# What's Easier? Writing or Running?



## barsoomcore (Nov 27, 2003)

Okay, so I'm getting pretty deep into my Barsoom story hour now, and I'm trying to set up the truly staggering number of plot threads the campaign has going on, as well trying to introduce the fundamental background of the campaign in a non-intrusive sort of way, and I have to say it's MUCH harder writing it than running it.

Somehow, when I'm the middle of a session, juggling dozens of NPCs, plots, schemes, cabals and sinister organizations seems so straightforward. Everything usually charges ahead without much thought required -- it just seems to work out.

But when I'm writing, I really have to struggle to find the right balance of NPC "face time", how to work in crucial bits of information, how obviously (or how subtly) I need to set up future developments and all that stuff. It seems like so much more work, writing.

Which seems weird, since I don't have to accomodate anyone else. But maybe it's the input from the players, the easy banter and the fun of sparking ideas off each other that makes it easy in the first place. So maybe it's not so weird.

Anyway, I wondered what other Story Hour authors find -- is it easier to write or to run?


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## Lela (Nov 27, 2003)

I've tried to write a Story Hour and, though the writing was good, it was far too much work  Work I wasn't willing to put into it.

 Running the game on the other hand is excitingly easy.  If I forget some little nuance it doesn't matter.  I don't have to worry about face time for anyone.  I just ask what everyone's doing and react.  Then they react to me.  Then I react to them.  It's easy and fun.

 I'm not sure if I'll ever write another SH.  But I definitally want to continue DMing.


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## Celtavian (Nov 27, 2003)

*re*

Running the game is much easier. Writing about a D&D game is difficult because of the many characters and the focus on PC's. 

I have eight PC's. It is a huge pain to try to develop them to any degree while trying to include plot. Most authors work with very few characters in a novel. I have really taken note of this fact recently given the number of main characters (PC's) in a D&D campaign. 

Writing about the exploits of a true D&D adventuring party is definitely not easy.


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## BLACKDIRGE (Nov 28, 2003)

I think running is far easier. In fact I don't know how some of you guys keep your story hour's straight, with all the PCs, NPCs, and competing story elements. Hats off to those of you who have managed to translate a complex game into a good story hour. 

My games tend to be so chaotic, with all the players running off into different directions that I can scarcely imagine trying to turn that into a story someone would actually want to read. This is why my storyhour is just a "story", and has nothing to do with any of the games I run. That way i am in complete control, and don't have to worry about some player mucking up my plot.   

Dirge


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## Silver Moon (Nov 28, 2003)

I'll add my voice to the chorus - running is much easier than writing.   A few suggestions if you do decide to write one:

1.  Keep notes during the game of who said what for some of the best comments.

2.  Write the story hour, even if it is only a "rough draft" prior to the next game.  Otherwise the actions from the different games will start to blur.

3.  Don't feel compelled to get everthing down verbatim.  Paraphrasing works just fine.  Just try to get across the general idea of who said what.

4.   Break the story into chapters.   I use a general rule of 1 Chapter = 1 hour of game time.   Post chapters as they are written.  

5.  If still unsure, send your draft off to your players for comments prior to posting.  

6.  Be sure to provide context to the readers who are less familiar with your campaign.   Start off with brief descriptions of each character with at least a line or two about each one's personality.  Also give a brief (one page) background of your campaign world and what has happened up until now.   Add some DM Notes to the storyhour whenever additional context for the reader would also help.


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## Look_a_Unicorn (Nov 28, 2003)

I think writing has been much harder. My players tell me I run an interesting & fun game (and can they have more Xp please...), but when I tried to write a story-hour I kept on going off on long tangents on plot background or character interaction with no cohesive flow.
I enjoyed reading what I'd written because it made perfect sense to me (and I'm one of the annoying people who laugh at their own jokes), but it wasn't interesting enough for others to be able to attain any level of interest.

So I guess it's hard to write Story Hour's well, if not to just write them


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## der_kluge (Nov 28, 2003)

I do find the writing challenging, but I've tried to stick to the general gist of what is going on.  I summarized a two-hour long mummy combat in my last story hour update in a small paragraph.  I figure most readers wouldn't want to slog through all that detail, and I wouldn't be able to remember all of it anyway.  The point was, they survived more or less unscathed, and continued on from there, so why belabor the point?


