Earning Experience:

All characters can begin play with a maximum of 100xp (20xp for mortals).  After that, XP is gained in the following ways-

Active players receive 5xp per month. Active is a somewhat nebulous term; we need to feel you're actually playing.
You get 1xp per nomination from a player, to a maximum of 5 per month.
You get 1xp per lit you write, to a maximum of 5 (again, nebulous on what constitutes a lit. A haiku won't, but it doesn't need to be a 5 page dissertation either).
Staff Noms will give you 2xp, but each staffer only gets 1 per month. Narrator Noms will get you 1xp, but they only get 1 per month.
If you're assisting staff either as a staff member or a narrator, you get a bonus amount of XP per month equal to the level of assistance provided (not to exceed normal player maximum, most can assume 1-3xp).

That means that for those who show up to the bare minimum of play, you will advance 5xp per month. But, it means that characters that really put in the effort and shine could net as much as 18! WOWSA!

Updated to include Narrators.