On the subject of weekly updates; or, The Netflix option · 10:39pm Jun 16th, 2020
I'm posting a lot of blog posts lately, but this one finally concludes all the things I've wanted to talk about lately (though I'm getting more art done, so I may have blog posts for that coming up). I mentioned previously I had some thoughts on writing and publishing that I’d talk about later. That’s what this blog post is about. The most accurate summary would be that I’ve grown disillusioned with weekly publishing, but I’m not sure I can do anything else at this point.
So you all know my mental health is shit. That shouldn’t be news to anyone at this point. But it bears repeating here because the importance of writing and publishing on my recovery. I’ve said before that I’m not really a happy person, that I just can’t seem to maintain happiness. But the satisfaction that comes from writing? That’s something that sticks around. It’s the most enduring positive emotion that I’m capable of feeling, and it’s essential to me to maintain that.
And a big part of that isn’t just writing, it’s publishing. It’s getting words out there, it’s seeing what people have to say about it. It’s you, the reader. If I wanted to just tell stories to myself, I wouldn’t have to write them down, you know? Everyone says you should create for yourself, and like, I get that, but it just doesn’t work out quite that way in practice. In many ways, I do write for myself. I write the stories the way that I want to see them, I write according to my specific interests. But like, I also write for comments.
I’m trying to express how important this weekly publishing schedule is to me. I just really want to impress that on you all, because man I am about to talk about how much I hate it.
Because see, I write these stories before I ever publish them. I’m mostly going to talk about Thicker Than Water, but this largely holds true for all my stories. I wrote Thicker Than Water back in November for NaNo, and I finished it in the first week of December. Then I didn’t publish so much as the first chapter until February, two months later. And it’s still being published now, it won’t be done until the end of July. That’s an almost seven-month gap between when I wrote that last chapter and when it’ll be published. And at the time that felt pretty cool, having a seven-month update queue and all that, but in reality…
In reality, I forget what happens in the story, and even more importantly, I forget how it happens. I don’t see the story for what it is, I see it through your eyes. I see it through comments. And the thing is that as much as a value every single comment, they always focus on the most dramatic part of the chapter. And like, no shit they focus on the most dramatic part. Why wouldn’t they? That’s usually what I focus on when I write a comment. “Oh shit, X character is doing Y thing! This isn’t going to end well!” And that’s fine, really it is. But when I haven’t read the chapter in five, six, seven months, all I’m seeing of it is the most dramatic part, and it skews my view of it for the worse. I go from thinking “Thicker Than Water has some dramatic parts, but is as a whole less heavy than Playing House” to “Ah fuck I just made another Playing House”.
So like, the obvious solution is to read the chapters before they come out, yeah? Well, I was trying that, and it didn’t work. I was reading them at the same speed you are, a chapter a week, and I was homing in on the parts people would comment on. “Fuck, Fluttershy got drunk again, guess that’s what everyone will talk about.” Only when I read the last act of the story as a whole did my opinion change. I started noticing more of the levity in the story, and when there was drama, I noticed the way it unfolded carefully over several chapters instead of being just in my face all the time.
And like, that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s unfolding over several chapters. That’s the crux of my whole issue I’m having right now. If something is only apparent to me, the author, when I read several chapters in relatively quick succession, how am I supposed to expect you, the reader, to piece things together better than I am? Especially when my stories are my main focus whereas y’all are probably reading a dozen or more other stories at the same time.
So what do I do here? Because what I want to do is post completed stories as one whole unit. I’ve always thought of Who We Become as a weekly soap opera, and not in a disparaging way. I see each act as a season, which is why I include end of act music. But I’m not writing an animated soap opera, and maybe the best thing to do would be to acknowledge that what I’m writing are novels. Would I want to read, say, “American Gods” or “Wicked” one chapter per week? No, not really. I genuinely think that my enjoyment of Thicker Than Water went up exponentially when I started reading it more than a chapter at a time.
But if I do that, what happens to my comments? As I said, a big part of why I publish is for comments. Some of you absolutely stellar people comment every single week, and I can’t express how much that means to me. If I were to publish Thicker Than Water all at once, people would probably comment once, all the way at the end. Would I get comments about Gilda’s Act I storyline when Act II overshadows her with Sonata and the Dazzlings? Would Sonata even get that many comments when people will have most recently read Act III and everything that happens in there? And even if so, how often would I be able to drop a whole novel like this? Would I be spending months writing and editing a novel only to get, say, five comments on the whole thing?
And then I know we’re creatures of habit. I think some people read me every week because I’m there and I’m consistent. Seeing a new chapter every week could keep people coming back, whereas seeing a new novel get dropped out of nowhere might make people look for something shorter to read.
So it’s a complicated issue, but… I really can’t get rid of this feeling that everyone would just like Thicker Than Water better if they read it cover to cover. And I’m not saying that people have been negative, they haven’t been. Reception is positive. But even if people like it now, I keep thinking y’all would like it more if I published the whole thing.
So yeah, that’s where I’m at now. I’m seriously tempted to go with the Netflix option and just drop a complete story on y’all periodically, and I would do it if it weren’t for weekly comments being so important to me. It gives me that endorphin hit every week and reminds me why I do this, especially when I’m in a funk like I’ve been lately.
