Well, I’m in the group of those that never post anything until it’s finished.
As for the original question of how I use the boards. For me it’s community… and the feedback.
My long stories are very different that my short ones. Shorts generally show up out-of-the-blue fully formed. They are easy. Get them down, get them betaed, then post. No problem.
Long stories are different. When I get an idea for a long story, most of the time I don’t know the ending. While working on various stories, I have said to The Fabulous Beverly many times that I’m “looking for the end.” I don’t want to face the pressure of posting a beginning without knowing the final scene.
The other reason that I don’t post until I’ve finished a story is that I am constantly going back and changing things. If I’ve already posted a section, then any significant change isn’t fair to those that have read along.
Finally, I like the feedback. It’s fun to hear how others react to the story as it unfolds. I love chapter-by-chapter feedback. Of course, sometimes the feedback – or the lack of it – tells me I haven’t done as good a job as I’d hoped, but that is also valuable.
Lately I’ve been in a confusing place.
1. RL has been crazy busy.
2. I have hardly heard from my muse this year.
3. The ideas I have gotten are all for BIG stories that I don’t have time to work on because of ‘1’.
So right now, I’m just an infrequent observer. However, I hope to be an author again sometime.
Bob
