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[mare]

^ I see what you mean about that. When I get an idea for a story or a new plot and i'm already working on something I usually start it on Word but then leave it alone until i'm done with what I was working on. Sometimes when I go back and read what I wrote a few days or weeks later, it doesn't nearly have the effect on me that it had earlier so I leave it alone until some more of the story pops into my head.

Depending on the way each person writes, I think it's best to wait before you post something new. I think the problem with a lot of us (I have done this too, especially when I first started writing) We tend to want to post what we have right away because we are so excited about it or are anxious to see how it's received, but the problem with that is, if you lose interest in it and drop it, you eventually become known as 'one of those authors' who never finishes what they start and people will slowly but surely stop reading your stuff for fear that they'll get really into it and know it won't be finished.

For me I have about a 3 or 4 chapter rule. I never post a new one unless I have 3 or 4 solid chapters written and know exactly in my mind where i'm heading. I mean the middle tends to change from time to time but having a solid ending and know I will see it through to that ending is what's most important.

[Sakabelle]

I agree, Mare. When I first started posting here, I would get way excited over a story idea and post right away. I finished some of those stories, but I also still have a few sitting under my account that only have a few chapters and haven't been updated in ages.

I think that since I've started writing a few chapters before posting anything, the quality of my work has gone up. I've had more time to sit on a chapter and think about it before I post. I've also been able to re-read it with more of a clear mind and fix up awkward sounding sentences that I may not have caught if I posted right away. I also have a few stories with one or two chapters written, and now I'm re-thinking them and either wanting to change my direction with them or not wanting to continue them at all. It's much easier to do since it hasn't already been posted on the site.

This doesn't always work because I have a story on the site I kind of want to nuke LOL and I was way ahead of myself and even had a really detailed outline. But yeah, even so it still helps to curb my story ADD because I also find it challenging to stick to one or two stories at a time.

[mare]

Yeah, I found by just sitting and waiting on posting, it helped the overall writing as well. There are times that I end up almost changing half of what I had written originally in a prior chapter because I decided to go in a different direction in the following one. It's easy to just go and change things before you post it, but once it's there then you have to go with what you had. LOL

I had written a chapter of a story a long time ago and am so glad I didn't post it because since then I decided that it wasn't really a good fanfic type storyline for me. If I had posted it, the overall quality of the story would have ended up suffering because It would have been one of those stories I was posting just for the readers who wanted it and not really because I was 'feeling' it.

I think it's just one of those things you evenutally figure out. Sometimes on your own but sometimes the hard way lol

[RokofAges75]

That's how I operate, too.  I have a whole folder of ideas and outlines and first chapters of stories that may never see the light of day... or maybe they will, eventually, when I'm done with some of my other projects.

I totally get wanting to post things right away because I'm excited about them and want the feedback, but a little self-control goes a long way.  I feel bad because I started two new stories this past summer, one of which was one of those ideas that I'd been sitting on for YEARS before finally getting started on it, and the other was the result of a rush of inspiration that I couldn't get rid of.  I sort of abandoned one for the other, but not until I'd spent like a week planning and churning out six chapters of the new story to make sure I was really going to stick with it.  I'll go back to the other one once it's finished, and I hopefully won't post any new stories until both of them are.

I really prefer to be a one-story-at-a-time kind of writer and finish one project before I start another.  With the ongoing collaborations I'm involved with, I let myself have those as back-up stories, but I've been unusually overwhelmed this past year with too many stories in progress at once.  I really want to finish most of them before I start, or at least post, anything new.  I don't want to be one of "those writers" you guys mentioned who starts story after story and never finishes anything, 'cause that's not fair to the readers.

[mare]

I agree! It's not at all fair to the readers. I still am hoping one day Eboni will come back and finish Prisoners of War lol And Chaos will finish his sequel to Ground Zero.

[Rose]

You know, I was really bad about that. I'd have a case of story ADD, get an idea, run with it...and then start posting. Then I'd forget all about the stories I'd been working on. I feel like I've gotten a lot better about it. When I started RMTW, I vowed not to let myself really do that till I finished it. Of course I slipped up and posted WOOMD, but I also know I'm sticking to that anyway cause I know exactly where to go with it and how it'll end.

I notice when I let myself focus on one solo story, I carry it through rather quickly (for my standards lol). And I also feel like my writing quality goes up. I used to be that writer who'd start stuff and never finish, and I don't want to be that writer anymore.

I agree! It's not at all fair to the readers. I still am hoping one day Eboni will come back and finish Prisoners of War lol And Chaos will finish his sequel to Ground Zero.

Yes to both...I also want Eboni to finish "The Question" and Marina to come back and finish YBS

[mare]

Well, don't hold your breath for YBS lol or Eboni. They both have abandoned ship. What's worse is Maria has finished it in her head, or even in Spanish maybe? lol she's been done with it for a long time but hasn't typed it out!

I also notice when I wait to post things, the editing of my work is a lot better than when I post right away.

[julilly]

I also notice when I wait to post things, the editing of my work is a lot better than when I post right away.

Same here. Sometimes it means I get an opportunity to go through and flesh a chapter out, and maybe include something I'd forgotten the first go round. Other times it means I can pare a chapter down if it gets a little floofy. (yes, floofy)

[mare]

yes! I agree about the floofiness. I always end up pruning my chapters, always! They seldom are posted how they originally turned out.

[RokofAges75]

I agree, too.  I usually like to wait a day or at least a few hours before posting a chapter, so I can step away from it for awhile and then come back to proofread it.  I catch more of my typos that way, and I make more revisions when I reread it while I'm not still "in the moment."  I like to make sure I'm not forgetting something, which I worry about when I churn out a chapter really quickly and then post right away.

[Pengi]

I'm DEFINITELY an excited poster. Definitely. LOL You all know that. I feverishly write and post, write and post. Half the time I'm writing IN the dialogue box (though I've stopped doing that lately after losing several chapters of one of my stories that way). I like feedback, and I don't know anybody OFF AC that will give me feedback. I've thought about starting a blog to send my readers to where they can read "early exerpts" from works I'm thinking about refining into something at AC. I don't know how many of my readers would be interested in that, though.

Does anyone else have a blog like that?

[Rose]

I don't have a blog like that, but I have a person lol. Usually if I get a new idea and have something started, I end up sending it to Julie to see what she thinks of it. This way I get some sort of response and it helps me from posting it ASAP on AC lol.

[RokofAges75]

Ditto - it's nice to have one person you can send stuff to before posting it.  I don't always, but it's helpful to get an opinion and be able to share with someone if you're not ready to post.

[Rose]

That may be why I've gotten really good about controlling myself lol. I think of how bad my Writing ADD used to be and yeesh...

[Pengi]

I feel like if my writing ADD improved I'd be able to actually finish one of my OF stories and work on getting published. LOL ...I'm way too ADD to finish something that I can't share with AC readers. I'm terrible.