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## rootbeergnome (Nov 28, 2003)

Greetings,
   I would have to fully agree with all the writers and DMs above, writing is hands down more difficult than running the game itself.  In fact, I am having a terrible time remembering details enough to continue writing my story hour, which is a shame because I very much enjoy reading other people's Story Hours (can't wait for the next Piratecat update!) Actually sometimes having to schedule time to write my storyhour means that there is less time for me to put work into creating game session material.  I am honestly considering not writing any more at all and just focusing my attention on the game itself which is still great fun.  However, after two attempted story hours I have found a huge amount of appreciation for those who have stuck with it, and I am never impatient for an update because I now realize from experience how long it can take to write those updates up.  Just my two copper on the subject.  
 -RBG


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## Viktyr Gehrig (Nov 28, 2003)

Writing has been far, far easier for me so far-- a lot of the hardest parts of the writing are taken up in the need to plot out the game. The biggest strain seems to come from having to keep notes in-game, which slows down my response time.

 On the other hand, the increased attention to detail, and the need to keep the story coherent, has helped this game run far better than any game I've run previously. The Story Hour definitely makes for a good tool to improve my GMing.


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## Softwind (Nov 28, 2003)

I'd have to agree with everyone on this thread. I enjoy writing, but it is much easier (and at times, faster) to run a game than it is to write up what occured during that game. 

Look-a-Unicorn has it right - it is so easy to go off on tangents, and talk about the minutea that only really has importance to the players and the DM (and sometimes, just the DM). I've found in my own story that I will go into detail about how the party traveled to a certain location, and gloss over the battle that took place at that location. *Sigh*

I do find that by writing out the adventures, I can clearly see where there are areas of development, dangling threads of paths not taken, and additional possibilities to be investigated. It has also shown me that I'm being rather one-dimensional in my story telling - only one major badguy, and really no developed "secondary" villians. Bah. But, because I've written up a lot of my story already, I can see where I can develop some more plot twists without seeming to just plaster on something.

I will admit that taking notes in game does slow things down a pace, but they are so useful later! I jot down the major combat points, the names of any NPC that players ask about (usually the non-named NPCs are one-offs, the players shouldn't see them again. However, they surprise me sometimes...), and any plot-advancement that they do on their own. My players keep coming back, so I must be doing something right!


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## MerakSpielman (Nov 28, 2003)

Running is much easier. Mainly 'cause I can't remember a damn thing other than broad generalizations when I'm writing. Most of the really cool banter is lost when I make my story hour - the bits that would really add deep characterization to the party members. I end up having the wrong people do/say things. I want to tape-record the games but several players think it would make them too self-conscious.


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## Lela (Dec 1, 2003)

MerakSpielman said:
			
		

> I want to tape-record the games but several players think it would make them too self-conscious.



 Don't tell them.  

 Really, though, I think they'd just forget about it after the first 20 minitues.  Tell them you'd feel self-concious too.  Which is why you'd find yourself putting more into the DMing.


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## Desdichado (Dec 1, 2003)

Writing up a quick "play log" isn't that difficult; writing up something that I think anyone would find at all readable is, though.  Still, it's rewarding in it's way too, so I'll likely keep doing it for the time being.

Although when I start getting pressed for time, Story Hour writing is something that's relatively easy to cut, unfortunately.


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## el-remmen (Dec 1, 2003)

It is all about P.O.V.  

You don't have to worry about too much "side material" if you reveal things to your readers as the PCs learn about them.  I have a very simple way of handling that stuff, if the PCs don't know the readers don't know - want to go into the details of the plot and the various factions and facets of the campaign?  Use PC and PC/NPC dialogue to go over it instead of dryly reciting it for the reader.  

This has the added benefit of helping establish and reinforce characterizations of PC/NPCs by giving their view of what it going on in their voice.  It might help that the PCs in my game disagree a whole lot.

I also use footnotes to deciminate campaign setting info, that way it does not slow down the actual telling of teh story and only those readers who are really that invested in the game and the setting will take the time to read them.  I also use the footnotes as way to make "out of game" comments on the mechanics of scenes and encounters.  I don't know how "successful" these footnotes are (you'd have to ask Look_A_Unicorn or Jon Potter or one of my other regular readers), but they definitely make things easier for me, and if the notes are repetitive, well it does not matter so much. 

But yeah, I guess writing is harder than running, but I find prep for running harder than both.


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## Nail (Dec 1, 2003)

Good job, Nem.

When I write, my mantra is "condense, condense, condense".  Really, writing a story is all about pruning out the boring or irrelevant parts.

Of the _good_ story hours out there (a list I exclude myself from), those that have good dialogue and PC - PC banter are the best.

Back story?  Who cares?


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