There's probably a topic on this somewhere. But since last month, two writers have posted stories with the intention of delaying part of them so that they'll show up later.

Turns out they do show up when the author wanted. But the date they were originally posted is what appears at the top, not the date they're exposed. So one finds them way down the page or even a page or more.

Trismegistus Shandy's conclusion to "Rodric and Melisande", dated 8/30, turned up sometime yesterday and is located just above the permanent "TG Stories" and "Read, Post, Comment" boxes. But with nobody knowing where to look for them (or for part two, which was even harder to find), as I write this neither has more than twenty reads.

Same thing happened with Louise Ann Smithson's Part 13 of "Girly Girl", dated 9/6, which showed up two days (I think) after posting, and has 191 reads, about 1000 fewer than any other part of the story.

Not sure what the moral of this story is, for readers at least. Writers should probably keep this in mind before deciding to post in advance. But the main thing I'd suggest is not to post the final chapter of a story (or a complete story) in advance. At least with Louise's Part 13, when #14 comes out people should be able to look back and find it. But with a story conclusion, there ever won't be a reminder on the front page later, unless it's a forum or blog entry like this one.

Eric