general apping issue and suggestions to get around it?

[ratinthehat]

Okay.

So as a few people know, I have been trying to app one or two characters the past few months... and totally blanking on the apps. I mean, completely. I keep coming up with all this stuff Character A or B could do in camp, how I'd play them, et cetera, but when it comes to writing an app I've just been drawing a total blank

Comments

[right_hand_of]

Put up a tentative notice/find canon familiar people and talk it out with them about playing in camp. Or canonblind people, really, but the point is that CFUD is not a vacuum, and most other players I've met are willing to talk out how you play a character of [X] type. And if you know a character like that who is already in camp, contact that player and ask them how they did it, what's easy, what you can do in camp.

[but_a_wolf]

When it's a matter of "OGOD I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN PLAY X" I try to write fic, I normally end up managing to do it, so that helps me a lot. Also, I think dressing rooms and similar comms can be awesome confidence-builders. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of panfandom dressing rooms somewhere out there, and there's also ic_secrets and those have the advantage of allowing you to remain anonymous FOREVER if you want to be.

[babesinthewoods]

I sort of have constant crippling character phobia whenever I stop and think about the fact that I'm playing Ringo! When I apped her, I was really worried that the next thing she did would throw me for a loop because I was Doing It Wrong, that I wouldn't be able to play with all her canonmates (or play well :/), or that this was going to take her waaay outside her place as designated in canon.

But basically... my advice would be to just not worry about that so much. Write the best app you can, that you feel really does encapsulate what you want to say about the character and what they could do in camp. Don't psych yourself out thinking about how they'd react to every situation ever. Like I said, I get phobic when I think about it. But, if I just take things one thread at a time, I love playing her. We make things worse than they are.

[get_sometail]

Ultimately, the only cure for "aahhh how will I play this character" is...actually playing the character!

But when I have voice issues, that '10 songs/10 drabbles' meme really helps (throw your playlist on random. Then for the next 10 songs write 1 drabble per song. You have only the length of the song to complete the drabble).

Also RELAX IT'S JUST A GAME. CFUD does not and should not be a source of stress in your life.

[gaignun]

Zindane's "how will I play this character --> actually playing" cure I would second a lot. That's how I felt with my newest character right up until I put up my actual intro post. But it turned out fine! Sometimes though, it doesn't work out, and if it doesn't that's fine too. That's also happened to me before and it's fine to drop or take it really slow if it's a rocky, nervous start.