A post is part of a story. Anyone on a ship can post at any time. Posts do not have a certain length, they can be long or short. Some will be fast paced and others will be slow. Whoever posts has free reign over what happens in the story, with a few exceptions. Players cannot destroy the ship or kill another player without the Captain's permission. Anyone can write anything as long as it makes sense and works. Good things to do when posting is to throw in some plot twists, meet new characters or alien races, have a good bit of action, or add some character development for the crew. Of course some posts may not have any of these, they are just suggestions.

The first part of the post is optional, it does not have to be included. It is called the "OFF" section. It contains anything that is not part of the story. Here is an example:

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The next part of the post is the "ON" section. This is where the story of the ship and crew is contained. It consumes a majority of the post. It begins as follows and then the player begins with the story.

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From here, there are two different ways to post. It can be either a Script Post or a Novel Post, depending on what the ship uses. Some ships may even use both. In a Novel Post, the story is written just as if it were part of a novel, using all of the grammatical rules of English. It should be self-explanatory. The Script Post is written similar to a movie script, with a few rules to show what is going on. The Script Post is what will be discussed here.

The first thing the player does here is to signify where the story is taking place. This is done by using the two odd looking parenthesis, located right next to the letter "P" on the keyboard. Here is an example:

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During the duration of the post, this will likely be used many times. It should be included every time the post moves to a different place.

In a post, players will use many different characters. To show what character is talking or taking action, the player simply puts the character's name and then a colon. As seen below:

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To make Jim do an action, the player surrounds the action with double colors on each side. Example:

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To make Jim think to himself, the player would use parenthesis. Like below:

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The parenthesis are the character's thoughts.

To make Jim speak out loud, the player would use quotation marks. Here is an example:

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To show that someone is talking through a communicator, combadge, intercom, or ship to ship audio, a player will use these symbols: =/\=. Example:

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Players may sometimes like to emphasize a word spoken by a character. This is done with the underscore. Here is an example:

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To review, here are all of the symbols for a Script style post:

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At the end of the post is another "OFF" section. This is found in both Novel and Script formats. It is not optional, but required. Once in the "OFF" section, a player can include more information that is not part of the story, this part is optional. After that is the player's signature, which is required. Signatures vary from ship to ship, but usually include rank, name, position, and ship. Example:

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Well, that's about it for posting. Players will learn more as they go along. Here is a sample Script post about our two favorite people, Jim and Bob.

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Players are encouraged to write long and descriptive paragraphs in both the Novel and Script formats, although not mentioned above. Also don't forget to spell check posts! That's about it for posting. If you have any questions, contact your CO or the Independence Fleet Admiralty. Superior posting comes with practice and experience. Two things to remember when posting: 1) Be creative and 2) Have fun!

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