Does anyone else get frustrated at having to wait a long time for the next part of a story?
I sometimes lose interest in a story if it's published in parts and the wait is too long, I've even read stories when the author has left without finishing!
How long is too long?
Do you think that authors should wait until they finish the whole story before they submit it, even if it's published in parts?
I might get a bit annoyed, but heck, I have done it too. Not that I have meant to leave people hanging for so long, but it happens...life sometimes gets in the way...
Not really - there is plenty of other stuff to read. If needed I can always go back to the original and review something.
Lets say a week between continuations. I would like to read the comments to see if somebody wants a particular theme developed.
I do not mind the gap in between parts. It keeps your mind thinking and excited. Kind of like a movie trilogy. You know that another one is coming at waiting makes it better.
Depends on what we're talking about. If each part is relatively complete with just a hook to hang the next part on, waiting isn't such a big deal. If we're talking something more open ended or, worse, a cliffhanger, then I can see dpw's point. Waiting for something like that to be resolved would be ... bad. Imagine if Lucas had taken twenty years off after Empire Strikes Back before giving us Jedi. People would have been screaming at first at the lack of resolution of the various plot threads that were left hanging at the end of Empire, but eventually would have moved on and lost interest, at least until there was some sure sign it was coming.
I uploaded some multi part stories myself and it really depends. The ones I wrote are usually just as a good as a standalone story so you can fully enjoy that without the follow-up. If you do a cliffhanger part of course people will want more but you can't blame people for not writing the next part sooner so many things can go wrong like real life, computer issues, lack of motivation or verification issues
IMHO...a really long story should perhaps be written as a single piece and THEN as part of the editing process be made into 2 or more parts.. Other times, you might have a 'series" etc. that can be spread out, but each story/piece of the series should be 'stand alone" It really depends on what your message/story is about as to how your present it. This is just my humble opinion...your mileage may vary!!
I stopped publishing pieces by chapter - there's no gaurantee I'll ever finish.
The Almighty Space Potato
Unless I know I'm going to write a part 2, I try not to leave a gap but most of the time a part 2 is usually a spur of the moment where I think screw it I'll add some more.
I don't mind the wait. At least not if the story's to my liking. If everybody waited until they had their story completely finished, we would have to do without some of the most brilliant stories here on lush, e.g. Sprite's absoulte gem "Mrs. Vandermeer's Rules". That one took almost three years between chapters one and six and is currently leaving us dangling on a major cliffy - so what? I, for one, would rather re-read older chapters to get back into the flow of a story after a while than not read it at all.
Okay, I just finished a series about a month ago and it spanned a good month and a half to get it all out. IMO as a writer I understand fully about life getting in the way of my art, but as reader I say if the story's good enough than we'll come back to read it.
This is why I have not really tackled a multiparter or novel yet. I have trouble getting a standalone story done, let alone a series. My poor readers would be left hanging for sure unless I wrote it all upfront and just released it in installments. That's me, though. There likely are authors who could pull it off.
For my part, at most I might do a sequel to a published story if the mood hits me (which it hasn't yet) but I wouldn't leave an ending hanging for one unless I knew it was happening for sure. That said, if I ever have time I do have some ideas that could work as longer pieces (perhaps more novella than novel, though).
I know I do. If it takes too long I get bored of waiting and wind up forgetting about it. But then I look back every once in a while and get a lil excited if there is finally an update. That doesn't happen often though. Once I forget it usually stays like that
I'm probably the worst offender of that gap, last chapter being published a year ago. Writer's block is a bitch.
Suffice it to say, even I'M annoyed at having so many months between chapters. So, I don't think it's too strong a word.
I've noticed that people lose interest after a month or so. I don't think you are alone in being annoyed/disappointed/lost interest/whatever.
I would love to see links to all previous chapters at the beginning of a story, then you can start from the beginning or go back and refresh much more easily. It would also be nice if one could edit published stories to include a link to the next chapter at the end rather than the previous one. Just my 2 cents
I have left both a series and a story hanging before - with new instalments mapped out but for a couple of reasons they are still "in the works" (ie. shelved for now). Save for one 'chapter' - all these stories function as stand-alone pieces though, so hopefully it hasn't annoyed anyone that much.
In order to avoid reader fatigue/frustration, I am of the opinion now that stories should be reasonably finished before dropping a first chapter. I think a series can be a little different but for a continued story/plot, yeah - it's best to have it all done.
I'm editing a piece now that's clocked in at around 17,500 wds. I want all my edits done before I post. While it's been blocked into three different parts, I'm now questioning how quickly I should submit these. Waiting can be fun as far as building suspense goes, I guess, but I know that some prefer a more 'meaty reading experience' and may prefer to sit down with all the chapters before diving in.
Is there such a thing as posting too quickly? (ie. one a day?)
However I love to come accross a new set of stories to read, something long that I can get my .... errr not teeth ... hand around :) :).
