Coming Soon. (?) · 10:10pm Feb 13th, 2020
I have a new story and an old dilemma.
The story is a classic Trick Question fic (dark drama mystery) that will probably clock in at around 20k, which means chapters.
The short description (may change), as a teaser:
Princess Celestia restores Harmony at a terrible price, but is it really a price if you don't know what you're paying?
Okay, so here's my problem.
I have a bad habit of writing chaptered stories that don't feature or score many views. Either I post them in their entirety, and the word count is daunting enough that it doesn't catch heat, or else I leave them incomplete and finish them over a few weeks (or years, sorry TSJ and Geldings). And some ponies refuse to even start reading a story until it's marked Completed, which reduces views and the chance at getting a feature.
In this case, the story is close to half done, it is completely written in my noggin, and it will definitely be finished in a matter of weeks. So, what should I do? Post the first half of it right now, or wait until I've finished it? And should I post all the chapters together, or stagger them out over time?
I am one of those people who's not likely to read an unfinished story, these days. But I'm also unlikely to read something that long on a whim, so even if you did post it complete, I'd RiL it at best. I'd like to think those balance out a bit--if you post something shorter, it's asking for less time, so people are more likely to check it out.
And posting chapters one by one means more time on the front page, overall, so I'd most likely be leaning in that direction. Whether that starts right now or when it's all done is up to you, I'd say, and depends on how confident you are that your plans for what's unwritten aren't going to change or take lots of time to get right.
I would post what you have now, since you have it mostly completely written. Depending on how many chapters are left to post, the updates shouldn't be off putting to most people, I would like to think.
I'd go with publishing what's available in installments, along with a "Hey, this story exists" blog once it's all rolled out for the completionists.
I've had occasional success with writing a whole story in advance, then releasing one chapter of it per day. It feels satisfying to me to be able to put in the story description that it's done and just being released on a particular schedule. I feel like it strikes a good middle-ground in terms of being able to attract people who otherwise wouldn't want to get into an unfinished story.
I've never in my life had the guts to start posting a story that wasn't already finished. I have to know the ending and have it written for me to feel safe to reach that step.
So... If crippling anxiety doesn't stop you like it does me, it's okay to start publishing IMO.
5202688
I always know the ending before I start (why else would I write?) but let things flow organically.
The only story I ever had to plan was Broken Symmetry, because getting the sequence of events right was super complicated.
Well, my personal chances of reading or listening to it any time soon will likely be significantly higher if the chapters releases are staggered (since then I can go through the initial at least relatively short chapter, Favourite the story, and process the updates through the normal channels, vs. going on a list of longer pieces of text that's already pretty filled). If your concern with staggering chapters is not finishing the story, getting all of the chapters written before the first one is posted could get around that, it seems like, though of course the initial release would be delayed. Many of the people who want to wait for a story to be complete could likely also be drawn by the description saying it is, just not posted all at once, though if they're actually just looking at the UI indicator, that wouldn't work.
Ok, here's what ya do. You finish writing the whole thing. Maybe run it by some prereaders, see what they think. Make any necessary changes. When you're satisfied, post one chapter at a time, at 3 to 7 day intervals. When all chapters are posted, blog about it being completed and add it to some completed stories
Granted, I've yet to do this. It's been my goal for a long time now, though. The biggest issue with posting everything at once (especially since you're concerned with view count) is that you only have a minuscule window of time on the front page for new people to see it. Yeah, your readers get notified, but really, you need fresh blood if you want high view counts. Then, also, when posting in one lump sum, you're giving readers a huge chunk of words (20kish?) to read effectively in one go. A lot of readers don't want to invest themselves in a story that long. Logic would say, just read the first chapter, but readers are dumb and they're not gonna see it that way at first glance. If you give them only one chapter to begin with, it will appear short, and they won't have any other choice about reading more. It also has the added benefit of that cliffhanger effect, where the audience wants more simply because there isn't any more.
Posting one chapter at a time has the benefit of putting you back on the front page every time you post = more exposure. Now here comes the reason for 3 - 7 day intervals. 3 days is the max time you can stay in the feature box, and I *think* also the window of time where you won't be put in the updated stories list twice in a row. Feel free to correct me on that, it's been a long time since I've paid attention to shit like that. The 7 days is what I would consider the maximum amount of time that readers will wait for a new chapter without losing interest, or forgetting what happened in the previous chapter.
Now finishing writing the whole thing is something I'm aiming to do with any new chapter stories I'll post, mostly because there's been too many times I've written myself into a corner and though to myself 'well shit, if only I could retcon that thing that happened earlier.' Plus that gives you the ability to have prereaders go through the whole thing top to bottom and changes can be made freely in any chapter without issue.
Post once it's complete.