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[mare]

What are your views on stories that take forever to update? Do you find that you still jump to read them, or that you have to go back and reread the last few chapters before you continue on?

It would grate on my nerves when people would take forever to update but then say I would love a review please!! Or maybe you'll have to go back and reread to see what happened last but then don't forget to review me!! lol

I mean is it fair as writers to expect people to continue reading our stuff even if we take a long time to update inbetween chapters?

I was thinking of putting up a recap chapter as a little 'before I post my real one here's what happened so far.' Do you think that's a good idea? Because it's been a very long time since I even thought about writing on Scars and I realized if I can't remember what the last thing that happened was, how do I expect my readers to? And what's worse is why should I expect my readers to have to go back and reread things just because I haven't had the desire to write?

I used to have a huge problem with authors who took forever to update between chapters but now i've become one of them. 

[Teri]

I try to update as often as I can. But sometimes one story begins to take precedence over the others and you want to finish that before going on to the others. And yeah it's pretty hard to keep up to date with all of them when you have like 50 billion stories going on, but if people are loyal enough they'll come back to it eventually I think.

[RokofAges75]

Most of my favorite stories are the kind that are/were only updated every few months.  I've just learned to get used to it.  If the story is good enough, it's worth the wait.  Sometimes I do have to backtrack a little and read the last chapter or two to refresh my memory about what's going on, but that's okay.  Again, if the story is good enough, I can get right back into it once I do that.

From the writer standpoint, I used to update every single day.  I would churn out at least one chapter a day, sometimes more than one.  This was back when my chapters were really short, only a couple of pages, but even so.  To write 2+ pages every single day is impressive, but I didn't think anything of it at the time.  I was obsessed with fanfic, I loved writing, I had endless ideas, and somehow I had a lot of time to write.

Then I only started to update every few days... and then about once a week... and now it's more like once or twice a month.  I'm still not as bad as the ones who take six months to get together an update, but I wish I could update more regularly.  I'm honestly just too busy though.  It's not that I don't want to write; I just don't have the time... or the energy, most days, cause I'm so tired.  But my love for it is still there, and I guess that's what really matters.  As a reader, as long as I know an update IS coming, I can wait for it.  It's authors who just disappear that bug me.

[rebellious_one]

Wow... interesting question. Seriously, I think it's all up to the readers. Sure I get a little antsy when I'm reading a really good story, and there's no update from them for a while, and I do have to do a little backtrack to get myself back in tune with the story, but here's how I look at it; if the story's good, and the reader is interested, they'll come back for more when it's there for them. They might have to see where they last left off, but I've come to realize when a story captures you, it's hard for you to forget what it was about. That's how it was with my story "Satan's Playground", I posted it at a completely different site, came back here to post it and try to complete it and someone from Vaffel found it here was all like "I remember reading this story a long time ago on another site, I loved this story and I'm glad there's an update."

So like I said, it's all up to the reader. I've been that way with many stories that are incomplete but have slow updates (not mentioning any names Mare, Mers and Julie!! Lol.) I do my backtracking, and continue on with the update. Is it a hassle? No, because I'm interested in the story, obviously the story captivated me when I began reading it. Sure, people tend to lose interest if it's not updated for the longest, but it's funny because as soon as there is an update, people do come swarming back to read it, but everyone's different. I've lost a few of my readers, but the thing is they have to understand that authors do have lives to live, things to do... maybe they're just too busy to get around to their stories, or maybe they're suffering from writer's block, and that's something pretty serious with authors, lol. I mean, it takes a while for an author to complete a good novel, and that's how I look at fanfiction. If anything, updating stories is a task for me personally because I have to do MAJOR backtracking to see where I left off and how the story was suppose to go anyway, lol.

