Hey there, if you're reading this, you're considering your skills at RPing or deciding if you want to be one. As a veteran RPer, I have acessed some good points of advice.

1: Never tell yourself you're going to be bad. Don't be your own critic. You really won't know how good you are until you RP for some time, so enjoy yourself and don't tell yourself you're bad.
2: Don't compare yourself to other RPers. Just because someone may be really good or bad, that should have no affect on you. If someone's really good, then don't tell yourself you have to live up to their level. If someone's really bad, then don't think it may lead to someone calling yourself bad too.
3: Don't cave to the words of critics too much: If someone says you're bad, don't take it like its the end of the world. Talk to them and consider any advice they give you to help.
4: Don't let someone try to completely change your style: Once you get really good, you're going to get people who say, "Oh, I don't like your characters! Change them!" If you don't feel comfortable or don't know how, then ignore those type of people. The're often too much of a perfectionist; often note the're often the only people in a community that complain.
5: Don't act like your characters are gods: This is a very important rule I must stress out. Many people don't like the idea of their characters losing, and in those cases they want to make they completely dominate. Sorry, but you're not the only RPer around and you can really tick off a group if you never lose. No body joins a RP just to have their creations beatened up and tossed aside all the time. You have to accept your characters have to lose sometimes, but it won't mean the're weak or going to get booted out of the story. This is just making everything fair to others. You can go crazy when its against people you create, but you have to consider a balance when you're up against another RPer character.
6: No all-knowing: I noticed when RPers have scheming characters, there's often a spy of another RPer somehow there without explanation of how they know the location or how they are evading the person. Then, they say they know what that person is up to and how to control it. Sorry, but you can't do that. You're going to really ruin another person's plan if you keep doing that. First of all, consider the reality of the situation: A character will likely not speak out their entire plan unless to another, and they would be a very secure location only they know. And they would likely have dozens of defenses to keep intruders out. I doubt someone could really get in, learn what was going on, and not be seen. Also, often these schemers are newly introduced to the world characters, so why would someone find it important to spy on them?
7: Go for creativity: I really suggest when you're joining a RP, you should do as much creativity as you can. It can be really hard how to fit your character in if they are somehow a copycat of an existing character. Besides, it's more fun that way.
8: Start a profile if you're still not sure: If you still need to figure out how to design your character, then do this: start creating a profile and see far you can go. You don't have to post it, but you may surprise yourself.
9: Personality and Apperance: If you're having trouble on this part, here's what you can do: base it off somehow yourself. If you're a silent type with dark hair and goth clothes, then make a silent, dark-haired gothly dressed character. If you're a laid back type with glasses and red hair, then made a glasses-wearing, red haired laid back guy. You'll be able to do quite well in this situation considering how you'd feel in the experiences your characters go through.
10: Background: Now, this is one of the tough points. But it doesn't have to be as hard as most people think. You should consider what your character went through and how it has shaped them today. It often helps if your character's background is somehow to another RPer's character background. Here's some points to consider: if they have a tragic past, what happened to them and how has it affected them. If they have a past of training, then how did their training go, and how has it shaped the person today.