When should stories in a series be released?

[TheZot]

Okay, here's a good general question for everyone.

 

I've got, like it or not, a series of stories I'm working on. That's not a problem in itself -- I like the characters and setting, and there's an enourmous potential there for them getting into mischief, which makes for good plots, and good plots make for good neighbors. Or maybe that's fences, but regardless, stuff happens.

 

What's happening though is that while stuff is working well and flowing, the stories that I'm finding interesting (or are finding me interesting, I'm not always sure who's running the show) aren't happening in chronological order. That is, while I've now got seven bloody stories in the series with plots, and in enough detail that I can refer backwards to stories that have yet to be written, I'm working on the last and one of the middle stories, and I'm likely going to finish them before I get the rest of them done.

 

What I'm not sure of is whether I should start releasing these things once they're done, even if they're not taken in order. On the one hand I know editing them'll be a bitch for whoever's stuck doing it, not having continuity to refer to, but on the other I'm not sure I want to have 100K words or more sitting on the hard drive waiting on other things to get written before they can get released. (Though it'd mean a pretty snapppy release schedule once I get to them, so that's something )

 

How do people feel about that? Does the pleasure you get out of reading stories you like make up for the annoyance that temporal discontinuity causes? (I probably ought to start a poll on this or something)

[Dio]

lol...TZ, you're the best. You're like ten times worse than me in the whole 'focusing' aspect of writing...lol But hey! Its where the inspiration takes you right? I'm a fan of continuity though. Whatever gets me more Ben...sooner, is my vote. :wacko:

 

-db

[TheZot]

lol...TZ, you're the best. You're like ten times worse than me in the whole 'focusing' aspect of writing...lol But hey! Its where the inspiration takes you right? I'm a fan of continuity though. Whatever gets me more Ben...sooner, is my vote. :wacko:

Hey, I do focus. It's just that I can't manage to decide what I'm focusing on.

 

At least I'm not taking the opportunity to poke you about those edits to that summary I sent so I can get to work on the first story in the series...

 

-Dan

[Jay]

As long as the stories can stand alone go for it.

I enjoy your work enough that it's not like it would ba a burden to go back and read them in order once you have finished them.

[Ann]

I like things in order, or else I get confused. I realized this when I saw the second Harry Potter movie, and then read the third book, and then saw the first movie, and then I started reading The Goblet of Fire book... and you get the idea. So, stand alone or not, it

[reapersharvest]

I'd say wait until the finished product, but release the chapters gradually so the buzz is still there. After all, a blitzkrieg of 30 chapters posted at once can be overwhelming for readers.

[TheZot]

I'd say wait until the finished product, but release the chapters gradually so the buzz is still there. After all, a blitzkrieg of 30 chapters posted at once can be overwhelming for readers.

Which is fair enough, though in this case if I waited until I got to the end of where I'm working on right now it'd be more like 70 chapters all at once, give or take a little -- one of the troubles of working on the fifth story first. (I really need to prod Dio into action. Or maybe not, he's a good excuse to not actually finish anything )

 

Ah, well, it keeps me out of trouble. Maybe I'll get things back into sequence again -- I've managed to plot out the second story in the series well enough to start working on it instead. Less of a wait for that one.

 

-Dan

[Gregoire]

I don't know, when it comes to series it's really fun to skip around. Doing more than one at a time could be fun.

--Greg.

[TheZot]

Hrm. Well, I can see Ann's point and Greg's as well.

 

I think I'm going to end up bouncing around some. I'm going to have to take the large stories in order, since there's some continuity with them, but the shorts can get scattered around time.

 

Guess this means I'd better start in on the first story in the series...

[Guest veinglory]

As a reader I would say 'in order' definitely.