Spike of All Trades FORMAT POLL · 4:10pm Apr 3rd, 2020
TL;DR Please read the bold question below and comment answers on this post.
Few chapters remain! One for each remaining week of April, if we're counting the quadruple-sized Chapter 50 as just 'one' chapter, anyways. And then we'll be taking a break before I return with the second major story arc: [SPOILER TITLE REDACTED].
...Come on, you didn't think I'd be that easy eh? 
But between now and then I have a big question I could use a little help answering. This is a non-binding poll: I won't take the majority answer as gospel, I'm just looking for input and opinions. So here's the big question:
'Spikefic' is already pretty damn long, in word count. On top of that, I have a new cover art prepared and ready to use. Both of these lead me to marking SOAT as 'Finished' (since I think it's one complete narrative arc) and using a Sequel to continue the story. I'd do the same for every future arc as well.
On the other hand, if I make it a sequel, many readers might not realize the original is complete and has a follow-up. I'd hate for folks to (unintentionally) bow out partway through, or get confused, and so forth. So maybe I should just barrel forward and cram all of my wordcount into one fic, and change the cover art to commemorate the new arc starting?
So that's the question: Should the next arc be posted as a Sequel, or as more chapters of the existing fic?
A Sequel would be a good idea, but I think you should delay the last chapter of SOAT until the sequel has a first chapter, so that people who are reading can get the new story in bookmarks easily.
I say keep it as one story. Sometimes people get scared off of they see a series of like 20 works without even bothering to see how long each one is.
Existing fic keep it all in one
Making sequels would help to keep each individual story short... well, relatively. But it does mean there may be people that don't realize the sequels exist.
Having all the arcs in one story would consolidate it all in one so that current readers are more likely to read it all. However, it would increase the one story's length significantly, which may turn potential new readers away if it gets to a certain length.
Either way, there's going to be readers that fail to read the whole story, whether through not knowing or not caring. I feel like having sequels would lead to more readers since each story would be more meal-sized and you'd presumably have author's notes advertising the sequels. But even if you do just one big story, I'm not sure it'll get too large-- I'm fairly confident it won't go over a million, but you never know-- so it'll never seem too overwhelming for new readers. I'd personally prefer one large story, but I understand there are people that wouldn't.
I'd say it's up to what you want: consolidation and convenience, or separate, bite-sized chunks?
5234936
I agree with Ponygood here, though weirdly enough, if I see a story that has a lot of chapters, I sometimes barrel into that and go, "Guess I gotta catch up." Either way would be good, though if you update a chapter, I believe those following would notice and try to find the sequel. Though if you tag your current story as a prequel to a new story, sometimes the sequel shows up off to the right (on PC). So yeah, either or.
Keep it all as one. Denote volumes or arcs if you must but unless a story is "complete" it shouldn't be a sequel yet
Going by the fact that it's mostly a single day this whole arc, it will look better as a separate title.
I personally don't like the idea of the cover showing only the latest arc or a small part of the story.
I think go with larger arcs separate.
I'm ok with whatever, but for the sake of the story keep it one fic. And one more thing - Can't say for everyone, but i'm at the bring of showing this fic in the long shelf to read like next year if anytime because i'm VERY bored with almost 80k words that describe ONE DAY. Pls transition already to at least day 2.
Either way is fine by me. If you do decide to do separate stories, you should make an announcement blog post on the first story whenever a new sequel starts. That way anyone who has it in a “Finished Reading” bookshelf will see the announcement.
Bit difficult to suggest something here.
The current total word count for this day, isnt greater than the word count of the single largest chapter of Legacy, which I believe is the largest, or at least one of the largest on site, and slightly smaller than the first Harry Potter book.
Garth Nix wrote a series of 7 books, each one named after a given Day, Mister Monday. I only remember them being the slimmer style, in the childrens to teens library section?
In the story headers, you can add Sequal and Prequal links so that on anyone clicking on the header, they can folow forward and back in a series.
