Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Is half a fic better than none?

Say, theoretically, that I had been working on a fanfic. Theoretically. One that my theoretical betas were excited about, but which I put on hold because even though I had an idea of where I wanted to take it, it just didn't seem to be flowing exactly right and there was this one chapter that I flat out got stuck on so I put it away and then forgot about it and got busy with life and then eventually tried to work on it again but I just wasn't happy with it and by then my one beta had gotten caught up in real life and probably wouldn't even remember the fic if I brought it up again.

Theoretically.

So, given the above supposition, would it be better to post what I have - er, would have - at the risk of it remaining unfinished but with the *slight* possibility that the fdk and nagging readers might push it closer to completion, or should I just sit on the alleged fic until a miracle happens?

This will be my first post, and therefore very obvious that I am new, but I came here with the intent of sharing a story and asking for advice/plot help on it, and I am perhaps nearing the half-way point, but I don't really know yet.


That being said, I speak for what would work for *me.* Theoretically The comments and suggestions and feedback are fuel for my brain cells. It will help give me the needed energy to push myself past all of my writer's block moments.

So I urge you to post what you have. There is the desire for you to finish it. It's plain to see So I urge you to push your creative mental field, and use us as readers to add to that fuel.

This seems to be a place that welcomes writers to test their abilities and grow from them. Go test your abilities!

I would prefer not to start reading a story that's in all likeliness not going to be finished. That way one doesn't invest oneself in a story and isn't disappointed later when it doesn't pay off.

Especially if you are dissatisfied with what you already have and no real clue with where it's going. It'll likely get difficult having to work with a fic that "just didn't seem to be flowing exactly" and get it back on track, if it's posted it because almost impossible to come back and make it flow better when the story has progressed and another way of getting there opens up.

My own experience as a writer was that I abandoned such a fic again, because I wrote myself into a corner, had no idea how to get out of it and found the parts already in existence to be rather lacking and delete-worthy, despite encouraging comments by readers.

And there's another reason I prefer finished fics: Truth in advertising. There was this one fic (not LnC) that started out interesting and had the potential to be very much to my taste, it even made me comment. Summary and author notes indicated that there would be some hard times but ultimately that it would be a happy fic. The fic turned darker and darker, one wondered how the character and situation was supposed to be redeemed, but one soldiered on as a reader. And yes, there were moments when things seemed to get better and healing seemed to set in, only for the fic to dive even further into darkness and depravity. The author finally changed the summary after getting many complains and there was more kerfuffle surrounding the fic.
In the end there wasn't anything close to the happy ending or even a good ending the story promised in the beginning, the fic ended on what appeared like a one of those turning points to better times.

I'm sure that the fic was supposed to be happy in the end, but during writing it turned out differently. Had the summary for the fic been not the first one from the beginning of the fic but the second one which came about near the ending of the fic, I'd never have read it.

If you wish to post the fic, that's your decision, I'd be happy enough if there's an indicator, that this fic only has a slight possibility of getting finished.

I agree with Chaos here.

I've got caught up in a couple of fics that never did finish, and so now am reluctant to read long fics posted in parts on the mbs.

But I'm guilty of the sin of posting and not finishing too - a couple of years ago I posted the start of a fic which I had outlined - still have the stuff - but RL and who knows what else, etc - anyway I still feel wrong about not having finished it. It's like you made a promise you didn't keep.

c.

My thoughts: Go ahead and post it if you wish to do so, but please, please, please make sure to put a warning at the start of the first part letting people know that not only is it not already finished, but it may never be. If I were to see such a warning, I would simply choose not to read the story, but others who are more willing to take a gamble could do so. No harm. No foul.

Joy,
Lynn

Having given my personal thoughts, I would still say go ahead and post because *you're* the one to make the decision. I'm always interested to read the first part of a new writer's fic.

c.

That's what I did with a Harry Potter crossover recently - I doubt I'll be able to do anything with the idea for at least the next few months, so I thought I'd put it on line as is, and with a title that made it clear it might never happen.

There have been so many stories started and never finished that I no longer read a story until it is finished. I don't have the time to spend on a story that in all probability will never be finished and I also find that exceedly frustrating to get caught up in a story with no resolution.

That being said I'm sure there are others that will say post away.

I think it depends on how dedicated you are to finishing it yourself. If you'd just like to see it finished, but aren't that married to it, post it to the fanfic challenge folder and see if someone else wants to take a stab at it - like the old Tank/Wendy challenges.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, pass it around to a few betas and see if they can help you find a way out of whatever corner you've painted yourself into.

Just my 2 cents.

BJ

Hi Queenie,

I started posting my first story precisely because I was part way through and needed some feedback and some outside pressure to encourage me to finish it. I had gone as far as I could on my own. And guess what--it worked! Besides one-shots, I have never had a story finished before I began posting it. I need the feedback to help me decide where the story should go.

That said, I do feel an obligation to finish a story once I start posting it. I don't think it's fair to leave the readers hanging. That's why I'm pushing myself to finish Man Under, even though it's been quite a while. I won't start posting the last few parts until they are finished so that once they start coming again the readers will know that the end is in sight and they--unlike my poor betas--won't have to wait weeks or months between parts.

I would think about how committed you are to finishing the story and post a warning to that effect. Either "I don't know whether this story will work or not, but if you're up for the risk you can help me decide," or "I'd really like to finish this and could use your help." Then it's reader beware and forewarned is forearmed.

Good luck!

Happy