Run On Training - The Do Nots

Assuming you have all done the Shadow Academy Run On Course (now would be a good time if not) we'll cover other important "DO NOTs" here.


My pet peeve about run ons right now is the way people have their character enter them. Just read the last GJW run on we had. Almost everyone starts with some totally irrelevant babble about how they woke up in their quarters, dressed up, had breakfast etc etc. This makes a boring read for anyone not having any clue about and any interest in your character's personal sleeping and food habits (i.e the judges and almost everyone else) it also puts pages and pages of stuff there that others who want to write will have to read just on the off chance something important is in there.

Ah yes, but you put in something important there for your personal character development... STOP right here. The judges do not care about personal character development that is not in the context of the run on story. Nor does the rest of the team. All that matters is getting the story along. You have a dream relevant to the story? Great, then you can start off in your quarters...

...but if you start doing this in this training run on, or make it a habit in others, I'll be coming after you >:)

It makes most sense to start your character from the middle of a day to day situation other than helpless in his or her night gowns - duty station, drunk in the cantina, repairing something, on patrol... whatever fits the situation. As a general rule, do something those writing earlier have not done yet. This includes not to repeat mentioning that alarms went off, lights went out etc unless you are describing where you are right then. Yeah, I truly think the readers do understand that there is an alarm going on somewhere by the 5th time someone has mentioned it.

Just remember - no matter what the situation, it is always dumb to read the same thing from 20 people. It can be avoided, really.

If the run on has been started by a briefing or you have just been written in in another manner, pick it up from there. Do NOT go back to your early morning tea and back to the don't-do-it of how you woke up and arrived. No one cares. Go from where the others left off.

This very principle also goes for other scenes. DO NOT go back in time to before where the story is currently at! Unless it makes absolute sense for the story (which can happen here and there) just pick up where others left off. It is not only prone to cause errors if you time-jump around, it is also very confusing to read for your team mates and, of course, for the judges.


Another annoying thing is the tendency to put one character (as a rule someone's own) constantly in front, playing the hero and thus ruining the story. This is not how it is done unless you want your team to lose. Please read Tarentum's GJW 7 run on and I hope you'll know what I mean.

Yeah it's true. One person can ruin a perfectly good story. Let's try to avoid it.

More news at 12 past 9.

In addition to that, keep these things in mind:

Your posts need to contribute to the story. You are not just writing what you are doing. You are taking a story from one point, and bringing it to the other. When your post is read, there has to be a feeling that something happened. That people need to read your post, that they cannot skip it, like I did with so many posts during the GJW.

Posts should not be too long. Around a 1,000 words is nice maximum length. There is nothing more discouraging than seeing a number of huge posts you have to read.

DO NOT MAKE POINTLESS SIDE-PLOTS.

Two cents from a Dark Prophet...

Almost everyone starts with some totally irrelevant babble about how they woke up in their quarters, dressed up, had breakfast etc etc. This makes a boring read for anyone not having any clue about and any interest in your character's personal sleeping and food habits...

... Just remember - no matter what the situation, it is always dumb to read the same thing from 20 people. It can be avoided, really...


I couldn't agree more. No one cares about your characters daily routine. Try to make your entrance brief and/or interesting.

"APP n00bcakes got up and ate some toast. It was good. Then she went to see what her QUA was up to..."

This sucks. Do not make opening that in any way resembles this. Don't make any opening that can be boiled down to this either. Remember: Brief and/or interesting.

Also, the point of a run-on is to tell the SAME story through different people. As Arania said, mentioning a single event multiple times is ludicrious, especially when a lot of time has passed between the original posted event and the latest mention. An alarm can go off, but does everyone hear it? Why not have someone alert you of the danger rather than you hearing of it first-hand?

Posts should not be too long. Around a 1,000 words is nice maximum length. There is nothing more discouraging than seeing a number of huge posts you have to read.

DO NOT MAKE POINTLESS SIDE-PLOTS.



Again I have to agree. Never forget - Keep It Short... Stupid.

One thing most people don't know is that, though I have participated in run-on's and even some fiction competitions -- I am not a fan of most fan fiction. I do not want to read screen after screen (page after page) of meaningless crap about your character or some side-plot that. Now if *I* don't want to read it, imagine how other people who are less tolerant feel...

Look at the story, stick yourself into it and make your presence worth reading.

I did what I could, but Malaki left it in such a way that either Cethgus had to post next to advance the story, or one needed to have an intimate knowledge of the Zabraks. I posted something short and simple, describing where I was, what I was doing, and what actions I was taking, while waiting for someone to else to Tell Me what the plot is. The Only problem here is that the plot is so undefined as to be vague beyond "asking about anti-Vong weapons." Also, My character is not the best for communicating, as he tends to do it in threats and other violent ways. Also, please have everyone run their posts through spell and grammar check. I try to do every post that way, it helps cut down on misunderstood posts.

a note to Tra'an yes the plot is vague but this is training, and the more vague we make the plot the more we can do which actually makes this easier. if we were to define the story I think we would reach the end far to quickly and end up making the last few weeks of this story cover about a whole 5 minutes in fiction time. so just go with we are finding weapons blah blah blah all that stuff that was stated and now we are on Iridonia.

First, I don't think anyone is targeting you specifically, Tra'an. I was speaking about all the run-on's I've seen over the years in general. Someone else might be talking about you, but I don't really see them calling you out.

Also, please have everyone run their posts through spell and grammar check. I try to do every post that way, it helps cut down on misunderstood posts.



Spelling and grammar is great, but keep in mind that a good portion of DJB members are from countries where English is a second language. That said, our worst offenders are from the USA. Sad, really. Anyhow - try to be patient with that stuff.

Focus on telling a better segment, then worry about if it's grammatically correct.

I suppose that I can throw a few suggestions in here, since I'm HM, and CSP is the current test clan for these guided run-ons. Tarentum is the other one.

A lot of the major issues were already hit on, but I did want to add some comments. Sometimes it may be easier to get someone else to write you into the story, rather than trying to write your own introduction. That way, you avoid the temptation to write the extra stuff that tends to weigh down early posts.

And, you get to avoid the situation of "Quick everyone! Get to your personal ships and meet in the briefing room down the hall!" If only I was joking about that...

As a personal rule, if I must go back in the story a bit for my post, I always try to make the post end with going forward. If you need to, stand up in a clear area and take a step backwards. Then take two steps forward. That's a physical representation of what a post should do, if you must go back into the storyline a bit.

As for the spelling/grammar issue, Kaine is right. It's just something that we have to deal with patiently. I've read countless fiction submissions, run-ons, tests of wisdom, and advanced tests of wisdom during my time in the DB. If you want to talk about bad spelling and grammar, we can. I've seen it more than enough, and I've seen people insist that they are good writers when they're not. But, it does not hurt to suggest to other members that they might want to at least run their post through a spell checker (you can find free ones online if nothing else). If you're not comfortable doing this, talk to your house or clan leaders. Just be constructive in your approach.

The great thing about a properly running run-on is that your better writers will be able to correct any destructive plot deviations before they get out of hand. Practice is a big element to getting things correct. I'll admit it: I used to make some of the same mistakes I now mark people off for. But, I learned from my mistakes.

Anyways, I'll stop now. It is good to see some others offering advice and I look forward to watching your progress.