Putting all the text in one file makes it more suseptible to data loss. I had a short story many years ago on floppy that I lost due to relative index access corruption, but fortunately found a copy buried somehow on a hard drive only last year.
Watch out for Google Docs inserting hidden custom code to corrupt the text when transfering it to other systems, such as importing to Fimfiction.
After consideration, you do what you are happy with, because theres so much information in a given number of words, and I origionally thought it was going to be a one shot, Id say make Day One a standalone. Then make Day Two a seperate, header linked story. Spike needs to refresh his memory of the previous day when he wakes up, due to the amount of life he has lived through just the day prior, and the skill aquisition has changed?
Or you could oh idk leave it as 'unfinished' and when/if you start the next arc as it's own thing you could oh idk PUT THE LINK TO THE NEW PART AS THE LAST CHAPTER and then label it done
Keep it as one.
If you think this is too long... look at Diaries of a Madman’s word count.
Keep it as one
it will be easier to read as a single story, so we don't have to hunt for each arc.
as always it is the authors choice
Sequel please.
+50 chapters is very long for a single arc.
if you want to continue adding ch then just add in your story description the arc's and include what chapters are in what arc to make it understandable for new readers or if you think that wont be sufficient, then maybe you can do the sequel and add in the description arc 2 or whatever arc you want to call it and in this story you can add Arc 1 or as I mention before, whatever arc you like to call it, I'm pretty sure you have great arc names. But I propose these two scenarios to you.
keep it one
Sequel.
When it comes to new cover arts I always advicate sequels. To me a cover art is as much a part of the story as the chapters themselves. To change the cover art is to change a part of the story's identity.
Well there my 2 cents.
I don't feel this story has reached an ending point yet. I would say at least continue until Day 1 is completely wrapped up, with Twilight informed and convinced. It also definitely feels as if wrapping up Day 1 won't wrap up the story, and that Day 1 wasn't designed to be a self contained story anyhow, so I would prefer if you kept posting as chapters.
I do believe a sequel would work better.
5235127
That's actually against the rules of Fimfiction. They could put it in an authors note at the end of a regular chapter, but a chapter that isn't actually a chapter of the story, but is some kind of announcement that's similar to a blogpost is against the sites rules.
Personally, I would prefer it to be in the same story listing.
I would feel a bit put out if I were to start reading a story that is CLEARLY designed to be an adventure story but had to change to a different listing (or in the case of an original work, buy another book) before the adventure even began.
We're still in the Shire right now, at least establish an actual plot for us to be invested in before calling this book finished.
5235300
Well said. Seconded.
5235282
Day 1 was absolutely designed to be a self-contained story, and (non-spoiler spoiler) does end after things are wrapped up and explained to / with Twilight., for what it's worth.
I would say if you want to add or change some elements then make a sequel if not then just continue the current one.
You can link the stories together with a note at the end and in fimfiction so it shows up as a sequel.
The main question is this a ending point of your story or do you just want to tell more story.
There are longer stories out there so either would work.
I don't have any big insights like some of the others here, just my own opinion of going with a sequel.
I'd say to keep it as one story.
I personally don't like it when a story is divided up for minor reasons like an arc of the story ending. In my eyes, a sequel should be an entirely new story that builds off of the first one, rather than a continuation of said story, if that makes any sense.
I acknowledge that some people might be intimidated by a big wordcount in one story, but I honestly don't understand it. I love it when I find a chunky fic that i like, and know I'll have something to read and enjoy for a while.
I'd rather see it be all in one story, just put the Arc name in the first part of the chapter title. That way you don't have people dropping off because they miss theres multiple stories and you fix the issue of denoting arcs. Also, chip43 brings up a good point - Are you telling more of the same story, or is this an ending point that changes the story drastically enough to warrant a new one? This intro arc feels like it would be the former, so I'd say keep it all in one story, if a massive change later on calls for a sequel then so be it, but this story is barely getting started, no point in stringing together a bunch of sequels just to denote story arcs when there are better ways of doing it in my eyes.