[honey]

I sort of agree with everyone. Well, all three who've given an opinion so far. If the story is good people will want to finish it when they can. I think we're all pretty understanding in this area because we're all facing the same challenge. When it comes down to it, how high up is writing fan fiction on your daily list of priorities? It's not that we don't love it, it just takes time that many of us don't have.  So from a writers standpoint, I'd say that if you honestly do plan on continuing with a story but it's just slow going, then by all means, don't worry about your readers, they'll understand. But, if you really don't intend to finish something for whatever reason, then please show a little respect to the people who take the time to read your work by letting them know or taking the unfinished story down so that they aren't left wondering forever.

[MonkeyAbu]

Seems like we are all in agreement when it comes to this topic and as redundant as it may be, I want to put my two cents in.

I really agree with Kelly with the point she made about certain authors who have no intentions to finish certain stories. It would be respectful if an author would let the reader(s) know they just can't possibly see themselves finishing the story, and on top of that for closure, take the unfinished story down. I have recently considered doing this with some of the unfinished stories on my profile page that I have seem to of lost interest in. However, maybe it is just a personal thing, but I can also understand why an author might be hesitant to do so. Although they might feel like they can't see themselves ever finishing the story, they still don't want to take it down in hopes that eventually by some miracle they'll get that spark of life back into the story and want to continue writing it. Plus, there's no denying how good it feels when a reader happens to stumble on a story of yours that you have not updated in ages and weren't planning to update and they leave you such an encouraging review that it inspires you to start back up on the writing process with it.

It is very frustrating when an author takes ages to produce an update or just sorta falls off the face of the planet, but I think that frustration is a result of a lack of notice from the said author. One thing I have tried working on is letting my readers know if I don't see an update coming for a while or if I am just trying out a new idea and am not sure if I am going to continue on with it. It all comes back down to respect like Kelly said. It sucks having to sit around and wait for something that may never come. If you know of specific readers who enjoy your story, then keep them updated on your progess so they aren't left in the dark, even if you don't see an update happening any time soon. Trust that the readers really do appreciate that. But that should really be given to all of the readers. Yeah, the readers are still gonna be left waiting, but at least they know whether or not their time spent waiting is justified.

It's ok to hope that readers will continue to read our stories once we produce an update, but it's their choice. No author wants to lose a reader(s) because of a lack of updates, but sometimes it just happens. But it's all personal choice. If a reader absolutely enjoys your story and you are struggling with producing enough updates with short update gaps, I would think that reader(s) would be understanding enough and wait for the update, no matter how long it may take, as long as you keep them updated and don't just leave them hanging in the dark.

Sometimes life just gets in the way when it comes to being able to update. For me lately it has just been trying to get acclimated to my schedule at work. I've been working this job for nearly two months now, but I have been realizing that I'm still not acclimated to the varying hours of my work schedule. Three shifts I am working 3:30pm-11:30pm and the other two I am working 11:30pm-7:30am. I've never been so tired in my life and it sucks because I love to write and I constantly have ideas running through my head but I never seem to have the energy or concentration to get them out in words. I swear the amount of time I sit in front of the computer staring blankly at the screen is starting to make me go blind. Heh... But there is always various obstacles in life that contribute to lack of updates and readers should take that into consideration. As long as the author is respectful enough to keep the readers posted. Geez...I'm really beginning to think I'm sounding the most redundant tonight...

Question before I stop rambling incessantly and lets see if I can actually make what I'm trying to ask make sense: Getting a ton of new ideas in your head can be great right? But does anybody ever find themselves getting one too many new ideas in their head all at once and then have trouble starting the development process for the ideas? If so, what are some ways you have gotten past that? This also has to do with getting new ideas for a story that is already in-progress.
 

[mare]

Nice to see we are all in agreement on this. Now that i'm kind of winding down my fanfic writing career? lol, I do try to let my readers know i'm taking longer in-between updates. I love my readers, they seem to stick by me no matter how long I take and I also love it when I randomly get a review for something I have written a gabillion and a half years ago.

I think it should be some kind of mandatory fanfic law that if you take more than two months to update a story you should owe your readers at least a note or something to let them know what the status is lol

[nicksgal]

What if school is eating you and writer's block too?

And then your computer breaks?

*feels bad and goes to cry in a corner having a lack of anything intelligent to say at this moment*