Hello everyone, I have discovered the joy of run ons. I am being sarcastic of course. I am struggling to establish a what would count as a run on. I want my second book to be perfect. Could anyone help. Thanks
A run-on sentence is two sentences written as if it were a single sentence, it need not be very long. The preceding sentence is a run-on sentence with a comma splice. What most people call run on sentences are overly complicated sentences with no clear focus. They usually conatin multiple clauses, parentheical phrases, and lots of qualifiers. Such a sentence may try to narrrate an entire sequence of events in a sibgle sentence, or an event along the history behind it. What they have in common is that the sentence does not have a single focus. Even a compound sentence should have a single, direct statement to make. The cluses of a compound sentence should reinforce that point, not go in separate directions.
I noticed most run-on sentences I spot are caused by the writer using a comma where she should haved used a peroid, or simicolon. So basically check your commas, and you should spot your run-ons.
Run ons are caused by too much roughage. Stop eating salads! LOL People often babble in run on sentences when they are excited or telling lies. It can be a great tool in dialog to portray such emotional context, especially if a series of ellipses are used to frame the rapidly changing thoughts. "Bobby took that knife from...well it wasn't really a knife, just a little...I didn't know he would...why are you asking me? I didn't do it!" Stammering like this could reveal guilt.
I can tell you that with proper punctuation, it's often unnecessary to change word order to correct a run on sentence. However, it's difficult to give advice without the specifics of the problem. I encourage you to post the sentence that's bugging you!
This is a run-on sentence: “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” -- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton His work is so famous that they created a contest to try to out do him, The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. BTW, it is almost impossible to create a perfect book. Even if the writing is perfect, errors can occur during copysetting. Strive for excellence, not perfection.
