Partial vs Full Story Submissions

As I am relatively new to the forums I have been skipping around a lot, between threads, to kind of get a feel for the place. While browsing I came across a comment from an author saying he would never post a partial story again, he would always wait until the story was finished before posting in future.

I was wondering what everyone else thinks of this?

I always like for stories to be openended, my imagination can then continue with the story and the plight of the poor girl (my preference) can continue. I prefer stories to just stop being written, rather than summed up and all loose ends tied up in one last hurried chapter after the author has lost interest in the story. But I digress.

I have no problem with stories being submitted chapter by chapter, as long as the interval is not excessive (ie. months) and the chapter is sufficiently long. I dislike having a new chapter of a story submitted only to have it take me all of five minutes to read.

So what is everyone's preference. Would you prefer to wait for the author to finish the story before submitting or would you rather read the story as it progresses?

Jason

Ah, Queensland, beautiful one day, perfect the next.

Well, Jason, I'm with you on this one. I have no problem with a story being submitted chapter by chapter - so long as the intervals aren't too long.

I find that reading from a screen is much harder on my eyes than reading from a book, therefore, I can't read too much in one sitting, so I'm never going to be able to manage a really long story all in one hit.

I think too, that some authors may submit one or two chapters as a way of gauging readers' responses. Obviously, it takes a lot effort to write, so if only a few people want to read it, why continue with it? Personally, I think if the author doesn't manage to 'hook' the readers in the first chapter, or better still the first few paragraphs, they're flogging a dead horse, so to speak.

Alternatively, and on a more positive note, the reviews (feedback) of a first chapter may influence how an author chooses to continue his or her story. Obviously if several reviewers have a similar suggestion, as to how a story line could be enhanced, it's certainly worth considering.

Ok, so that's my thoughts on it.

Alex. :)

"While browsing I came across a comment from an author saying he would never post a partial story again, he would always wait until the story was finished before posting in future."



The author who said that was me. I hate reading stories that leave you hanging. If the story if nothing more than a sexual encounter or a snippet of a scene (like some of Fox's very short stories), then an open ending is not really a problem, but if it is a lengthy story with well-developed characters and there are conflicts that need to be resolved and a real plot, then it is irritating to be left up in the air. There is a deifference between a deliberate open ended conclusion and a sudden stop in the story line. I have been guilty of the latter with one of my stories. As they say, Do unto others ... I feel badly about leaving my readers hanging.

PS I am still working on Chantelle.

I like posted "parts" to be a complete scene, at least, with it's own little self-contained plot. I personally find it very aggravating when the villian has kidnaped his victim, and has just ripped her clothes off, and... "to be continued".

This is really a problem on story boards that are "forum" based - each part is posted to a discussion forum. It is sometimes very obvious that the author is typing his/her story into the "message" box on a form, and is submitting each little snippet as it is written. On big problem with that approach is purely practical - it pushes other people's stories off the front page when it takes you 3-4 posts to complete a single scene.

My own approach is to write long stories in a journal format - "here's what happened today". I'll make each chapter a self-contained short story. Each chapter clearly follows the previous one, as far as character development and overall plot goes, but I try to write so that a reader can sit down and read a single chapter and feel like they've read a complete story. Each chapter will basically represent a single day or single event in the life of the main character(s). The space between each chapter is usually undefined; the vignettes are simply in chronological order. This is especially true in my spanking stories - my characters are not going to get a severe spanking every single day, so there's no need to have each chapter lead smoothly into the next. Rather, Chapter 1 can describe the events leading up to a spanking, and finish with the spanking that has been earned. Then Chapter 2 does the same thing - different events, different misbehavior, but again leading up to a spanking - maybe more severe than the first, due to "behavior getting worse".

Because I usually have several stories "in progress", I don't want to leave readers waiting to find out what happened. And my methods allow me to post a part of this story, then a part of that story, then maybe a standalone short story. Keeps me from getting bored. :D

There is nothing wrong with chapter by chapter. A current story that I am very much hooked on is cooko.

What I hope will not become a trend. Is when an author post a partial story with a hyperlink at the bottom to a pay site for the rest of the story. I think that happened once and hope it does not happen a gain.

I agree completely with what Alex has said, and would like to add another one to the pot. The turnover in this site as far as posting is extremely rapid, two to three days in some cases. In addition I've seen as many as 34 stories, either starting or being updated in a single posting. The chances of developing any audience for one's work if you are competing against hit and run artists is close to nil. I remember sitting down and reviewing one story that ran over 200Kb. I was glad I did it because at least the poor guy that wrote it managed to get some type of timely feedback even if it was from yours truly. That, by the way was the only input he received, how very surprising. Personally I would like to see the lower limit, now set at 10Kb and violated with impunity, set much higher, perhaps 25 to possibly 40K to make it interesting for those of us into writing serials, to perhaps give the loyal readers enough time to decide what is wheat and what is chaff.
While I'm on my soapbox, I'd like to see a rule that forbids new authors from dumping their entire backlog of stories on the unsuspecting public in one fell swoop. I have adopted a policy of reviewing one, if appropriate, and leaving the rest to gather dust. I can handle a philosophy that allows a thousand flowers to grow, but I draw the line on fields of weeds.

I always check the size of the story before I invest my time reading it. If it is ten chapters long and only 20k I won't bother. I approach serials the same way. I usually wait for a few chapters to be posted and then I will start to read. There are quite a lot of stories that start but enver progress past 2 parts and that is simply frustrating for me. I want to see that an author is willing to invest their time and stick with a story and they haev at least some idea of what they are doing.

I actually much prefer serials, as long as I can get that commitment from the writer that he won't stop all of a sudden after 2 or 3 chapters.

Jason