Ok, here's the seasonal pep-talk. I know all our 'old hands' know this very well, but for the sake of the new players, here's a brief note on timing of Season posts.
In MidSeason you'll notice posts were made all over the joint. You might read one dated January to be followed by one dated Feb, followed by one dated Dec. In MidSeason this is perfectly fine and acceptable since there's no single goal we're all aiming for.
In a Season, however, we have found that it's important to stay together in the same game day, especially if your thread ties in with ANY other characters (ie, you have at least one collaboration in your set). But even solo threads we like to keep in step, simply so it enables other players to have their characters notice or hear on the news, whatever events are happening in your solo thread.
Therefore, please be aware of the current game date as posted and tailor your own posts accordingly. This also means that where collabs are concerned, all parties must ensure that everyone's individual character is up to date and in linear chronology before that collab is posted on the board.
As most of us know, this can sometimes mean a collab is done that then has to sit on a hard drive for a while before it can be posted, and indeed sometimes adjustments need to be made to the later post if something of significance happens to any of the characters involved in the interim (eg an unplanned collab happening the day before, in which your pc is in a fight, therefore in the already written collab it'd be useful to mention bruises).
Linear chronology is the important factor. If each of us can ensure our own characters stay in order time-wise, then all the posts in the Season should maintain their chronological order as well (more or less). And even if your post doesn't impact any other characters, if it's more than 24 hours out of whack with the current game time, make EVERY endeavour to alter the timing of your post so that it fits the overall game chronology.
Also, from time to time there will be time jumps, because inevitably we'll get hung up on a day or two, and spend three weeks real time just getting past that day. In such cases, we determine how far we want to jump, then all characters must be written up to date to the point just prior to the jump, then the game time will suddenly shift a week, a fortnight, or sometimes even a month or two ahead.
The idea is that Season Four will run real time from 1st March to 30th June 2004. And it will run game time from 1st March to 30th June 2007. Therefore, if we're still writing for the end of March 2007 in real time May, we have an issue... we have to get to 30th June by 30th June. :) We managed to get to the planned 31st Oct game time for the end of Season 3, so by now we should be able to do it in our sleep.
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Timing of posts - reminder for Season Four
Just an "old hand" throwing in his tips for newbies.
Figure out your goals and some milestones for when they will happen during the season. You don't have to know HOW a character will get to that milestone but it helps if you have a general timeline of how things will happen so you can space out your posts accordingly.
Try to read everyone's posts. During midseason it gets hard to keep up with everything jumping all over the place, but something that might seem insignificant in a post might be the story hook you were looking for during the season.
If you cannot collab "live" then collab via Email or PM. it will enhance your writing. The Email method will stretch you as a writer because your idea may involve you writing someone else's part for them.
Once you email it to the other person, then they may rewrite part of your stuff for you. Once it is all done then it is a true collaboration. It is slower than live and less direct but it can make for good outcomes. That is where planning your season comes in.
Communicate communicate communicate. If you let everyone you are interactig with know where you are going then it will work to your advantage becasue they will pass you information you can use in your posts.
and always...rule number one...have fun. If it ever becomes a chore or isn't fun, then you are doing something wrong.
Timing of posts - reminder for Season Four
Just a reminder to be careful about staying with the group. I notice a few of you have grown eager and leapt ahead to the 3rd March already. Be careful about getting too far ahead - if for some reason you decide to interact with one of the characters who are still back on the 1st or 2nd it becomes trickier.
I would hope to see no posts beyond the 3rd until the rest get off the 1st and 2nd at this point. Once everyone else is up to date, then you can continue on. Unlike midseason posts, it becomes important to co-ordinate our timings.