I've been tempted to post my story on fanfiction.net for the past week.
I should probably not even think about this, because I don't even have a title for the story yet. And there's other questions: What is a decent update time? What if I decided that the original storyline no longer works? Is it ok to edit previous chapters? What if I get stuck?
Of course, these are all born from self-doubt and procrastination. There's a part of me that wants to just go for it, because this way, I will force myself to deliver an effort for the sake of the readers. I will force myself to write.
From Sapphirefly's suggestion, I have my story outlines completed, more or less. I won't be able to post as often as she does; my writing is so tedious and uninspired. I like to tweak words, because I discover how bad my writing is everytime I read the sections again. This is the other part of me that wants to publish when I'm completely done. And of course, I will most likely never be satisfied with my writing.
Perhaps the best way is just to publish and bear it. Quickest route to growth.
Now, about that title...
2 comments:
Hm ... I have an opinion about your posting. As long as your storyboards are complete and you're confident that that is the way the story is going to go - then you don't need to fear posting on ff.net.
As for update times - this is what I have to say regarding that. Stuff I've learned from my experiences. Readers are fickle, so if you wait a long time between updates - you will lose your original readership, but you'll pick up new people as you go. The bonus you get with updating quickly (quickly is every three weeks at the longest on ff.net) is that your original readership might still be interested, and so you get the new people who see your story and the people who originally read chapter one - so you get a double whammy! That's the reason for updating quickly.
As for me, I only update the way I do, because I traditionally write about five chapters ahead of what people see on ff.net. There's a couple reasons for doing it this one. No. 1 - so that the readers' comments don't change the way the story is going to happen. No. 2 - so that I don't have to write hanging on the edge of a deadline. This way I'm not stressed and I'm more creative.
However, as long as your storyboard is done then (in my opinion) you can start posting whenever you want. The comments you receive will probably offer you an incentive to write faster and better - whereas if you have no encouragement, you might get bogged down and not finish.
You definitely don't have to listen to me. It's just an opinion.
You're so totally right on writing a few chapters ahead. I'm pretty confident about the plot, but I'm unsure about how the pacing will work out. It'll be overwhelming to fit multiple highlights into same or successive chapters, and it will be too boring if nothing really happens.
Agh, decisions. Ah well, I still don't have a title yet. I can't seem to find the middle ground between corny and serious.
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