causeways | a sunday morning poll

I usually stay away from WIP, but there are some they just pull me in. *snerks*

I always mean to stay away from WsiP, but I am not very good at it. I just haven't been reading any lately because I am too lazy to remember to check it. Or, uh, even to friend the authors. *fails*

Hah. That happens to me all of. the. TIME. Or, I will friend the author, the fic will die and I will forget who the hell the person is when they post a "real life" post. I will just be like "Now who the hell are you."

I don't even like to read fics that are completed, but being posted a part at a time. I am impatient! I want all of it NOW!!!

and I try to finish unfinished fics that I've posted. There was one in popslash that...yeah. Not ever going to be finished, and I didn't do that again for the longest time. But I've started to do so recently because: a) they will be finished; b) I have kind of a different outlook on it now. It's hard to explain.

Oh, and see, I would still count that as a WiP, because even though it's completed, it's still not in my greedy little hands all at once.

I have really complicated personal feelings about WsiP. I've definitely posted them in the past, although never in SPN, and once I got into SPN I sort of went, "Y'know? Having a WiP for six years is really unnecessary." (I did finish that one, though!) Anyway, I don't ever post them anymore for a whole bunch of reasons, but largely because I co-wrote a big honking HP fic back in the day that had seventeen out of twenty chapters completed before we ever started posting, and we still realized a little too late that we had some plotlines that we didn't set up properly early on. OOPS. It's just easier for me to have everything in one place all at once.

I answered that I only post completed fic, but once, years ago, I did post a WIP (and finished it). But it was a one time only thing, and not something I'd be likely to do again. If the story is that long, then I think a final edit is really important, to make sure the plot is coherent and consistent - not something that's always easy to ensure in a WIP.

I also tend to stear away from stories that have been completed but are being posted in parts, and I'm not even so wild about reading them once they're finished: they're often posted in small parts, and I find it breaks up the reading process. I is fussy!

Omg, weird, I could basically C&P my reply to

cathybites right here and it would reply like WORD FOR WORD to your comment. Weird weird weird.

I absolutely agree with you on that! I've written and completed two WsiP (neither of them in SPN fandom) and soooort of left another two hanging? Neither of them ever really got off the ground, though, so I don't count them. But yeah, one of those WsiP was 140,000 words, and even though my co-author and I had finished nearly all of it before we posted it, we still realized belatedly we hadn't set up some plot threads as well as we could have. Sigh. So I don't post a single thing in WiP form anymore. :D

I hear you on the small parts thing. So a related question, then: Even if a fic is posted all at once, if it's too long to fit in one LJ-post, do you prefer to read it off-site, or is it okay as long as it's in nicely cross-linked LJ posts?

Even if a fic is posted all at once, if it's too long to fit in one LJ-post, do you prefer to read it off-site, or is it okay as long as it's in nicely cross-linked LJ posts?

I don't really mind that much. If it's *huge* I tend to prefer a one page off-site link. It varies a little from journal to journal though - I don't read journals in their own style, especially if they're dark/narrow, so I always have to add style=mine to get the basic LJ page. And sometimes people seem to split them up more than they need to: I've made several 10,000+ word posts, so I'm never sure why people break stories up into bites less than half that size when they're posting a complete story. Thankfully, the majority of writers make it nice and easy to navigate from one part to the next. There are an odd few though who only use tags, don't add links to the post, which makes things less easy, and I do recall one story (a good one too) that was in two or three parts and you have to search her journal to find them! (That also makes reccing difficult).

The thing is, though, that this is only really going to make a difference if I'm borderline over whether or not I'm going to read the story. If it's an author whose work I love, or a story that looks to be outstanding, I'll read it anyway, even if I have to copy and paste it into word or use 'No style' to make it legible.

But yeah, one of those WsiP was 140,000 words, and even though my co-author and I had finished nearly all of it before we posted it, we still realized belatedly we hadn't set up some plot threads as well as we could have.

