| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Viv
Challenge Admin
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Posts: 71
Location: Texas
|
 Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:36 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
Depends on what you're after.
Writing and then posting a completed long-ass work = fewer reviews. Guaranteed. (I have made experiments.)
For some writers (me, at least) thinking that you can finish a multichapter fic in a vacuum without readers kicking you in the ass = disappointing. (Another experiment.)
Writing a literarily viable fic with plot and character development and internal consistency and posting it chapter-by-chapter without going back and editing = impossible.
So, if you're more interested in the process or reviews, post chapter by chapter. If you're interested in writing a masterpiece, write the whole thing in your closet and then foist it, whole-cloth upon the world. No one will read it, but you'll be satisfied that you wrote something incredibly kick-ass. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Viv wrote: | Depends on what you're after.
Writing and then posting a completed long-ass work = fewer reviews. Guaranteed. (I have made experiments.)
For some writers (me, at least) thinking that you can finish a multichapter fic in a vacuum without readers kicking you in the ass = disappointing. (Another experiment.)
Writing a literarily viable fic with plot and character development and internal consistency and posting it chapter-by-chapter without going back and editing = impossible.
So, if you're more interested in the process or reviews, post chapter by chapter. If you're interested in writing a masterpiece, write the whole thing in your closet and then foist it, whole-cloth upon the world. No one will read it, but you'll be satisfied that you wrote something incredibly kick-ass. |
I don't really know what to do. I want don't want to post subpar stories (although I know I have done, and need at some point to do serious work on Bodysnatcher and Underworld. Underworld is on the 'possible delete' list in fact at the moment.). But at the same time, I do enjoy the whole process, as I've said, in a totally different way from enjoying working on my own, in the days before I had an internet connection and only members of my family ever saw my work, if that makes sense.
So I seriously can't decide. Like you said, if I pull the Witch King story off completely and just go write it myself, it'll end up being posted in probably about 80+ chapters, which nobody will read. Saying that, I'm fairly happy with the first part of it at least, regarding character development and plot. People might disagree with that but I liked how it turned out so far. But would it be like 10 times better if I just pulled it?
I wish I was born with the ability to make a decision 
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Viv
Challenge Admin
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Posts: 71
Location: Texas
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm not sure I can help you make a decision (being chronically indecisive myself), but I really enjoy reading your stories chapter by chapter. If you pull the witchking for any reason at this point I'll fangirl you until you give in and let me have my fix.
I tend to keep the high-quality pseudo-artistic crap in the realm of original fiction. When I write fic, I'm seeking reviews, plain and simple. Ergo, I'd probably come down on the side of chapter-by-chapter posting. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Viv wrote: | I'm not sure I can help you make a decision (being chronically indecisive myself), but I really enjoy reading your stories chapter by chapter. If you pull the witchking for any reason at this point I'll fangirl you until you give in and let me have my fix.
I tend to keep the high-quality pseudo-artistic crap in the realm of original fiction. When I write fic, I'm seeking reviews, plain and simple. Ergo, I'd probably come down on the side of chapter-by-chapter posting. |
See, that's more or less how I was working, only I haven't written any original fiction for a while. With fan fic, I've always thought of it more as something I like sharing. Mind you my original fiction wasn't much better than my fan fic. Probably worse in fact, judging from the responses I got from agents and publishers. I reckon I probably would be better at it now if I tried to write something, only my ideas suck and I haven't found a good one yet.
I love the Witch King story, personally. I *think* it's turning out okay. Don't really want to pull it, but it is depressing me and also I want it to be good. Argh, me no know....  (this is the closest emoticon I could find to tearing one's hair out...  )
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SilverMoonLady
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 1201
Location: Breaking in a Brandybuck... *wicked grin*
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Catching up, a dollar short and a day late, but here's my thoughts.
Writing fanfic and posting WIPs more or less as you go have the same advantage over original fic writing: feedback & somewhat instant gratification. It's hard to give those up, and the main reason my fanfic folder is much fuller than my original fic folder. 
