Publish as You Write · 3:18am Sep 2nd, 2021
There are a significant number of writers who use the publish-as-you-write (PaYW) technique. They'll write a chapter, perhaps with pre-read/editor review, and then publish it immediately. Unfortunately, this results in a number of stories that have been abandoned, or cancelled when, for whatever reason, the author stop writing.
Because of this, I won't start reading an incomplete story. I'll add it to the Tracking list and wait. Of the 19 stories I've had on tracking, one has been completed, and eight have updates this year. I can assume the fate of the others (the story with the oldest last-update is from 2016).
I can't use PaYW myself, for a few reasons. First, when I get an idea and start writing, I don't know if it'll be any good, or if I'll even finish it. As I've mentioned before, stories will oftentimes basically write themselves. My job is to hang on and type fast to get it all captured before I lose the ideas. I can't publish early chapters when I don't know where the story is going, or if it will actually get there.
Second, I regularly have to go back to early chapters and make changes due to how the later chapters develop. Sometimes I spot stuff, sometimes it's a pre-read or editor. It's kind of counterproductive to publish a chapter you later have to go back and change. You can't expect readers to re-read early chapters due to edits you needed to make. So I want to wait until the story is completed before anyone else sees it.
Which leads to number three, I believe stories need to be in their best possible state before being published. That means completely written, reviewed by one or more pre-readers, and fully edited. Only then can I convince myself there's enough quality to inflict the story upon others. In prior blog entries I've talked about some of the massive changes my stories have had due to editing. They're better stories because of it, but that wouldn't work using PaYW.
This brings up another topic: if you're a writer, how many times do you read your story between writing and publishing it? For me, it's quite a few times...
- Partial reads as I'm writing it to check it's progress and refresh my memory of what's happened so far.
- Pre-pre-reader reads. This is where I fix a lot of the more obvious problems and clean things up.
- Pre-edit reads. Here I fix anything the pre-readers pointed out as well as fixing more problems I spotted myself.
- Post-edit reads. Editing can be messy. When it's all done, there can be artifacts left behind. This is where I try to find and correct them all. I may also make minor wording changes as I read the final product.
I'm not sure we can count the partial reads (the first one). But I probably average 4-6 reads of the entire story for each of the other three classes. It does tend to add up.
There are exceptions though. My latest story, which is the third in the Dark Steel spinoff series, is in the pre-edit phase. I've read through that story at least twenty times. Yes, really. I tell myself I'm looking for more little issues to fix, but if I'm being honest, it's 'cause I just like the story. A lot.
Coming full circle, all those times reading the stories, looking for issues to fix, just wouldn't work with PaYW. So I guess that's reason number four.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'd like to go read a Dark Steel story, again.
I like your approach because it ensures you present a very high quality product.
There are always exceptions, so I’ll voice a few.
- Epic length: The story I co-wrote with Goldfur ended up being over 700K words in length and required 28 months to complete. Waiting that long for feedback was always going to be a non-starter.
- Co-author: Is your co-author willing to release all at once?
- Feedback affecting story: I’ve participated in a couple of stories where the author dynamically updated the storyline based on which comment or future story option received the most votes. Readers also tell you in no uncertain terms what is working and what is not, which can help the author see their story and characters in a new light.
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Those are all good points. Thus far my most "epic story is only 20K (it will no doubt gain a few K with editing, they all do). But a 100K+ story would be a good candidate for PaYW.
I haven't use a co-author (unless you count my editor).
And yes, a story where you specifically ask for reader feedback to help define it's direction would clearly fit that model. I'm not sure I'd be able to write a story like that.
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I think it takes a special type of creativity to take a sharp right turn while writing a story--possibly several times. I'll leave that to someone else!
I've written two MLP fanfic novels. Both are about 100k. One was written PaYW. The other was completely written, edited, and finished before I posted anything.
Both approaches have aspects I appreciate. The one I wrote in PaYW took me about 40 weeks, posting one chapter per week. That's pretty quick for a complete novel. The one I wrote fully took me 5 years. That's dismal.
On the other hoof, the PaYW novel was only possible because the story allowed the method to work well. It was a story in which the characters discover things about themselves, and discovering the story as it was written and posted really helped to evoke the sense of this experience. That would have been a complete failure in the other novel, since it deals with presenting a take on historical events that require tight continuity and more complicated plotlining.
As in all crafts, the right tool for the right job is key to doing the job right.
Hello there.
Just a random person popping up to say how much I agree with everything you wrote here. I would add that pre-writing a full story (even if it's longer) teaches you a kind of patience and dignity. Not knowing how your audience would react, yet still putting in all the work and effort is a wondrous thing, and is a work ethic that should be more commonplace on Fimfiction. And yes, the payoff might be less than we expected at times, I think you should also write for yourself, and not just for the upvotes/comments. But I'm sure you do it for yourself. Glancing over your fics sure say so.
As one aspiring writer to the other, I wish you the best!
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Thanks for the comments. And yes, I would like more readers for the stories, but I do it because I enjoy creating the stories in the first place.
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Well, maybe you did... I'm not promising anything, but if one were to start to read your saga, which story should be the starting point? The first? Also, are these very interconnected, or one could pick up whichever story, and read away?
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The obvious answer is the first one (as listed on my profile page) since, to some degree, the relationship between Quicksilver and Misty builds during the course of the series. On the other hand, I'll admit that my later (not yet published) stories are better than the early ones.
It varies. Some, like High Water Mark or The First Adventure are pretty stand-alone. Other than an occasional reference in other stories, they aren't critical to the overall flow. So they could be skipped and read later IF the series and characters are engaging to you. A Mare in the Wilderness is another totally stand-alone story that could be deferred.
Others are highly interconnected. For example reading One Of Us is pretty much required to make sense of Dark Steel (the first of a spin-off series). And reading Dark Steel is important for the two subsequent stories (which are two of the best). Another example, The Alchemist (which is pretty stand-alone), is important as it has heavy references in two future stories. Those references won't make sense if you didn't read it.
If I had to comment as a reader (not the author), I'd probably suggest (from the list on my profile page):
That's exactly half of the currently completed stories. Anything else could be filled in IF the description looks interesting.
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Whoo, thanks for the detailed reply! Irrelevant, but I also have an AU of my own in the works, starring OC characters. Not sure if they will ever catch on with any audience, but I'm aiming to find out.
Okay, for now I will add High Water Mark to my read later list, and see if I'll go from there or not
Cheers!