So I guess I’m asking for your opinion. If you’re following me you probably read WWB and if you don’t then, well, you aren’t the target demographic of this blog post lol. But like, would a whole novel getting dropped on you intimidate you from reading? Would you be excited to have so much to get into? Do you think not having weekly updates would cause you to lose interest in the series (I promise I won’t be offended by anyone who reads out of habit lol)? This isn’t down to a vote, I’m going to do what I think is right for me, but I do want to know what y’all think.
There is a third option, a middle ground between the two. You could release at a faster schedule than weekly, like every other day or something. Though it does have the same downside as all-in-one-go - you can't really have a backlog then so it'll require pauses in releases. I suppose you've got to find the balance between the two extremes?
5286237
This is true, and something to consider. Thank you for the suggestion, I'll think on it carefully
All at once releases don’t do very well. They’re also really anxiety inducing for a reader. The only reason I haven’t caught up in a while is time. I also try to minimize my read it later shelf before reading sequels to stories I’ve already read.
5286288
Yeah, that is true, and it's a major worry of mine with publishing more frequently/all at once. It just sucks when I've got a story that I feel works way better if you read it over a period of however long one takes to read a book rather than as a weekly installments things
I had to face the same question when I published Teatime. I had all 35 chapters written. How did I want to publish them?
I thought about the stories that most made me look forward to coming back to the site and decided it was the ones that posted often and had momentum. I was more likely to read a chapter today if I was confident that there would be more very soon (tomorrow, or within a few days max). I started out releasing chapters twice a week, and ended up releasing them daily. In retrospect releasing daily might have been too fast. But it was a glorious month!
I love opening up my feed an looking for a story that I know is releasing chapters often. I don't know if a story released often gets more or fewer comments. But I think a story releasing chapters often has a better chance of becoming an event on the site. Narrative momentum has power.
5286320
I'm thinking maybe something like that may be the best way to go about it. Maybe a three times a week update schedule or something. I'll have to give it some thought, but hearing you've had a good experience with that does add weight.
5286339
Good luck whatever you decide.
Just as an aside, I wanted to thank you for your writing. I first discovered your work years ago while searching for TwiShi stories and reading Inner Strength and then Finding Home. I have enjoyed other stories since then as well. I appreciate you sharing your vision and your effort.
5286448
Thank you! And I'm glad you enjoy my work, it means a lot to me
First, I really like your writing and want to thank you for sharing it with us.
I personally think that stories like "Thicker then water" benefit from a bulk update.
But I understand the want on feedback and communication through the comments.
Why not push out the arcs in bulk?
I say do what feels right to you
5286486
Another potential option. It was reading the final act as a whole that got me enjoying the story again, so it seems likely that I could publish each act as a whole and that would be sufficient for readers to get a bigger sense of the story without quite dropping a whole novel on them. I think by the time I get to my next novel-length story, I'll do something different than weekly, but I'm not sure what it'll be yet. Either bulk updates, like you say, or updating several times in a week.
5286581
True, and I will, but starting this conversation helps me decide what I think feels right for me. I get ideas I hadn't thought of, see it from different angles, and in the case of bigbear's comments, I heard from someone with experience publishing stories at a more rapid rate.
I don't usually make public comments, but it seems fitting to make one for this post rather than via PM for obvious reasons. =) Of course, I usually make comments directly to you for your chapters rather than in the comments, so this is a bit academic, but it may help your thinking.
I believe a weekly (or "periodic" to be less specific) schedule makes the most sense to me, for a lot of reasons. Reading a long story all at once feels like an investment that I have to prepare to make, whereas a story that is just beginning, even if it will ultimately be long when finished, doesn't feel like such a large investment. I wouldn't end up reading it for a while until I was ready to make that investment. I end up rereading any story I really like in full at a later time anyway, which doesn't feel like an investment either because I can pause at any time and still have an overall idea of what's happening. (And I usually greatly enjoy your work.) Additionally, rereading always feels faster to me than reading the first time.
Breaking it up keeps it in my mind over a longer period of time, and while it is possible to miss themes or bigger connections over those time frames, it's also more time to think on the events that happened. It also gives me something to look forward to each week (or other time period) as updates are occurring.
Just my two cents...
5286731
Well honestly? I would like to see them all at once, but thats just me. I like your stories and find it easier to read them all in one go, as I might forget the stories for long periods of time.
5287201
Heh, I talk a lot about comments in the blog, but I just mean that as shorthand for however people reach me. If you feel more comfortable in DMs, by all means, that's fine by me
I suppose if I were egotistical enough to expect people are likely to reread my stories, I wouldn't mind publishing them weekly. I know you and some others have reread my work, sometimes many times over, and it never stops amazing me. But I also think that's the minority of readers, if only because the sheer amount of words I've put out.
All the same, I very much do see your point about periodic updates. I'm thinking of trying to go biweekly as a sort of compromise, but we'll see. It'll be a few months before I get to publishing my next novel-length story, which is when I aim to have a decision made.
5287379
A good point, and one I've thought of. If I'm having trouble remembering certain details, as the author, how are readers supposed to keep all the details straight? I do think I'm moving to a new, faster update schedule when I start publishing my next novel-length story, possibly biweekly.