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Author Topic: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status  (Read 17051 times)

Pengi

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"Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« on: July 17, 2010, 11:23:37 AM »

I was just looking at my stories and there's 2 on there that I'm not going to be working on again that aren't really finished. I was just thinking that there should be like an "abandoned" or "discontinued" option for the story's status instead of just "finished" or "unfinished"... you know? That way people don't read fics that are abandoned without being forewarned...

Cos I noticed the reads on my story How to Save a Life went up this week, even though it was abandoned for Time Watcher. I don't want to delete it either though because of the reviews on it... Just a thought! :)
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RokofAges75

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2010, 11:36:43 AM »

That's a good idea if it's possible.  It's good to give people a warning so they can decide whether or not to read a story that they know is probably never going to be finished.
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julilly

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2010, 11:43:27 AM »

I guess if it's an abandoned story that's not completed, I don't see why you wouldn't delete it lol

My best suggestion would be to outline in the summary that the story is abandoned. People are far more likely to see it there.
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mare

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2010, 12:26:04 PM »

I was just about to say the same thing that Julilly said. I think the best thing to do is delete it if you have no intention of working on it again. Because I don't think people even pay much attention to those finished and unfinished boxes. You can always copy and paste your reviews and save them somewhere else.
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A-RokzStalker

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2010, 02:33:22 PM »

No, I don't think they should delete them, because I still sometimes read stories that aren't going to be finished. I just like to know if I should be checking back for updates or not.
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RokofAges75

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2010, 03:14:22 PM »

I agree with Amy; if I'd read a story and enjoyed it, I'd rather the author keep it online even if it wasn't going to be finished so that I could read it again if I wanted to.  There are several stories in my favorites on AC that haven't been updated in so long, they're probably as good as discontinued, but I've invested enough of my time reading them that I wouldn't want the authors to just delete them.  I would appreciate knowing if a story is officially discontinued, but I guess just adding a note in the summary works just as well as changing a setting to show that.
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A-RokzStalker

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2010, 05:26:07 PM »

Yeah, I recently used The Wayback Machine to find old stories that I used to read that weren't finished. It's nice to look back at stuff you once read just to remember it. I get really annoyed when people shut down their websites or delete stories just because they're "done writing" or whatever. I don't care if they finished or not, if I liked the story, I wanna be able to go back and read it again.

I think it would be a great idea to have a "discontinued" option for stories' statuses.
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julilly

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2010, 05:48:52 PM »

Though it's a great suggestion, that option doesn't come standard with eFiction. So it would mean altering the script, which we're already having a fair amount of challenges with right now lol So I think the best bet, if you have something discontinued or abandoned, is to just mark it as such in the summary so everyone can see it at first glance.
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~Maple Jellybean~

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A-RokzStalker

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2010, 05:56:49 PM »

Oh- right.... I forgot about the issues you guys have been having lately. Sorry! lol. But yeah, a note  in the summary works too! :)
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Pengi

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2010, 08:18:30 PM »

That's what I ended up doing, and referring to the new "edition" of the story so that people knew that if they liked that I had another one that will actually get completed that's similar. Thanks for the suggestion! :)
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Ryann92

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #10 on: April 27, 2011, 09:31:00 AM »

I agree.. Plus, I hate getting into a story and then find out it's abandoned.. Warning would be nice.. But then, maybe no one wouldn't read it..

julilly

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Re: "Discontinued" or "Abandoned" option for Story Status
« Reply #11 on: April 27, 2011, 07:16:03 PM »

You can always add that as an author's note, too.
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~Maple Jellybean~

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