Wow, I can't even imagine writing a story that long! But even writing one a fraction of that size, 20,000 words, I was half way through when I decided it needed an original character, a victim that we the viewer, and Dean and Sam, would care about, to make the casefile more personal. So I completely rewrote the opening, something I couldn't have done if I'd been posting a WIP. I guess we all tend to work differently though - I'm sure some people enjoy the pressure of writing a WIP, and it's worth the downsides, and probably a lot of writers write more linearly than I do. Hee, I should post a WIP, in the order I write it, a bit of the start, then the ending, then a bit of the middle, and so on! Yis!

Any and all fic. I'm such a slut that way. ;D

Nice. <3

I can't finish WIP's if I post them, I learned that the hard way. I think I read only completed fic now, but used to read whatever back in the day.

THE LAST THING SHOULD BE TICKY AND FURRY OCTOPUS SHOULD BE AN OPTION.

I've had a decent success rate with finishing WsiP, but then again, one time it took me NEARLY SIX YEARS, so you should maybe take that with a grain of salt. (And that is why I never post WsiP anymore. *g*)

BUT DEANIGATOR DOESN'T LOVE ERNIE, BECAUSE ERNIE IS SLEEPING WITH HIS SAMMYPUS, AND DEANIGATOR IS JEALOUS.

I never read WIP unless I'm absolutely certain of the author and see regular updates (

big_pink stands out as one I trust to finish). Or if I absolutely just cannot resist... but that's rare.

It's a bit of a problem for me, actually, because on the plus side I get to read a lovely long fic when I see that COMPLETE sign, but if it's become too long (say more than 15 or so parts) then I often don't read anyway because of my terribly limited attention span *g*... I'm only hurting myself *sigh*

People keep telling me that

big_pink is really awesome, and yet I haven't ever read a single thing she's written. HOW STRANGE.

Omg, limited attention span buddy! Hiiii! I was going to finish writing this comment but then wheeee something shiny. :D

I've done two long-ass WIPs back in AtS fandom and at the end of both I just... hated them. Nowadays though, I'll read both, but most of the time my attention span is limited so I forget to check up on WIPs. Or I'll look at them if they appear to be close to ending.

I also have to echo yours and

oxoniensis's comments above re: word count. If I see a story posted in tiny increments, I'm less likely to read it. More than 10 parts and each part's like 2 to 3k? Blaaargh, put 4 or 5 of those in one post! (And that is my formatting OCD comin' in. Heh.)

Yeah, that is definitely part of my problem: I have a certain amount of time during which I love a fic, absolutely love it, and then after I reach the upper limit of that, I am just like, "Jesus Christ, I want this to be DONE." And I think posting something in bits would exacerbate that.

Srsly, there should be an intro-to-fandom post about How to Post One's Fic in a Way That Won't Make Us Want to Hurt You.

I have to say that I have a huge phobia of WIP's as well as 'verses. While I may occasionally buckle and read 'verses I never (as far as I remember) read WIP's. Buffy fandom pretty much killed that for me, because I had a lot of stories I got really invested in that were never finished.

Also, I post only completed fic but want to amend that I've never actually contemplated writing a WIP. It's probably for the best. I have an attention problem, my WIP fic folder is proof enough of that.

Oh and Dean ♥ rabbits. BIG TIME!

I was in HP before I was here, and for a long time I read fic only in archives -- and maaaan, I got used to waiting YEARS for a fic to be done, literally. I'll still occasionally follow WsiP in SPN and CW RPS, but a lot of the time I forget to friend the authors for updates and then I, uh, completely forget to follow the fics at all. Whoops.

My WiP fic folder actually isn't that terrible at the moment, but then again I am also finishing a bunch of fics right now. YAY.

He totally does. <3

WIP = bookmarked (if it looks like something I'm interested in)
Otherwise, I think I'll tear my hair out waiting.

I guess the exception would be fully contained WIPs, like Tilted (http://thehighwaywoman.livejournal.com/34273.html#cutid1), by

thehighwaywoman. Each installment is wrapped up at the end.