That having been said, I've actually not posted *any* chapters of the three really long fanfics I'm currently working on because the two I posted last year I really wish I could force myself to rewrite. The front doesn't match the back, as it were (for Coming Home more than for Diamond in the Storm). 
But I am lazy  and pursued by bunnies  
But now I miss the stimulation of those (few) readers that popped in to encourage the WIPs...
It is a stalemate without resolution
What is definite, though, is that you, Spacey dear, turn out some very nice fic! I'm guilty of not reviewing as much as I ought, though I know better. 
*vows to put together coherent reviews to post*
_________________
Suffering an again off again connection with life...
The joy of motherhood: what a woman experiences when all the kids are in bed.
*local PHF union rep* *tart of the week*
Shelob the Cookie Baker |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ellisk
Joined: 23 Jan 2004
Posts: 579
Location: Icon by Alassante! Wow!
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Viv wrote: | Writing a literarily viable fic with plot and character development and internal consistency and posting it chapter-by-chapter without going back and editing = impossible.
So, if you're more interested in the process or reviews, post chapter by chapter. If you're interested in writing a masterpiece, write the whole thing in your closet and then foist it, whole-cloth upon the world. No one will read it, but you'll be satisfied that you wrote something incredibly kick-ass. |
Precisely! Very well said. And you are right. It depends entirely on what you want--and that's the beauty of fan fiction. Not one of us has to worry about selling it so we must be doing it for enjoyment.  You just have to decide what you enjoy. And that is tough. I wrote mine 'in the closet' as you said because I did want internal consistency, character dev and all that jazz. I was really interested in the characters and writing about them was my way of making the research into them more interesting. That said, I cannot deny that every time I get a review, I am psych'ed. But you are right--I have learned that if I get three per chapter in total in all the places I'm posting, it is a miracle.
| Space Weavil wrote: | | I do enjoy the whole process, as I've said, in a totally different way from enjoying working on my own, in the days before I had an internet connection and only members of my family ever saw my work, if that makes sense. |
Exactly. I love talking about writing and learning/changing from what other people comment on. That is the only way you can grow as a writer and it is fun! I guess that is why I do get so excited when I see a review.
| Space Weavil wrote: | | I also have to say I don't believe that people who read chapter one automatically stay all the way through a WIP either. I know I've given up on some stories I'm reading after a few chapters, bad though that may be, and I'm sure more than a few people have lost interest in mine, particularly ones like Bodysnatcher and And in the Darkness. I think that's a risk that you take though if you don't write for reviews alone. You can't please everyone all the time. |
That is definitely true--people do give up in the middle sometimes, myself included--and I can't say that I blame them always. In a way, that is a lesson--keep the middle as interesting as the beginning. But also I attribute that to the declining modern attention span. Not trying to be critical, just practical. It all goes back to what others have already said better than me: it all depends on what you want.
But just so you know, Space, I will row myself over to Scotland and track you down if you take away any of your fics. I'm due I trip over to your side of the world anyway. I admit, I haven't started the Witch King one. The reason is because I'm afraid to. Seriously. You write descriptions so well I'm afraid it will be too scary. It took me a lot of courage to read your Grima story (which I wish you would update, by the way). I know that sounds nutzy but I'm serious. Tell me the Witch King one is not too graphic and I'll go read it and give you feedback.
_________________
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Ultima ratio regum (The Last Argument of Kings)--engraved on all French cannons by order of Louis XIV |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ellisk wrote: | | Exactly. I love talking about writing and learning/changing from what other people comment on. That is the only way you can grow as a writer and it is fun! I guess that is why I do get so excited when I see a review. |
A lot of the stuff I've found out I was doing wrong, which I've subsequently been able to change and (hopefully) improve my writing in general has come from reviews I've got as I go along. Also quite often I get ideas from people in reviews, stuff I might not have thought of if I was pottering on my own. Which is nice.
| ellisk wrote: | | Tell me the Witch King one is not too graphic and I'll go read it and give you feedback. |
Depends on what you count as graphic. There's no gore that I know of. A few OCs have died so far, and there's a lot of 'creep', as in sort of ghost story creep. There's a kind of yucky bit where they find a dead horse, but I don't remember that being too graphic. That's probably the worst thing in it, I think. Oh, and a magpie bites the dust as well, but it's quick and painless.
