A storyline ran through my mind the other day, and I realised that it was the plotline to yet another story read in its spawning stage that was never destined to make it upriver. It made me wonder how others feel about reading fanfiction these days.

Yes, I will admit to being slightly battle-hardened in this regard so if you note my sardonic undertones, that's the reason.

Plan9lives is lucky to be only a pseudonym in my mind. Yes it was long. Yes it was torturous, but goshdarnit, I stuck through 39 something parts!

I was never a fan of choose your own adventure books.

Capes, it's nice to read a story posted in instalments on the boards. When you read a story piece by piece that way, I, at least, often find I savor the individual parts more. When I read a story on the Archive, I tend to sort of skim over certain parts that don't seem quite so interesting... I guess you could say I read it a bit more carelessly!

Of course, if I'm reading a story on the boards, I'll certainly be very happy to see the author post frequently, so that I don't half-forget what has happened while I'm waiting for the next instalment. Two, three or even four instalments a week is just great!

As for stories that don't get finished.... Oh, that is frustrating. I'm not happy to imagine endings to them myself. When a story doesn't get finished, I'm afraid I just sort of discard it in my mind, with a sense of disappointment. I feel like I have been following a murder mystery in the news. The media have shown me all this tantalizing evidence, but then after months of trying to bring the case to a close, the news about it seems to be coming in more and more infrequently. And then it sort of disappears altogether. All you are left with is a frustrating sense of mystery and a realization that you are never going to know whodunnit.

Ann

Well, you know...there's my bus theory. Say no more.

Sadly, I was forced to vote with the last option. But if I did have the time, I'd probably just read everything. Or almost. I used to try to abide by my bus theory, but usually temptation to read the next thing posted won out instead. What can I say? I have no willpower.

LabRat

I don't read any story until it is finished. The reason is that currently I have 8 stories sitting on my harddive that have not been posted to for as
long as 1 to 3 months. Recently I deleted a number of stories from my computer that had not been posted to longer than that. I figure if the writer starts posting again I will download the deleted chapters again. Just as the authors of these stories have time crunch problems - so do readers. We all have a lot to do in our lives and having to rereading stories because I've forgotten what I've read because it has been so long between postings is not an option. So as I said I wait until the story is finished.

I will say that I would prefer that it not go to the archives for a while after it is finished. I've read many a story that has made it on the archive that have things that should be fixed. On more than one occasion I have emailed the author and they have never fixed the problems. I guess they don't have time to go back or the inclination once it has been archived.

Anyway I love reading the stories but I just don't have the time to invest in stories that aren't finished so I wait for the finished product.

Well, I usually read vignettes here at the boards and longer fics at the archive. Just so I can be certain that I'm reading a whole fic. :p

It's not as simple as that, kmar. To correct errors in a story on the Archive, the author has to go through the Editor-in-Chief. The story may very well have to be GEd again. And then the webmaster has to upload it again. So it's giving several people unnecessary work just to fix some errors that probably aren't all that important in the grand scheme of things.

There are typos and even a couple of continuity errors in stories of mine on the Archive, but it's really not worth making people do extra work just to spare my blushes.


Wendy

Alas, none of the options offered suited my response, which would have been:

I will read stories that have not yet been completed, because it is a non-issue for me as to whether they've been completed or not.

Yvonne

I read on the archive. Firstly, because I cannot stand reading story parts in bits. There's an absolutely fabulous story being posted on a SW message board (story is called "Thrwarted Fate"). I read all that there was and then started checking each week on Thursdays for the updates (they update on Thursdays). But I couldn't enjoy the story. I just can't read stories 5 to 10 minutes at a time. I like to read things straight through.

I also read on the archive because I hate it when stories don't get finished. This way I don't even have to go the fanfic message boards and don't risk getting sucked in by those unfinished stories.

I voted in the category that I will read incomplete stories because I am eternally optimistic...but in truth, being optimistic has nothing to do with it. Obviously in a perfect world I would prefer that every story is posted and completed in a timely manner, but that's not the world we live in.

