User blog comment:Winter Edition/Role Play Guide/@comment-24085513-20140811061201

Roleplayers need to also take criticism without closing their ears to it. It may be hard to hear others telling you your faults and flaws, maybe even something you refuse to hear, but it is a fundimental part of growing as a roleplayer. As an artist requires critique, so does a roleplayer need feedback. Don't be discouraged if someone tells you that your roleplaying isn't great. Instead ask them for their reasons for thinking so. As a wise man once said, paraphrased by me as I do not remember it exactly, "you are better for your enemies than you are for your friends, for a friend will excuse your deficits, while your enemy will highlight them."

Also, be aware of the style of roleplay you are doing. Most people will specify what they want out of the roleplay, be it a casual one to three lines, paragraph roleplay, or even speed (though speed is typically reserved for chat roleplays, it can be used for quick, viseral combat so battles aren't spread through three days.) Everyone can understand the posts where you can't think of anything to say in a paragraph, but it can be considered poor form to consistantly give minimalistic answers to something that has an expected level of participation. Matching the previous post can be fine, but most roleplayers will understand if your posts are clear and concise. Excessive purple prose written purely to extend word count is like restating previous points in an essay: Everyone knows you're doing it just to buff up, and you're not being creative enough to actually think on what you need to do.

Also be aware on the Godmodding point that sometimes, roleplayers will allow puppeting, that is when one roleplayer is allowed to take control of another character, usually for story/combat combos. It is not something that happens often, as many people like being in control of their own characters, but it can help streamline some things that would otherwise take many posts. Included in this is collaborations, in which two roleplayers work together to condense something into one single post with their characters. Keep this in mind if you observe something that might be considered godmodding. As long as both roleplayers involved agree to do it, it should be okay.

Finally, on the being your character point, it may actually help some people to take a step back and look at your characters objectively, though this is to help less with getting into character and more for thinking if your characters actions will make sense. Assume that your character belongs to someone else for a moment. Think on the things that you want to do and put them on that image, then wonder: Is this something that this character would logically do? Are they simply doing it to look cool to the viewer, or is there a purpose for it? Would my character simply enter a ridiculous body-building contest just for the bragging rights? Maybe. Would my character suddenly bulk up an extra fifty pounds of muscle and be able to bench press twenty tonnes in less than a month? ...No. What might sound cool subjectively may prove to be objectively foolish.