vr_trakowski (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vr_trakowski) wrote2005-10-26 08:35 am
vr_trakowski) wrote2005-10-26 08:35 am
Entry tags:
Dichotomy
The discussion has come up before, about reading WsIP and posting them, and I find myself on both sides of the issue, really. I don't read posted stories until they're finished, usually, for a number of reasons. And yet I post stories in spaced chapters.
I suppose it is, in part, a desire to get more feedback. Who doesn't like happy reviews? But the main reason I do it is because posting serially has become part of my creative process. It's something I didn't discover or perhaps develop until I started writing for the CSI fandom, because before I was only posting short stories, or writing huge chunks and taking over a year to do each one.
When I got to CSI, I found a huge and nearly constant spring of creativity. It's certainly different, writing for a show that hasn't been canceled yet! *grin* And I began writing in different formats, going longer than a few thousand words sometimes. At first, I only posted when I had finished a fic, mainly because of my iron-clad promise to myself that I would never break off a story that I had begun posting. I would always, always finish it, and not leave readers hanging.
I don't remember which story I began posting without having actually finished it first. It may have been "In the Center". I found that seeing the posted chapters somehow fired my creativity, spurring me to write and rewrite in a way I can't explain. It's a weird effect, but a good one; the original ending chapters for ItC were poor compared to what I finally came up with. And "Insontis" became longer and richer. Of course, I only start posting a long story when I'm pretty certain that I will carry through to the end. The whole plot has to be there, I have to feel a certain level of confidence.
It's happened with HTTM, too. In fact, last week an entire scenario demanded to be rewritten, to the tune of one or two extra chapters. It was spurred in part by reader suggestions, as well as my own somewhat puzzling subconscious. I think the result is much better, more fun, than what I originally had in mind, if slightly more expected. In the end, I'll have a finer story.
I suppose it is, in part, a desire to get more feedback. Who doesn't like happy reviews? But the main reason I do it is because posting serially has become part of my creative process. It's something I didn't discover or perhaps develop until I started writing for the CSI fandom, because before I was only posting short stories, or writing huge chunks and taking over a year to do each one.
When I got to CSI, I found a huge and nearly constant spring of creativity. It's certainly different, writing for a show that hasn't been canceled yet! *grin* And I began writing in different formats, going longer than a few thousand words sometimes. At first, I only posted when I had finished a fic, mainly because of my iron-clad promise to myself that I would never break off a story that I had begun posting. I would always, always finish it, and not leave readers hanging.
I don't remember which story I began posting without having actually finished it first. It may have been "In the Center". I found that seeing the posted chapters somehow fired my creativity, spurring me to write and rewrite in a way I can't explain. It's a weird effect, but a good one; the original ending chapters for ItC were poor compared to what I finally came up with. And "Insontis" became longer and richer. Of course, I only start posting a long story when I'm pretty certain that I will carry through to the end. The whole plot has to be there, I have to feel a certain level of confidence.
It's happened with HTTM, too. In fact, last week an entire scenario demanded to be rewritten, to the tune of one or two extra chapters. It was spurred in part by reader suggestions, as well as my own somewhat puzzling subconscious. I think the result is much better, more fun, than what I originally had in mind, if slightly more expected. In the end, I'll have a finer story.