To be honest, I'm not sure how some readers have the willpower to wait for a story to show up on the Archive. If I see Wendy posting a new story on the mbs, and she warns in that first post that it's going to be a bit of an epic, do you honestly expect me to WAIT?! True, I think that Wendy has always completed any story that she's started...but what if this one was the first? I don't have the willpower, or the patience, or feel the need to wait until it's done - if I have the time, I'm going to read it NOW!

I've been involved in three other fandoms over the years, and all of them have their share of unfinished stories that I deeply regret were never completed. But never have I felt cheated by the author, nor felt frustrated that I've "wasted" my time, nor felt that I would "die" if I didn't find out how the story would end (well, I've come close to this once or twice ).

But despite recognizing the validity of Labby's bus theory, I've never had the willpower to wait, especially if it's an author whose previous works I've enjoyed. I can name several unfinished stories just now off the top of my head - Missy's What's Love Got to Do With It, Kae's When the Fallen Angels Fly, Sara's Unfinished Business, Lynn's Haunting Eden, Irene's New Heights - that may never be finished. I'll be very sorry if that's the case, because I've loved them all. There are undoubtedly any number of others that I haven't mentioned. But I don't regret reading any of them, because even the little bit of the story that these authors were able to share with us was a gift, in my opinion. I just reread Haunting Eden a few days ago, for example. Even though I knew it would make me cry (which it did), even though I had remembered exactly where it had ended and I knew that there still wasn't any more - I still love that story and felt the need to reconnect with it.

So even though in these past few months I've been completely delinquent about giving feedback - for which I owe everyone a blanket apology - I treasure the stories that are posted here, and will never complain if, for whatever reason, the story isn't able to be told in its entirety.

Heck, half the time even when a story is posted in full, people are screaming for a sequel! We're never satisfied...

Kathy

I voted optimisitic, since I try to read stories on the boards. Try, being the keyword. <g>

And, of course, there's another option, Kmar. Perhaps they just didn't agree that there was a problem to fix.

LabRat

Hm. I read everything eventually. However, I voted that I'll wait for stories to hit the Archive because I don't have time to follow installments these days.


Jen

It's about time management...

I have a tendancy to sit down in the evening and just keep reading, all through the night and probably out the otherside if I don't force myself to stop. So installments mean I get to have a life as well as fanfic

Oh, and I love fics so much, I don't usually want them to end (if that makes sense!) So if they don't, well, it doesn't really matter. The Gorn, Plan9Lives, et al, sorry you don't feel able to be around any more, but thank you for your contributions to fanfic.

Helga

I used to read every story that popped up on the message board. But for the last year plus, time has been scarce, so I tend to check the archive each Sunday to see what's been posted. I'll likely read the short stories right there. For the longer ones, I'll copy them over to Word and make an eBook out of them that I can read on my PocketPC when I have free time.

I'll still check the message board every once in a while and read some short ones, but I rarely these days, if ever, read the long ones. I just don't have the time.

I read at the archive, but it's not so much because I'm worried about stories not being completed. I've been involved with fanfiction long enough to have pretty well accepted that possibility as part of the culture and learned to live with it. I choose to read completed stories because these days I don't have the brain cells required to follow multiple WIP's - the vast majority of which (in this fandom) involve the same two leading characters and many of the same supporting characters in often similar situations. Wait...was that the one where Clark swallowed the Kryptonite? Or maybe it was a Kryptonite bullet? Or a Kryptonite massage oil? Anyway, he got darn sick, I know that... It just gets confusing!

On the one hand, WIP's can be lovely, because they fit into those "coffee breaks" that are pretty easy to manage, whereas a four-hour read-a-thon can be awfully hard to fit into real life, but I enjoy the reading more if I can do it straight through and really enter one author's world. And when I'm writing, I stick with MY world, for better or for worse, and don't read other stories at all until mine is finished. It's just too easy for other authors' interpretations/characterizations to creep into my own writing and affect the internal consistency of the story.

Just the new girl's .02

Caroline

I picked that I don't read it until it's archived...I picked that because I didn't really get on the message boards until recently...like two months ago...but I have been reading the archived stories for about four years or so. Most of the ones I've read are great and I hope my story turns out to be as good as one of those but I guess We'll just have to wait and see.

