In any particular mission, the commanding officer will usually begin the story line, after that, allowing others on the crew to develop it into whatever they wish to make of the mission.  This is when having a diverse crew with different writing techniques makes the game so much fun.  Everyone who has turned in mission suggestions thus far has all had some excellent ideas, and these would be the sort of ideas your commanding officer would start the crew off with and allow you to work from there and develop into really interesting stories.  Generally though, there are a couple things you need to remember when adding a post to the story:

1.) NOBODY IS SUPERMAN:  If any one character is too smart, or too strong, has too many right answers, or can fix things too quickly, that makes the game boring and no fun for everyone else.  Look at it this way…if there was a Q on the ship there would be no point in writing a mission because whenever the Q posted he or she would just solve all the problems and make everything okay.  Everybody, myself included, wants to make their character look good, but you have to try and keep your character realistic as well.  Instead of making an easy solution that your character can just miraculously fix the Warp Core because of an inborn talent due to extenuating circumstances when you were in your mothers womb, it would perhaps be more appropriate for you character to work together with your assistant, and come up with a risky suggestion that MIGHT work if you can get the statistics right.  Then you leave the story open to be expanded upon by your assistant and perhaps your superior, and all of a sudden the whole ship is involved, and it is a lot better then an easy fix!  

2.)  ENGINEERS HAVE FEELINGS TOO:   It is important to build the human level of your characters.  Even in crisis situations and in the middle of a mission you want to be sure that you include a little bit of humor or drama or even just some light sarcasm of conflict or SOMETHING that distinguishes you from the Computer…it makes your post more enjoyable to read also, if you interweave action and character building.  A good writer is able to establish an acceptable balance.

3.)  ITS OKAY TO MOVE THE STORY ALONG:  In fact, if you DON’T make discoveries, or contribute in fighting, ie. Whatever is reacquired of your character in any given mission, then NOBODY has anything to write about and the mission just kind of dies out.  Although it is the CO’s job to actually END the mission, it is the job of the crew to lead UP to the end of the mission.

4.) TIME IS NOT DEFINITE:  If somebody else posts and you wanted something to happen before that post you can always write a post still and either use thinking back techniques—have your character remembering what happened the night before as he prepares for his shift in the morning.  Or simply put a little thing that says, <<USS Pioneer, 5 hours earlier>> or whatever the case may be.  

5.) PEACE IS A GOOD THING:  Generally, when Cos assign shore leave, they have a reason for doing this—usually either the crew needs some time to relax after a particularly stressful mission, or they need time to get things in order before a new and exciting mission begins.  Although action is fun, it is not always preferable to some good R&R.  If you feel the shore leave is lasting too long, and are ready for a break, then e-mail your CO or XO and ask them about it, but otherwise just enjoy the vacation like the rest of the crew!  Or perhaps create an interesting sub-plot that will not disrupt the shore leave for those who are enjoying the peacefulness.