WIPs

[rynne]

Yeah, yeah, another poll, but this I am curious about. Cuz, you know, I find nothing wrong with WiPs, as hey, I get to enjoy it as it is, and even if it does end up being abandoned, I'll either forget about it or make up my own ending for it and move on. I know some of you, though, won't read them. So I'm interested in your thoughts.

[Poll #454796]

Psssst! You can still vote in my fic commentary poll. It seems like there's one I'm definitely doing, but only like ten people have voted so far, and surely there's more people than that who have an opinion?

Oh yes. And comments will hopefully be gotten to tomorrow or so. Damn, I'm glad I finish my remix days ago...

Comments

[raesa.livejournal.com]

Sometimes...

I'll read a WIP if I've heard amazing reviews about it. I can't stand blazing through something and then finding myself stuck with no resolution. However, if I'm into the series, like Laocoon's Children, or if I keep hearing rave recs, I'll check it out.

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I hardly ever read WiPs (I answered "sometimes"), but not necessarily because I'm worried that they'll be abandoned. To me, it's usually painfully obvious if the author doesn't have the story planned out (thoroughly planned out) from the beginning. Plots tend to wander, characters tend to change without real reason, details are overlooked, and the author often just assumes that "unfinished" is reason enough for somebody to keep reading.

But a good serial novel is a lot more than that. And a story that is finished, revised and polished in its entirety before being shown to the world is almost always better than one that the author is making up as fast as she's posting it. I suppose, in essence, that most WiPs just aren't as good as they could be, if the author had been a bit more patient. I find this is true even for the ones that I like (Laocoon's Children, for example, which lately seems to suffer a bit from the "they'll keep reading because it's unfinished" syndrome).

But then again, I'm a horribly picky reader. Most people probably aren't as easily annoyed by these things as I am. :)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

To me, it's usually painfully obvious if the author doesn't have the story planned out (thoroughly planned out) from the beginning.

Ehehe. I daresay it's painfully obvious that I didn't have my own WiP thoroughly planned (I had the basic plot and climax planned) from the beginning, though I'm not sure if "I was fifteen!" is an excuse. :p

I agree with you about the quality thing; stories finished before posted do seem better. Sometimes I get frustrated with things that seem like plot holes, and that could have been fixed if the author had planned a bit better (and in my own writing as much as anyone else's). But some WiPs I'm enjoying so much that I don't care if they've got a few small plot holes or something.

[belle-bing.livejournal.com]

Sometimes -- because of all the above reasons.

And I'm an impatient person. If I get to the end of what's there and it says "to be continued" etc, I get frustrated. Too many good fics get abandoned (though I'm one to talk :p), or change. If it's a good one, like Laocoon's Children I wait patiently and reread Stealing Harry and the bits of Laocoon's Children I have. The others I tend to put out of my mind, and maybe check on them a year down the track to see if it has been updated or rewritten etc.