On one hand, a 50-chapter story can be daunting enough for a new reader, so it might be better to separate them by arc.
On the other hand, 5235410 is absolutely correct: this doesn't feel like a self-contained story yet, but perhaps the first act of several. If I set out to read a Complete fic and come away with Spike just having completed the intro quest and getting the biggest stat-up and overall boost to be seen so far, I'd be somewhat miffed for it to come to an end there.
I think, overall, I'm leaning more towards "keep it in the same fic." But, it would be helpful if you noted in the story description where each Arc starts and ends.
5235310
Thank you for the update! And I'll definitely be following this story either way.
5235300
I second Greenjack on this, it does very much still feel to me like a prelude. I feel Spike hasn't solved any major problems or gone on adventures with his new powers yet, just explored them in interesting ways. The Chekov's Gun has not been fired, so to speak.
Would seriously do a straw poll ontop of just the comments. I say post under a sequel. Otherwise make sure to rename or update chapter title to include day numbers or part 2 etc.
Keep it all as one. There are so many stories on fimfic that manage multiple arcs as one, so there's precedence. Also, the chapters here aren't even that long.
You already have the artwork, might as well do a sequel.
I think you should do a sequel as the second arc
I would suggest making Part 2 a sequel, but make a link that directs people to the sequel. You could do this either by making a first chapter for Part 2 before finishing SOAT, or you could add a new chapter basically saying 'Hey, here's the sequel link'.
5235440
I agree. As others have said, this story feels like a prequel/prologue to an actual adventure. It's been awhile since I read this story, but I cannot seem to recall any Adventure or Violence that the tags suggest. Since Day 1 was absolutely designed to be a self-contained story, and it seems that the story might wrap up in a few chapters, perhaps it would make sense for the sequel to be its own story. If that happens, it might be worth renaming SOAT to something else. 🤔
Keep going... atleast untill you have done an entire "seasons worth" of a story.
New stories are fine. Just make sure you leave it with a bit of a cliffhanger so people who come later will seek out a sequel. There is also the sequel feature and leaving a link at the top of the description.
Personally, I feel like it is too soon to split the story into different "books". Others have mentioned that what you have currently sounds more like a prequel, I see this more as the beginning parts of the actual story were things start to kick up. As such, my vote is to continue on making chapters for this story instead of a sequel.
As for the fanart, if you like both pieces then I'd say keep and use both; no one said you had to chose one over the other. If you wanted the change of art to indicate a milestone for Spike then why not place it in your next chapter?
[Title of New Arc]
*Awesome art*
-The continuation of the story you weave------>
______________________________________________________
And there's my opinion. Know that whatever choice you make I will continue to read, as you can't get rid of me that easily.
I think you should keep it in one Fic for at least the next arc. I think it's not a very efficient choice to split it up until afger it hits 100k words. Maybe put arc 3 to a new one? (If we go that far?)
I like the idea of changing the cover art to the new one to celebrate the milestone.
Eiher way, I look forward to the next chapter.
Personally DEFINITELY vote for this to stay in the same story. This has had interesting situations, but it still feels like set-up for the actual plot. Loving it so far though!
I also agree with most here. Any continuation of this story would still be the same story. It should be kept as one story. With the story so far, we effectively have an introduction, or a hook, something to grab your reader's attention, but we don't yet have some conflict to be resolved. There are hints to some interesting points that may occur later, but we're still at the beginning. This story may have a long wordcount, but that's just you're style for this story. Harry Potter also has an enormus word count and it turned out to be amazing. I'd say that your story currently has a lot of potential and it can also reach amazing heights. I'd say that it should be kept as one story until this story has reached it's conclusion. That being said. It may be easier to use the system of sequels to split up that story into managable chunks, combining it once it's completely finished. Whatever you choose, your fanbase will be happy to read the story all the same. If you do go for the sequels, I'd make a chapter at the end of each part containing a link to the next.