of mine. 

That being said, if anyone would be willing, I have created a Helios profile and am currently roleplaying as him in Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and I would like some feedback on my portrayal of him. There have only been a few posts so far, but any and all feedback would be appreciated.

Additionally, I am playing Endymion in Heart of the Ocean, and Kunzite in What to Expect When She's Expecting. Any and all feedback on my portrayal of these characters would also be greatly appreciated. 

If anyone else is interested in getting feedback on their own work(s), I would be happy to assist!

Im scared that I will never be able to get a good enough Advanced Profile made and hopefully approved on the first try. Relaxed ones?? I can pop those out well enough but the advanced always scared me even though i have a few approved.

My Goals:
-Finish the Advanced profile that im working on this month and get it approved without having to make to many changes.
-maybe change a relaxed one i have into an advanced one? (Maybe)

Oh and yeah ill accept feedback

I've thought about this all month. For quite a while, I've been bemoaning that I no longer blog. I really enjoyed it. I never had much of an audience, but I stopped because I started second-guessing myself or feeling like my ideas were not good enough. For months and months now, I haven't written anything for a blog because I am worried it won't be "just right".

This is a really bad excuse. I want to write and publish and new blog entry before August is over.

Lyssarie wrote:

That being said, if anyone would be willing, I have created a Helios profile and am currently roleplaying as him in Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and I would like some feedback on my portrayal of him. There have only been a few posts so far, but any and all feedback would be appreciated.

It's always hard to give feedback, and I hope this can be read in the least-critical tone you can imagine. I want to help you by pointing out a few things I've noticed and suggesting what I think could help you move forward. It's hard to write things like this, but I'm trying—so I very sincerely hope I don't offend you. If I do, I'm sorry.

I get the impression from your posts that you are not securely decided on the personality traits of Helios. In a lot of your other RP posts for other characters I've read more introspection or supporting information when they take an action or make a decision. I haven't noticed as much of that in this RP thread where you are playing Helios, and I wonder if it is because you are unsure of your portrayal.

He's one of the more difficult characters to write for, because we don't have as much canon material for him as we do for someone like one of the sailor soldiers. I think what tends to help people RPing characters that are slightly less-explored in canon is to make their own personal decisions about the character's personality traits, goals, desires, fears, etc., so they can reach beyond what we've seen or read in the anime or manga.

You might benefit from thinking about and taking some notes on him that you can refer to when you write these posts. The goal I have in mind is to cover things that are unnecessary for the approved profile, but bolster your understanding in a way that's unique to the Storyline. Things like:

• What was Helios doing before he came to rescue Small Lady? What does he usually do? How does he feel about the routine (or spontaneity) of his days?
  
• When was the last time he saw Small Lady? Has he been visiting often? Does he want to visit, but feels like he can't? If not, why?
  
• What does Helios plan to do with his future? Is he satisfied with this?
  
• What are his deepest fears?
  
• Does he spend his time in Elysion alone, or with the Maenads?
  

This might help you "get in his head", so to speak, which may make writing for him easier and make it a bit harder for you to doubt what you are doing with him.