Author:
Just an observation which might end up seeming like a complaint;
I sometimes feel lost here, in the sense of "dying of thirst when water is all around".
I visit daily looking for an interesting story (I admit, I like the fluffier stuff), but I wonder sometimes how any new person visiting this site can get started when virtually everything on the front page is just a chapter in some huge novel.
Just looking today, here are the entries in the last 40 hours or so;
Part 9, chapter 7, chapter 38, chapter 34, chapter 17, chapter 1 (woohoo!), chapter 30, part 9, book 2, a solo (wow!), chapter 22, part 61, chapter 24 part 3 (wow...), and part 22.
Now I know it's great that people are posting and this is an obviously active website. You folks have made a real vibrant community here, and who can complain about too much to read, right?
This is why I don't even know why I'm posting this. My "complaint" is ... well, wrong. But at the same time, I can't help but feel like asking, Where are the simple one-off stories!? And, do you authors of 40+ part novels here actually retain readers throughout? Personally, I can't imagine keeping up on ONE multi-chapter story on any one of these sites, much less a dozen every day.
Comments
I contribute a little
having put up close to 50 solos here. On the other hand series do provide the mainstay of this site. I can't imagine that many here read ALL the series. However, I (and I expect many others) do find some series more than worthwhile to follow. If you look at the hits there is a distinct drop-off after the first installments but then the readers stabilize.
Then there are all the solos already published here. You find them under the heading solos at the top.
Chapters
When I first started reading here, it was because I loved Wolfjess Marshal series. I still love the stories, but I loved the characters she wrote about. The samthing with Snowfall and other authors I discovered after a screwup on my part. I decided to start posting my stories here with all their mistakes. I got help and input from a lot of readers and hope I have improved some.
Having said that some times it's hard to tell a tale or story in a single setting. I'm guilty of that, because I want readers to fall in love or understand why these characters do what they do. I want the reader to understand the world they live in.
If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison
It can be a problem
As one of those writing multi-part stories, I have to agree with your observations. Somebody new to the site could become very discouraged when viewing what you saw on the front page. If you just want something short and entertaining, it can be off-putting.
Worse, if you want to start one of those epics, you have to be in the right place at the right time to find chapter 1 of something - without necessarily knowing what kind of commitment you've just let yourself in for. Of course, some readers just pick up a random chapter of something already going, and if they like what they see they'll go back to the beginning and start from there, reading it more or less in 'box set' mode.
I personally don't find longer works to be a problem, but that is just the way my brain works. I can happily ready many serials at once and keep the details separate in my head. Two caveats with that: if the posts come too close together I have insufficient time to read them all and if they're too far apart I will have forgotten most of the details. That's my problem, however. I can't ask authors to post to my schedules.
Actually, I'm finding it hard enough to post to my own schedule. Somewhere Else Entirely took me six years to write 140-odd chapters and that experience is encouraging me to write shorter stories in future. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, though. My characters have other ideas.
Penny
Observations
I like the epics such as written by Penny, Wolfjess, SaraUK, Julia and others, and have re-read them multiple times, however rarely have I actually started with Chapter 1. I stumble upon the stories after they have started and upon reading a chapter or two I go back to the beginning to see how it all started, I have rarely been disappointed.
I also read many of the short stories, from Drea, Dorothy, an many others; some making me think, some making me smile, some making me cry, but enjoyable still.
I want to thank all the authors that share their stories here with me and so many others. It takes time and energy to write, for no reward other than some kudos and compliments.
Jeri Elaine
Homonyms, synonyms, heterographs, contractions, slang, colloquialisms, clichés, spoonerisms, and plain old misspellings are the bane of writers, but the art and magic of the story is in the telling not in the spelling.
Top of page
In the first darker row (mauve) you will see the menus: Home Free Stories Premium Stories Solos
Click solos to get a list of solo one off stories.
completed stories in chapter form
I really hate uncompleted stories except for the forty or fifty I have scattered across dead computers and scrambled HD. Maybe I hate those too? All mine are completed stories before I ever start the first chapter if it is broken up into pieces. Cathy helped me post stories and she keep telling the readers who wanted a certain outcome the story was already finished. Almost a Girl is a good example where many readers were hostile toward the story line. Erin had to scrub some of the comments as it was getting out of hand.
Some people live for the next chapter whether it be a soap opera or a book and don't want it any other way. Then only way I can figure out to satisfy both camps is to put a C for completed if the story is posted in chapters. Sadly the completed stories written in chapters disappear off the radar here on BCTS. I stumble across really great stories from time to time which have been buried in the dust bins. Which also goes for uncompleted ones. Now I usually go to the last chapter to see if it has been completed before I begin the first chapter.
Have fun with life, it's too short to take seriously
Always
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Solo's vs Multipart
The majority of my work is Solo stories. That said, I posted part 9 (of 10) of a story only this week. When that is done, I have several Solo tales waiting to be published here.
Do I like Solo's or Multiparts?
Depends upon my mood. For something quick and often easier to read, I go for Solo's.
I've said this before here but I'll repeat myself.
Nothing I post here is incomplete. I hate spending my life reading something only to find it was never finished. I post everything on my blog as I finish it. In Multipart stories, this is for each chapter/part. I would like to hope that more authors would do the same.
I started out with ...
I started out with mostly solo stories.
In the span of one year, I wrote over a dozen.
Pretty proud of it given my time limitations.
However, writing on longer stories I started to feel unsure because I missed feedback.
(Have nearly no test-readers)
There was a point when I wrote "The Lokian Way" where I was at a loss how to continue.
The answer was to make it a serial and look for a good place to post it as one.
TBC looked better suited than other sites in that regard.
So far it worked out good.
My solo's average two to five comments.
Each posted chapter averages about four comments.
Given five published parts that equals about twenty comments.
Way more than other stories of mine got.
Not only get I more feedback, but those comments also inspired me to alter my planned plotline with additional sub-plots.
Right now for me, it is clear that large stories are better if you write them as serial. (As long as the main plot is worked out before.)
Personally, I only dislike when I read a serial and each part is minuscule. Especially if they are posted rapid fire each day or two. Better fewer update but with more meat on the bones.
For solos, I still prefer to write them completely and have test-readers go over it before posting.
Not just newbies
You think this is just a problem for newbies? I joined in 2008 and there is still no way I can grapple with multipart stories, unless they are complete and I can read the episodes end to end, or the episodes are published at daily intervals, as I always do with my own stories.
I know my memory has always been rubbish and gets worse with age. But how anyone remembers the last part of a serial written weeks ago is beyond me. And not just one serial; as you state, this website is groaning with them.
I tend to start every Solo published on this site and nothing else. I probably complete reading 1in 10 stories I start, which probably means I fully read only about 1% of stories on this site.
If only there was a menu heading for Completed stories. I know there’s a tag for this but few authors use it, even if their story is complete. Having a menu item for it may encourage them to participate.