Unfinished stories

[Irony]

Am I the only person who finds it, for lack of a better word, annoying when they read an unfinished story?

Like, I'll read one story, and then it'll be unfinished, so I'll move onto the next, which is ALSO unfinished. I swear I've read like 20 unfinished stories by now. And by the time the next chapter for a unfinished story comes out, I won't even remember the plot.

Just like Adam in 'Lessons in Love' says:

"It's about time! Geez, I hate it when an author says there's gonna be a sequel to a cool story, and he just keeps putting it off and pushing it back like forever. Then it's like two months later, and you end up having to read the first one all over again just to remember what happened!"

Just thought I'd share that with you.

xX

Edited September 5, 2006 by Undecided

[PatrickOBrien]

Ummm...you DO realize this is Comsie's site, right? lol (sowwy Com, couldn't resist *smiles sheepishly*)

 

as readers we sometimes need to step back and realize the authors are HUMAN! lol they're not just machines that crank out stories, and sometimes life gets in the way. i mean, do we seriously expect them to just write every free minute of the day?

 

i know im exxaggerating a bit, but i've found that its much better to wait for a GREAT story than to get 50 OKAY stories. personal oppinion, lol

[JamesSavik]

Would you rather have a good story or one that was hurried and uninspired?

 

I have an unfinished story myself and I'm working on it. I just want to get it right.

 

 

JS

[Irony]

Like I said, I was commenting on it, not saying anything bad against Com.

I'd rather he took his time and made the stories the best he can.

I only posted because I was bored and thought I'd just write down my thoughts.

[jalaki]

Yeah I'll agree....with both sides! Haha! Having an "unfinished" story can suck....but only if it STAYS that way. Knowing that more will come gives you something to look forward to, no? Call me crazy, but I like that, hehe. I mean, the end of Story X comes up and it's like....damn, no more Story X :'( But if it's "unfinished" and the author is continuing work on it....then yay, because there will be more!

 

Besides, it's not like it'll kill you to reread a story again to remember what you've forgotten...and sometimes it's good to do it anyway Hell, I reread some books/stories that ARE done, several times over again, just 'cuz.

 

Or think of them as individual 'books' in a 'saga'....ie, Harry Potter or Wheel of Time or whatever other big ol' series you can think of....there might be years between individual books, so you may need to go back and reread them again.

 

At least each of Com's (and most other authors') stories/chapters aren't like 1000 pages each

[Comicality]

Hahaha! Nah, I know the feeling! In fact, that part that you read in that story was my way of poking fun at myself for being guilty of the same thing. (Constantly) And I get emails all the time asking for a continuation of one story or another, which...on one hand, inspires me to get back to work on it and burn through it so I can get it finished and posted. But on the other hand...it also makes me work that much harder to make sure that the chapter is 'good' by the time it comes out. Especially if people are waiting for it, I had better make it worth their while. But I agree, it's much easier to be on the 'writers' side of the equation than it is to be a reader waiting for that next episode.

 

The only way around that (which I've considered, but never really do it) is to 'vanish' for a few months to a year to finish off a whole series or two, and then post them on a more regular basis. Or, to simply work on just one series until it's done and hold off on the others. But I'm a bit too 'schizo' on a daily basis to make that one work. Hehehe!

 

As for other authors who have long gaps between chapters, sometimes life just gets in the way. And sometimes the inspiration just burns out for a while until something happens to restart that fire for them. So I understand the delay, but it frustrates me too! Believe me! Especially when you check every day. Been there, done that.

 

I think it's a compliment though. I'd rather have people anxious for a new chapter than to not think about it at all.

[Irony]

I don't mind if you have to wait. Most people have that trouble with JK Rowling. It's more annoying when you read an unfinished story and the last update was 2000. It makes me want to rip my hair out.

Edited September 8, 2006 by Undecided

[Irony]

Oh, and while I'm quoting things:

I was reading A Fool In Love, and nearly died when it said: " I'm a little short for my age, exactly 1 1/2 inches."

I seriously thought it meant the guy was 1 1/2 inches tall. I was just like :wacko:

 

 

..and then, of course, I read the rest of the story.

*prepares to attack Com with something sharp & heavy*

Edited September 6, 2006 by Undecided

[Empathy]

I agree an unfinished story can be pretty annoying. Though I rather have a bit of a waith on the good stuff than get a lot of quick updates that aren't as good. I'm pretty close to putting one of my stories on hiatus myself.

[Xiao_Chun]

Two stories that I am not sure are finished.

 

There are two stories by Comicality that I read a long time ago, and they are so powerful that I am still recovering, more than a year after reading them. The stories are:

 

(1) My One True Weakness,

(2) Save or Sacrifice.

 

These two are the saddest stories that I have ever read. In these stories nobody is abused, nobody is raped or beaten, and nobody dies. But nevertheless, I was depressed for days after reading them. What dies in this stories is love. They are beautifully written and Comicality used all his powers to make us feel the pain that he was feeling when he wrote the stores. And I can tell you that I felt the pain alright, for weeks after reading the stories I felt the pain. I was afraid to read other stories by Comicality for a while, out of fear of experiencing this pain again.

 

I can

[Dezlboi]

they're not just machines that crank out stories

 

Dunno man, that sounds like a pretty accurate description of Com, to me... Well, maybe not "just", but he's certainly a machine, and he does crank out the stories... *giggle*

 

-Dez

[cressbin]

I don't mind unfinished stories if I know I'm not going to have to wait too long for the next episode. Billy Chase is a good example - like a favourite weekly TV series it's possible to look forward to the next installment.

 

The problem comes with when there's a bigger gap, especially for those like me who are becoming a bit forgetful A Class By Himself is like that - when a new episode comes out I need to re-read the previous one. Even then that's not enough because to read the previous one I need to re-read the one before that... It soon ends up as really needing to re-read, or at least skim, the whole lot. When it comes to huge works like Gone From Daylight that can be rather daunting!

 

Obviously authors are human (though I do sometimes have doubts about Comicality due to the fantastically intricate and believable vampire world he creates in Gone From Daylight) so they can't keep several stories going and churn out episodes for all of them at frequent intervals. Wanting authors to restrict themselves to writing just one story at a time would be creatively stiffling to them (I imagine).

 

So what's the solution? Well my personal wish is that authors would prefix each episode in a series with a couple of paragraphs reminding readers of the story so far. One paragraph could deal with all episodes upto, but excluding, the last one. The second paragraph could summarise the last one. So as not to burden the author, there may well be readers happy to volunteer to write those precis.

[PatrickOBrien]

So what's the solution? Well my personal wish is that authors would prefix each episode in a series with a couple of paragraphs reminding readers of the story so far. One paragraph could deal with all episodes upto, but excluding, the last one. The second paragraph could summarise the last one.

 

*deep announcer voice* "....Previously on Gone From Daylight...."

[Comicality]

Hehehe, a machine? A vampire? Maybe a vampire cyborg thingie? Who knows?

 

Anyway, that's actually not a bad idea, summarizing the previous chapter before starting a new one. I usually keep notes in my notebook as I go along and while I'm editing, so I can sorta keep a 'Cliff Notes' version of all the stories myself. It would take me forever to do all...I think I'm at 165 stories/chapters now...but maybe I'll hire myself a 'contractor' to write them all for me. Hehehe!

[Irony]

Yay.

I think maybe I should do that to.

Keep a notebook, that is.

It's a good way to keep track.