I try to read as much as possible on the boards, simply because it is easier for me timewise to read shorter installments rather than really long stories.

That said, I run to the archive every chance I get to download all the longer stories to read whenever I do have more time or when there aren't that many new installments posted. That way I always have a fresh supply of stories and don't go through withdrawal symptoms.

Natascha

I always wait for stories to be posted on the archive, partly because I find it tedious and confusing to read stories by instalment but mostly because I'm not really on the boards that often and ofcourse theres the fact that I have no life so sitting for hours and reading a full lenth fic is not really a problem for me.

I found this to be a very interesting poll. I'm kind of split right now because I'm new to the whole experience. Right now I'm doing a lot of reading on the archive - but mainly because I'm playing catch up. I've read a lot of stories on the MB's.

The main reason I like to read on the MB's is to be able to provide fdk to the author...encouragement to keep them writing all these wonderful stories.

I will read about anything, though I hate unfinished stories. I'd rather read a complete story ( and sequals! ), but then I'll read not yet complete ones because I want to read more, then I'll read no hope of ever being completed ones, then I'll go look for more!

One of my pet peeves is an author who gets you all involved in a story and then leaves you hanging in the middle of it, forever.

I'm aware that I have 2 stories that are hanging at the moment, but in spite of a lot of real life issues, I am still working on them, and will eventually finish. That's a promise.

Nan

This is actually the first fandom I have ever been a part of where I started off on an archive full of completed stories. This was a completely new concept to me. I have to say I have become a bit spoiled. As I was reading I was a bit sad to have missed out on the hey-day of this fandom but then I realize how many great stories I got to read and didn't have to wait on. ^_~ That makes things a bit better.

This is a really hard one for me to answer though. In one aspect I love being able to read a finished story in one sitting. There is something magical about a well written story and how it flows. You don't even realize those stories were written in parts. You also don't have to read parts over again to remember anything. For me I can get into the story and really focus on the characters if i do it in one sitting.

But... I also love to read them as they are being written. There is something refreshing about being able to chat with an author as they write their story and find out what is going on in their head as they pump out a wonderful story. It's also way to much fun waiting for the next part to be posted and the excitement of seeing that next part pop up.

On the flip side, I hate reading one that is being written when an author changes their vision of the story just for the fans. I'm not talking about small things but where they destroy entire plot lines just to make people happy. I'd rather see alternative endings than for an author to do that.

Anyway, I do believe I have just started to ramble. *stops this post before she continues to do just that*

My current story is not complete, and because I've read feedback along the way, I have been able to add certain things in way of explanation. Feedback can be very valuable for a story! But I will also say that the basic story was mostly done before I ever started posting. One example I can give about feedback is that I mentioned in passing a person's pet cat. I probably would never have mentioned little Meowoof ever again if she hadn't become so popular among feedback leavers. Feedback can be very valuable to an ongoing story and I think it can greatly improve a story, but I don't want to see the author change the story just to make readers happy. I know I got major flack because of something I did, but I stood by it. But then if not for feedback little Meowoof would never have been mentioned again.

I read stories in both the archive and on the boards. I don't read as many on the boards because like others I can't keep it straight when I'm reading several stories at once.


Ah, somebody else does this:

I love doing that.


Well said, Wendy:

But then really, I doubt you have made any major typos....

I read anything and everything (whether I have the time/inclination to feedback as I would like to is an entirely different issue).It's certainly disappointing when a story is unfinished, but if there's anything I've learned from my reading obsession (both in and outside of fanfic) is to enjoy the ride. I love speculating on where a given author will take me once I'm drawn into his-her world. That to me is enough, so that I don't necessarily swear off unfinished stories.

Haunting Eden (for example) as Kathy mentioned is one of those where the ride is worth it despite the abscence of an ending (thus far). I could say the same for TJ Gruffs and Concubines. All in all, if I'm drawn in by a story (or already worship the author) it matters little to me whether its finished. I mean of course I'd love it all the more if it was, but that doesn't mean I don't savor every word all the same.

I read as much as I can hoping the story is finished as soon as possible