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ZeeDrippyVessel
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 144
Location: deep south
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I tend to post my WIPS as I go. I try to be a chapter or two ahead but sometimes that doesn't work. I do finish what I start and have great respect for those who write the whole thing before they post any of it. Like many of us, I enjoy instant gratification and I want to know what my readership thinks.
For the first time since I finished it, I'm considering sending EV out and having it Brit picked and gone over with a fine tooth comb. There are some discrepencies (not to mention someone wanted to know what part of the south Bronwyn was from... uh... she's from Wales... okay, what part of SOUTHERN Wales is she from...) and a few minor details and GLARING  errors I need to fix.
_________________
Zee |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ZeeDrippyVessel
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 144
Location: deep south
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| SpaceWeavil wrote: | if I pull the Witch King story off completely and just go write it myself, it'll end up being posted in probably about 80+ chapters, which nobody will read. Saying that, I'm fairly happy with the first part of it at least, regarding character development and plot. People might disagree with that but I liked how it turned out so far. But would it be like 10 times better if I just pulled it?
I wish I was born with the ability to make a decision |
Oh shut up! Great Iluvatar, woman, if they read my multi chapter crappola, believe me, they'll read yours because yours is GOOD!
Sheesh! 
That said - I just remembered... somewhere someone mentioned archives where they upload for you. I'm anal. I can't stand uploading at archives where they do it instead of me. I'm validated (AKA - Trusted) to upload everywhere I load at. I don't upload anywhere where I wasn't invited to do so. The last archive that I was invited to just recently validated me and I'm really happy about that.
_________________
Zee |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ZeeDrippyVessel wrote: | I tend to post my WIPS as I go. I try to be a chapter or two ahead but sometimes that doesn't work. I do finish what I start and have great respect for those who write the whole thing before they post any of it. Like many of us, I enjoy instant gratification and I want to know what my readership thinks.
For the first time since I finished it, I'm considering sending EV out and having it Brit picked and gone over with a fine tooth comb. There are some discrepencies (not to mention someone wanted to know what part of the south Bronwyn was from... uh... she's from Wales... okay, what part of SOUTHERN Wales is she from...) and a few minor details and GLARING errors I need to fix. |
At least you know that Wales exists. I did a sci-fi story in my old fandom, set in Wales around Portmeirion and Blaenau Ffestiniog, and one of my readers started talking about this 'island' I had chosen to set my story on. Took a while before I figured that she thought Wales was an island. Then again, this is the same reader that told me Edinburgh wasn't in the United Kingdom.
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ZeeDrippyVessel wrote: | | That said - I just remembered... somewhere someone mentioned archives where they upload for you. I'm anal. I can't stand uploading at archives where they do it instead of me. I'm validated (AKA - Trusted) to upload everywhere I load at. I don't upload anywhere where I wasn't invited to do so. The last archive that I was invited to just recently validated me and I'm really happy about that. |
The first archive I posted at uploaded everything for you. You have to email your stuff to the 'librarian' as she calls herself, and she puts it up, usually about 3 weeks at least later on. It also means you can't read WIPs at that site, which quite often I prefer as I rarely have time to sit through a whole long fic at once.
The same woman actually uploaded one of my stories once without telling me as well, which at the time I didn't mind, as it annoyed the moderator of the group I was in. But basically she took the story straight off an email I'd sent to the group and uploaded it. She did whatever she wanted, basically.
At the time I didn't know about FF.Net or anything else where you could upload your own stories. It was great to find OSA and find that you could do that here.
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Live Journal Feed