BUT OMG, DEAN LOVES THRASHER!! I mean bunnies. <3

Ahaha, see, I don't really think of that as being any different than a regular WiP. Like,

writeatmidnight with the Sick 'verse? She claims all of the parts are self-contained, but sorry, cliffhanger ending =/= a self-contained fic. Then again, my definition of WiP is pretty broad -- I'd consider a fic that's completed but posted in parts to be a WiP if it's not being posted all at once.

Dean TOTALLY DOES, omg.

Have not read the Sick 'verse. When I said exception, I just realized I LIED. I also follow Laura's Basketball AU. Dude, but I totally trust her to finish it - though I'm already suffering from hair loss.

Tilted is self contained and not really cliff-hanger'ish, though, because it started out as a short story and it just continued like that.

Otherwise, I don't think I will follow WIPs. And I don't read a story until it's all posted, even if the author says it's all up (which makes me wonder why he/she isn't posting it all at once).

Caveats to my answers:

The ONLY WIP I will read is by

big_pink. Because she has proven that she will finish it. And I think she tends to post with the other part sort of written/in beta stages already, so I can trust there is a completed story going to be posted.

I don't post WIPs any more. It's a promise I made to myself last year. I had a Faith (the character) WIP fic series that died and my crossover OTP series died due to my own pissy emotions getting the better of me. (But! I posted 3 parts that were only linked by Dean and Faith knowing each other and there was never going to be a plot-reason for the series to continue. So it stands on its own.)

I know myself. I can't do WIP. I get distracted or I pick up on a new shiny story and then I'm out of the mindframe I need to be to do my WIP. And posting a "real" WIP, with a throughline kills me. I remember the summer after AtS season 3 aired and I was writing this giant Wesley story and I'd be up at 3am trying to finish it every day and the finaly story? Yeesh. That bitch is flawed. No real "beta" work at all, which might have saved it. (being a better writer would have saved it, heh.)

Dean would so name a bunny Thrasher.

The moment I got into SPN I was like, "All right, self, NO MORE WsiP EVER." And thus far I haven't had any problems with that. I'm definitely with you on the attention span thing -- there's a limited amount of time in which I am in love with a fic and totally enjoying writing it before I get to the point where I just want that fucker to DIE. Therefore, WsiP really do not get along.

He absolutely would.

WABBITS WOO! \o/

What I hate about WiP's sometimes is that, each time a new part gets finished, it's been so long since the last part that I forgot what happened! *hands!* I rarely read WiP's - at the moment, I'm following one for

big_pink and one for

traveller, and ... nothing else, IIRC. Hee.

I really like 'verses sometimes - each part being standalone and all. (At least most of the time.)

SHHH HE'S ~~HUNTING WABBITS.~~ saving them from witches!

Yes, omg. That was so much worse in HP fandom, where it was pretty standard procedure to wait months and months for an update -- and I was guilty of that myself, back when I used to write HP WsiP. NO MORE WsiP FOR ME, thank goodness.

I have a bizarre tendency to get a little intimidated of 'verses if they have too many parts in them. How weird is that? You'd think I'd be all excited, since I generally love long fic, but no, too many parts and I scurry for the back button. So there are a couple of authors in SPN fandom whose stuff is totally awesome, I know, but that I won't read. My loss, I'm sure, but still. :\

I only read WIP from authors that I really trust, not necessarily because I'm worried other authors won't finish it, but rather because I find most WIP suffer from a lot of consistency problems. Most of the time the fic would be a lot better if they just wrote it all out, but with stuff like NaNoWrMo or whatever the hell it is, I understand why people have big WIP.

Plus there's just something about seeing Title Blah Blah (2348234/?) that makes me twitchy.

But in general I don't like a lot of longer fic, so... yeah, WIP tend to get a pass from me unless I like the author, but I think a lot people feel that way - when you start reading WIP, you put a certain amount of investment in it. It's not like a completed fic where you can sit down, read a bit and decide if you want to read the entire thing. If you've been reading it for a couple weeks and the author either stops or suddenly goes down a really bizarre route with the fic, it can be frustrating. I think I've only really read 4 WIP before, now that I think about it. And out of those, only one was finished.

