Splitting up a story…
Okay, originally this was posted as part of another blog, but I didn't receive any responses concerning this matter. So, I'm re-posting it as it's own blog.
I will be uploading the revised version of Transfigured this week. I may or may not post the whole story. Yes, it is completed, but I thought if I split the story up and posted a piece of the story each week. My thinking is that it would make the gap between Transfigured and the final story less lengthy.
So, what do you think? Is splitting up the story a good idea or is ol' D.A.W. completely mental?
Comments
My personal feelings
on posting a story, may not be well liked by others. If you have it done, just post it. Why draw it out and take all the time, effort etc, and make people wait to read it, unless that is what you are wanting to do in the first place. If it is going to be written and posted in chunks, make the breaks in a reasonable spot, and let people know up front that is what is happening. Since this is a revised story, I would just hang it out there. The first ones were very good. I think people will hang on to read the next one. Just my .02
I agree... Don't break up a
I agree... Don't break up a story that was intended as a whole.
Break it up
I often break up a longer length story into bite-sized chunks. I feel it brings a number of advantages.
Firstly, quite a few people have limited time during each session to read a story, so they might start a story and get part way through, and then decide they'll come back to it on their next visit - the problem is, they very often forget or don't bother.
It's also a bit of a tease. Make the breaks cliffhangers and people will eagerly wait for the next episode. Certainly, you'll get more comments and Kudos, and clearly many readers really want to read the next epsode.
Each episode gets the same publicity as a full story, so for those who perhaps only visit the site every few days, they might miss a single story, but are more likely to notice one of the episodes. It also means that when someone does a search, each episode will show up - OK, you're never going to compete with Bike, but it's more than you'd get if it's all in one.
It also gives you useful feedback, and you can see where interest in a story starts to tail off. Maybe you have a boring bit partway through.
I make a point of telling readers the story is complete, and each episode will be published at approximately daily intervals. However, I have learnt my lesson with who dunnits - turn off comments, or people will want to tell others who they believe the perp is - and one or two will be right.
My advice - give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can always re-issue it in a single episode.
Post all at once or make sure you mark the last episode 'Final'
I tend to avoid reading serial releases until they are complete. If you want to post in a serial fashion, that's fine... I'll just wait.
Many of us have seen good serials run into walls before they are finished. Perhaps the author has finished the story, but RL kicks in and the episodes never seem to make it to the light.
My tuppence for its dubious value,
Janet
Mistress of the Guild of Evil [Strawberry] Blonde Proofreaders
To be or not to be... ask Schrodinger's cat.
Janet
Mistress of the Guild of Evil [Strawberry] Blonde Proofreaders
To be or not to be... ask Schrodinger's cat.
Post as a whole story
Post as a whole story, unless it's too long such as my Assassin series. I broke part seven into three parts because at seventy thousand words, it was just too long to post. I'm fifty thousand words into the final part and would like to post it as one part, but the way it's going it'll be one hundred thousand words long. I've done series and long stories and it's a lot easier to post one story than it is to post forty short ones, Arecee
I like posting short chapters
but the break point has to make sense - something to "hook" the reader into wanting more.
Dorothycolleen