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There are several things that I dislike about on-line stories.
Yes, there are stories that I like less than others, some I even dislike. That is my preference and it will stay that way.
However there are two things worth commenting upon.
1. Editing, or lack of same. I know that when I write something, I often set it aside for several days then re-read it. Often I wonder who got into the story and messed it up. There are some things that mess up a story for me.
a. Changes in the situation which I cannot follow. For example, a motherless child talks to her mother; without another mother figure entering the story and it isn't talking to a sprit.
b. Confused sentences. While there are some sentences, while grammatically correct, just don't make sense; I get lost when I have to 'stop' reading to try figure out what is being said.
c. Spelling. I am a lousy speller (thank god for spell check). Noticing a mis-spelled word, even if it is the wrong word spelled wright, bothers.
2. Un-finished stories. There are many stories that are on-going and that is tolerable, if they are added to in a timely manner. I do understand that I read faster than writers can write. That gets to the heat of this rant.
Would it be possible to flag the date when a series, or major part of thee series, is complete?
Gerri
Comments
And...
There is the matter of which English. I get comments from readers complaining that I'm not writing in US English despite the fact that I'm British and most of my stories are set in the UK.
Personally, I have resolved to never start posting a multi-part story until I have finished writing it.
"Bike" excepted, it would be nice to know if some of the other multi-part stories will ever conclude.
Are they serials (aka Soap Operas) or just extended Novels? I like stories that have a conclusion so I have to ask myslef this question.
"Do I spend god knows how many hours reading all 100+ episodes of something that actually does not have an ending."
So I'm with the poster here in wanting to know if it is another 'Never Ending Story' or is just another 'War and Peace'.
Samantha.
Agree 100%
However; I never make misteaks. Acracy is my wachword. And, shouldn't that be cereals?
Portia
Never ending cereals
Do both Post and Kellogg make them? And where do I buy them? A never ending cereal would do wonders for my food budget.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Yes, it is possible
Most authors don't use it but there is an Ongoing/Completed flag. Occasionally, I adjust this flag appropriately but sometimes I am wrong. At any rate, the staff here cannot take responsibility for making those tags correct. It's hard enough keeping up with Sticky, Promoted and Standalone flags that affect what is listed on the front page. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Tags?
I'm Irregular - marked down - all sales are final - sorry - no refunds - as is.....
Love, Andrea Lena
Hairs split
I have one ongoing story and it's going to be the longest yet (as things stand) but the works that preceded it were completed or at least are/were in a clear hiatus.
If I were to publish as a complete story, but realised there was potential for a second book, could it still be a complete story?
Shiraz
Yes.
Think of it as the nth story in a series of separate works.
For example, Janet Evanovich writes the Stephanie Plum series of stories. Each is a separate work but with many of the same characters and location.
Yes, completed is completed
A complete story or book is completed. It may not qualify as Standalone for the box on the front page whose definition is rather narrower. If the author judges it as complete, I don't second guess. On Standalone stuff, I do try to make sure it fits of the definition of not being part of a series, not being fanfiction, not being poetry or drabble. But that stuff does not apply to the Ongoing/Complete tag.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Everything I post
here is completed. Posting 1 chapter each week means 40 weeks for each Gaby book. There are currently over 90 Gaby chapters in the queue which I'd expect to take best part of two years to post - of course by then there will most likely be as many again!
I get accused (not just here but on Amazon as well) of not editing/spell checking my works, just like Samantha these 'mistakes' are mostly spotted by colonials whilst I'm writing in English in England (well okay sometimes I might be in Germany). All posted Gaby etc has been edited by another esteemed author - yes errors do still hide in the text, we aren't infallible but berating us is more likely to get peoples backs up.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
I've read all of Gaby and I
I've read all of Gaby and I've never had an issue where a spelling mistake broke the flow for me. (btw, books 12 and 13 are great.)
I just attribute any error I do find to Gabs being blonde.
More seriously, I think more people need to realize that unless an author has a dedicated proofreader, there is probably going to be errors in the things you read. An engaging author oftentimes is capable of making readers look past any errors that do sneak through.
Errors
There's no 'probably' about it. There are extremely few written works that have no errors at all. Editors, proof-readers, even typesetters (in the olden days when such people existed as a last line of defence) won't find every error.
All we as the creators of a work can do is try and minimise the errors that might exist.
Penny
One of my favorite bits about Terry Pratchett
He insists on final approval of all drafts of his work after they come back from his editors. As part of that approval, he has admitted to going behind his editor's backs and either putting typos back in, or adding new ones, just to get their goat.
Melanie E.
Arguing Edits is Fine...
…even to the point of overruling them. It's his name on the story.
Making his proofreaders look incompetent is something else entirely, whether they're the same people or not. Reprehensible, IMO, and unproductive to anything but the author's ego -- certainly not helpful to the story, which is supposed to be the point of all this.
Eric
Realized my story didn't have
Realized my story didn't have it marked, even though the chapter title for the final announce it, so I added it :P
I agree
I can't tell you how many story I have started only to be left hanging on chapter 1 or 2 . We don't live in a perfect word so if an author stops a story they have a good reason , we don't know maybe real life got in the way of fun . I get frustrated but just go to the next story.
Hanging Around
When I first started visiting this site, there was a story called Being Christina Chase. It took nearly seven years for the author to complete that story. Periodically we'd beg for another chapter, and there was a LONG space of years in which nothing was posted. We all reconciled ourselves to the idea that the story would never be completed. I went back to the beginning and re-read the incomplete story three times.
As I said, eventually the story was finished, but I really enjoyed the wait, because we were all waiting together, and because it was a hell of story even before it was finished.