Yeah, I think that's definitely a part of it. It's hard to maintain consistency when you don't have the chance to go through and check it all at once before you post!

ME TOO, yes. I also get twitchy when I go to an author's fic master list and they have a 'verse with too many parts in it. CANNOT COPE. I won't read it!

And I definitely agree with you on the frustration there. I've, uh, totally been guilty of writing a WiP that went a totally crazy (and WRONG, in retrospect) direction, and being able to sit down after the fic was done, with a good beta, and fix that? Would have been so much better.

*cracks up* I'm prolly gonna be fifty by the time any of my fics are finished... Sadly, I have the most terrible track record, and yet people keep encouraging me over at fanfiction.net to post the next chapter, please update soon! and such. I feel bad for them. *hides*

Omg, ff.net! I used to post stuff there, back in HP. :D

XD Yeah the fics I have over there consists of Dramione, of all HP ships, and *awkward* a Disney show pairing I shipped avidly...

I do my very best to stay away from WsIP. It doesn't always work but I try :) I always forget what they were about anyway and it's annoying to read some really really long fics time and time again since you can't figure out who is the person they are *now* talking about, only to learn that they were introduced in the chapter 34 and weren't all that important anyway...

It's bad enough I can never finish anything I write myself, even if I never post them :)

Yes, so true! I hate that.

Aww. <3

I said above that I don't read WIPs, and that's true. The one exception, however, was

esohpe's JPUP.

I am also less inclined to read a story posted as a WIP, even when it's all done and dusted. I think posting in that format can leave the reader feeling disjointed, when moving from one section to the next. And, as mentioned above, it can lead to plot consistency issues. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. I know

fleshflutter posted her 2007 Nano this way, and having recently discovered her work and her extraordinary talent, I'm more than willing to give it a go. Ditto other favourite/trusted authors.

I'm also going to be really honest about completed/almost completed stories that are doled out in snippets: I find the... the way it seems that authors' are keeping readers dangling and getting off on the power of doing so, and the shameless attention hor aspect of posting in such a way extremely distasteful. I am not at all likely to read a story posted in this manner, even when the story and posting thereof is complete.

And it was awesome, right? (The fic, not the reading-WsiP-experience. :D)

I'll totally agree with you there -- and will say that

fleshflutter's NaNo was one of the most consistent WsiP I've ever read. Everything that girl writes is AMAZING.

Yes, it was COMPLETELY AWESOME and MADE OF WIN. *nods*

I think that authors largely do it for comment-grubbing purposes, which totally rubs me the wrong way.

Yeah. I mean, do the whole thing as one big post! You will most likely get MORE comments that way!! *handwave*

I HATE WIPs. And I hate the way some people can just MAKE you read a WIP... how they sneakily make it look like it's NOT a WIP and then suddenly BAM, it's a WIP. That makes me cry.

I try extremely hard not to write WIPs, mostly cos I hate them myself, and I don't want to be a hypocrit. If I write something that can be added to, I usually make it a verse, so I can post sections to it in no particular order, and I can do it whenever inspiration strikes. I much rather reading verses rather than WIPs, anyway, they ARE different. lol

♥

Oh, I would agree that 'verses are different from WsiP, with the caveat that all of the parts definitely have to be self-contained pieces that could, hypothetically, stand alone. (They can depend on prior canon in the 'verse, for sure! But the story has to be over within the individual parts, if that makes sense.)

♥ baaaack.

I've only ever posted a WIP once - Towards the Limits of Maps, this epic Seth/Ryan roadtrip fic - and I will never EVER do it again. THE PRESSURE. I never read them, either.

I've posted a couple before, but never since I got into SPN -- finally wised up and realized how very much I hated writing that way.

If it looks like a WiP is stalled, I will still read it.
Try not to. But sometimes I end reading anyway and hating myself for it.

I haven't read any stalled WsiP in a while for EXACTLY THAT REASON.

a sunday morning poll

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject