Stories in chapters - good or bad?

[sr71plt]

I'm surprised that anybody can actually write and then submit individual chapters. Personally, I prefer to write the entire story and then go back through it to correct mistakes and inconsistencies before submitting it in its complete form. After all, if you've already submitted part of a tale, then you have to follow the lines that you have already laid down, rather than being able to make a small adjustment and thus allow you to be able to open up a whole new scenario.

I do write sequels and connected stories, but I avoid calling anything "Chapter 2". The only time this happened was without my consent. I feel that any of my stories should be able to stand on their own, without the need to read a prequel.

RomaCEisdead

I agree with that. If the various stories related and you'd prefer they were read in a certain order, though, you then have the problem of not having the stories connected--and ordered--unless they are put in order with chapter numbers in the title. There's a lot of discussion on this point on the "Where to Publish Serials" thread over on the "Editor's Forum."

 

[evanslily]

I'm surprised that anybody can actually write and then submit individual chapters. Personally, I prefer to write the entire story and then go back through it to correct mistakes and inconsistencies before submitting it in its complete form. After all, if you've already submitted part of a tale, then you have to follow the lines that you have already laid down, rather than being able to make a small adjustment and thus allow you to be able to open up a whole new scenario.

RomaCEisdead

True. Though you could always edit a previous chapter if you got yourself into a real pickle plot-wise. Depends on how worried you are about losing your readers. I'm writing for me primarily. It's great if other people like reading what I write but I wouldn't hesitate to adjust something if it became necessary.

So far it hasn't...

 

[rachy91]

Reading is Good!

i LOVE reading the stories here at lit, especially in the bdsm section *hehe* but something that manages to annoy me tremendously is the fact of The authors : -Editing
- Phrasing
AND the fact that when they do have chapters the chapters are TOO short , i enjoy chapters that are atleast 2 pages, or just the stories that are 5 pages instead of chapters

MHO Rach

 

[DarkBee]

Most of my stories are split up into chapters, this is because a lot of my ideas are tailor-made for long stories and several plots, characters and sex scenes.
When I start writing I know beforehand if the story will be very long, thus becoming a series, or short enough for 1 chapter.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

True. Though you could always edit a previous chapter if you got yourself into a real pickle plot-wise. Depends on how worried you are about losing your readers. I'm writing for me primarily. It's great if other people like reading what I write but I wouldn't hesitate to adjust something if it became necessary.

evanslily, if you post a story here, you are, by definition, looking for readers. This thing about 'writing for myself' just doesn't hold water. I wrote for myself, then I found Lit - now I write to get readers' comments.

On chapters, I think it works if you post each part with less than a week gap. Also, it should be a novel/novella type of story (whatever the category). I get pissed off with writers who want to start a soap opera where they shortchange with the same old characters jumping through hoops. I think it's just lazy writing.

 

[sr71plt]

evanslily, if you post a story here, you are, by definition, looking for readers. This thing about 'writing for myself' just doesn't hold water. I wrote for myself, then I found Lit - now I write to get readers' comments.

On chapters, I think it works if you post each part with less than a week gap. Also, it should be a novel/novella type of story (whatever the category). I get pissed off with writers who want to start a soap opera where they shortchange with the same old characters jumping through hoops. I think it's just lazy writing.

I agree that you don't post stories here because you write them just to please yourself.

I've also tried to post chapters of a longer piece in near succession, but, as has been pointed out here before, probably the most popular serialization on Lit. ("Montana Summers") was spun out in 16 segments over a two-year period. So there's apparently no real generalization to be made on that.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I agree that you don't post stories here because you write them just to please yourself.

I've also tried to post chapters of a longer piece in near succession, but, as has been pointed out here before, probably the most popular serialization on Lit. ("Montana Summers") was spun out in 16 segments over a two-year period. So there's apparently no real generalization to be made on that.

True, sr, but drk was weaving a big cobweb, not giving an episodic - sort of 'Friends' - tale. If you write exciting fiction, the readers will follow you - no matter what the genre.

 

[Jedikool]

My story is also in chapters. I first imagined it as a TV series, so i guess i have each chapter as a seperate episode. This way you can built your charactors and relationships more. My story is less about just plain fucking and more about teasing a bit, and showing peripheral action, and building up to bigger sex scenes.

 

[evanslily]

evanslily, if you post a story here, you are, by definition, looking for readers. This thing about 'writing for myself' just doesn't hold water. I wrote for myself, then I found Lit - now I write to get readers' comments.

Damn it, you're right. Yes, I do write for myself--I have done for as long as I can remember. It's got me through some pretty traumatic times in my life. You can't beat the pure escapism of a fantasy world. But of course I started submitting stuff here in the hope other people might read it and like it.

I guess I was rebelling against the idea that I should write the whole thing before submitting. For me, that idea's just too daunting. I'd lose interest, lose the flow--I have before, too many times. Knowing that I've got to get another chapter out (for those readers I said I wasn't bothered about, LOL) is keeping me writing every day at the moment. And okay, I don't think I'm ever going to be a great author, but I'll feel better about the stuff I'm writing.

 

[DarkBee]

I write just for myself: through writing stories I can sort of act out my deepest sexual fantasies and thoughts, because I can't act them out at the moment...
Writing in Dutch exclusively also severely restricts the number of potentional readers, but I don't really mind that.
Every comment I get is more than welcome, even when they seem to miss the point (such as taking a story literally, when the disclaimer says everything in the story is fiction), having such a small number of readers and an even smaller number of readers who comment.

 

[sr71plt]

I guess I was rebelling against the idea that I should write the whole thing before submitting. For me, that idea's just too daunting. I'd lose interest, lose the flow--I have before, too many times. Knowing that I've got to get another chapter out (for those readers I said I wasn't bothered about, LOL) is keeping me writing every day at the moment. And okay, I don't think I'm ever going to be a great author, but I'll feel better about the stuff I'm writing.

Although I write it all before posting it (except when I decide to add on in hindsight), I think you're fine with rebelling against the idea that it "should" be done one particular way. Lots of serials are running on Lit. that post before the next segment is written--and seem to be doing fine in the readership area.

 

[evanslily]

I write just for myself: through writing stories I can sort of act out my deepest sexual fantasies and thoughts, because I can't act them out at the moment...

LOL, yeah there is that aspect to it. Since my husband became my herband my sex life has taken a bit of a turn. Not necessarily for the worst, you understand... But dildos and vibrators aren't quite the same, sigh...

And

I think you're fine with rebelling against the idea that it "should" be done one particular way. Lots of serials are running on Lit. that post before the next segment is written--and seem to be doing fine in the readership area.

Thank you. I appreciate the reassurance

 

[Oblimo]

I started submitting when I thought I had my outline and the rough all laid out, and I was just moving through, posting when I'd revised the second draft of each chapter. Considering it was my first novel-length project in a decade (and that my last novel project never got past the first draft)...it was not my smartest moment. But I wanted to write in public, hoping it would drive me to the finish line. So about 90K words in, I realized I needed another 100K+ to write the story I wanted to tell.

Oops. Sufficie to say my outline and word estimates sucked.

So I've had to slow down my publishing to Literotica until the darn trilogy was finished. I kept momentum by making weekly posts of first and second draft materials to my own site (I use pbwiki, since they don't seem to mind fetishy smut), and now the second draft is complete, and I'm pestering Copycarver again.

I think the serial novel idea is viable (I mean, Dickens did it) but I'd want to be quite familiar with both my story and myself in order to have a solid game-plan, and of course the humility to realize that I'm not Dickens.

 

[LadySherotica]

me, too ...

I have one up, and I had intended to post the next two sections until I considered it. The author stops at six right now, badly. I can't make up my mind where I want it to go, I had seven written but I didn't post it. It was, well something was wrong with it, and the more I read and edited, the less I liked it.

Since I am an egocentric son of a bitch, I write what I want to read first and I didn't want to read the seventh section the way I had written it. I feel bad leaving it hanging, but I think I would feel worse not getting it the way I want.

So I cleaned up another story I had ready, Family Tradition of Bondage, and the first section is poasted, and part two should be approved tonight if the date is any indication. Part three is submitted, and awaiting approval. Part four is ready, and on down the line through nine, the end. As I post those, I'm playing around with another idea I have called "The Switch" and trying to write it.

I am also a bad writer, I don't outline my stories, before or after the fact. I just close my eyes and let the story take itself. My imagination works on one scene, and then another scene. When writing I shuffle the scenes around and put them together until it feels right, if that makes any sense.

Lately nothing has been coming to me, so I don't write. I can't force it, and won't waste my time trying.

I know this is an old post, but I was bored tonight and reading so I decided to comment ... I don't think this makes you a bad writer; I actually write the same way. My favorite stories come ... no pun intended hehe ... when I just sit down to write. If it turns me on, I'm happy ... if it does the same for others, I'm ecstatic! lol

 

[SevenSquared]

My general thoughts on chapters:

1. If a story is two pages or less it shouldn't be in chapters.

2. If a story is 5 pages or less, but is a continuous narrative with no convenient break-off points, then it probably shouldn't be in chapters.

3. I'm not rally a fan of 'cliffhangers'. If a story is in chapters then I feel the end of each chapter should be a natural break in the story, whether that is the end of a big scene or the conclusion of a sub-plot.

4. I tend to prefer the story to be written, then broken into chapters rather than written in instalments. I hate it when I start reading a story and get really into it only to find the author lost interest some time in 2006 and left it blatantly unfinished. You don't need to submit the whole story at once, but at least make sure the rest is written.

5. If the story is finished then end it! Don't post more chapters just because you have grown overly attached to your characters or because someone requested it in the comments.

 

[estragon]

No hard-and-fast rule. If the story is good, how it's told is less an issue than content. The all-time BDSM classic is Sir_Nathan's "Culture Shock", all 37 or however many pages, no chapters. I stayed up all night reading it. LettersfromTatyana's "Seven Years After the Motel" posted over more than a year, IIRC, and it was a total winner.

Tell a good story, make it hot, make the characters real, and you can post how you like and when you like. And oh! is it easier in the telling than in the doing!

 

[podga]

As somebody else here commented 5 years ago, I used to prefer reading chapters, because I was nailed to the PC. Thanks to mobile devices, it's now easier to take things with you, so length isn't so much an issue for me as a reader (though I still wouldn't read a new story on the bus or at the beach due to possibly embarassing developments :*) !
That being said, as a writer, I do post in chapters, even though I have a full story written out and the sex scenes are within reason, i.e. most adults probably won't feel the need to reach for their bits while reading.

One reason is probably just habit; it's how I did it when there were fewer mobile devices, so I hadn't really thought about it until I saw this thread.

The other is that both I and my proofreader tend to lose concentration if we're dealing with large chunks of text, so if there are natural breaks, I'll take advantage of them. Of course, we could proofread in chunks and then post all at once, but somehow looming deadlines make us both pay more attention.

 

[lazyhobo]

I'd personally say that, If you're going to write stories in chapters, it'll either be a collection of stand alone stories, possibly surrounding a single story / character. Or it will be a long story, which you feel is too long for a single story update on lit.

Lets be honest, a lot of people come here for jacking off material and will probably stop reading after a sex scene or two. Thus, having a single large 10+ pave or so story, perhaps a lot wont read it. Splitting a story into chapters, gives them a single chapter to read for every sit down.

As far as the whole Post it as you write it, having a long story of different chapters, is a style that has been performed for a long time. For instance, lets take comics for example, with comics its a buy it as it comes out, not really a buy the whole story. After the entire story IS released, then you can buy them in a single book.

There are a lot of benefits to posting them as you do it, or posting them once its 100% complete. An example could be, spending a year or two writing a collection of chapters, completing, posting, to find out that there was something involved in the story that possibly ruined it from the readers perspective, something that COULD have been changed via Comments and feedback. I mean, lets be fair, if you've wrote say 20 chapters and posted them, is there any reason for people to criticize your first 19 chapters? because at this point, you cant change them.

There was one author, who after writing chapter 23, took a two week break from chapter 24, to EDIT 23, why? after posting it, and receiving feedback, there was a part of the story he suddenly decided to remove, he explained it to us, and its all fine. But, imagine if he had already released the next few chapters? or even finished the story. He would have had to go through every chapter from 23 onwards, removing anything that related to the piece he removed.

Now that's just one example, but the point is, While I have always hated waiting for updates, I feel its a system that Works, and is a good option to choose. The only real complaints about the system are generally the Readers saying "I don't want to wait."

Keep any waiting short if possible, but don't decide your decision of Chapters or no Chapters based on the "I hate waiting" aspect from the readers view. Base it on Your view of the Pros and Cons to both sides.

Extra Note : I do agree that if posting a series, you should have a certain amount of the chapters complete, but you do not need them all.

Also, if it comes to the fact that some authors dont finish a story, then Might I suggest checking whether its completed or not? and at the least seeing its last update.

I once read a story, finished it to find it had been left alone for seven years. On the last couple of chapters, it was made clear they were not the ending, I just assumed it was finished. Checking comments on the last chapter, and if you see things such as "shame you never finished it" then you know its unfinished.

 

[DeYaKen]

There are a number of reasons why an author will divide a story into chapters.

In some cases they may feel that the story is too long to be read in a single sitting so they divide it into chunks that the reader will have time to read.

In other cases the story may naturally form into discreet sections.

When I wrote "people can change" both of these conditions applied The story would have been very long if posted in a single block. It also fell naturally into sections "The decline", "The recovery" and "The triumph" of the hero.

However, In the case of "secrets and lies" (my first publication) I wrote most of the story and had a number of possible endings. I decided that rather than provide a choice of endings I would leave the story hanging for the reader to decide how it should end. Most of the feedback wanted closure so I picked my favourite ending and called it chapter 2. You might say that the division was accidental rather than intended.

Personally I think that divided or not the author should have finished the work before publishing any of it. That way they can post the whole story with minimal gaps in between chapters and they won't find they have written themselves into a corner or end up repeating themselves. My next story is a bit on the long side so I am currently having arguements with myself as to whether I should divide it or not.

 

[PennLady]

There are a number of reasons why an author will divide a story into chapters.

In some cases they may feel that the story is too long to be read in a single sitting so they divide it into chunks that the reader will have time to read.

That's my primary reason for doing it. I can't read more than 3-4 Lit pages at a sitting, so I don't ask that of others. I know you can stop and go back to a Lit story, much as you would a paper book, but it's not quite the same. And if your tab or browser gets closed, it might be harder to find where you left off.

I try to have better than half the story done before I start posting. At least for me, that's enough of the story to ensure there won't be any dramatic changes that require re-writing of earlier sections. It's not a guarantee, of course, as I had trouble with further chapters in my most recent story and caught up to myself, and there was a long lag between chapters. I felt bad for that, but on the other hand the site is free and well, life happens.

 

[estragon]

For writers like SA Penn Lady, with an established, loyal fan base, letting some time go past doesn't really damage fan's interest. I'd hesitate to suggest that course to someone else who's either starting out or without an established following, but hey! never up, never in, as the golfers say; so do it your way.

 

[SevenSquared]

There was one author, who after writing chapter 23, took a two week break from chapter 24, to EDIT 23, why? after posting it, and receiving feedback, there was a part of the story he suddenly decided to remove, he explained it to us, and its all fine. But, imagine if he had already released the next few chapters? or even finished the story. He would have had to go through every chapter from 23 onwards, removing anything that related to the piece he removed.

Now that's just one example, but the point is, While I have always hated waiting for updates, I feel its a system that Works, and is a good option to choose. The only real complaints about the system are generally the Readers saying "I don't want to wait."

I don't think that's the only, or even the primary reason to finish your story before you start publishing it. For me, the biggest problem with releasing parts of the story before the whole thing has been written is often you will think of a great development for the story, but you can't use it because you are hampered by something you have already 'set in stone' by publishing it in an earlier chapter. Sometimes changing something completely innocuous like the day of the week an event occurred, or the main character's fathers occupation can make the difference between a story thread or plot development making sense or not. Right now I'm writing a four-part story and it seems every day I am going back to earlier parts to change little things here and there.

Alternatively, even worse, you may suddenly realise that you have made a mistake in your earlier chapters which make something you were relying on as a key element to your story later on not work. My last story was set in college and it wasn't until half way through writing that I realised that the chain of events only made sense if the college used 3 trimesters rather than 2 semesters. If the first half was already published that would have caused me a major headache.

Of course, these things can be fixed with post-publication edits, but I am always reluctant to do that when it comes to actual story elements rather than cosmetic or grammar changes. People who had already read the first part may become thoroughly confused if something was ninja'd and they didn't realise it, which could ruin the story for them.

 

[lazyhobo]

I don't think that's the only, or even the primary reason to finish your story before you start publishing it. For me, the biggest problem with releasing parts of the story before the whole thing has been written is often you will think of a great development for the story, but you can't use it because you are hampered by something you have already 'set in stone' by publishing it in an earlier chapter. Sometimes changing something completely innocuous like the day of the week an event occurred, or the main character's fathers occupation can make the difference between a story thread or plot development making sense or not. Right now I'm writing a four-part story and it seems every day I am going back to earlier parts to change little things here and there.

Alternatively, even worse, you may suddenly realise that you have made a mistake in your earlier chapters which make something you were relying on as a key element to your story later on not work. My last story was set in college and it wasn't until half way through writing that I realised that the chain of events only made sense if the college used 3 trimesters rather than 2 semesters. If the first half was already published that would have caused me a major headache.

Of course, these things can be fixed with post-publication edits, but I am always reluctant to do that when it comes to actual story elements rather than cosmetic or grammar changes. People who had already read the first part may become thoroughly confused if something was ninja'd and they didn't realise it, which could ruin the story for them.

The segmant of my post that you quoted, mentioned nothing about finishing a story before posting it, that point was about a single reason as to why posting in chapters was a good thing. No question or mention of whether it was finished or not, merely how you could post it.

And I never said that it was the ONLY or even PRIMARY reason, I merely said it was A reason. I also said that this is a decision you may want to make after looking at the pros and cons to each.

Bottom Line : If you want to post a big chapter, do so. If you want to post a series, do so. There are always different ways of posting as well as different times to post a chapter, each with its own benefit or con. I merely feel that the posting of chapter by chapter is a style thats used in real life and works, and is also the one I myself would use if writing a bigger story / series.

 

[PennLady]

It seems the issue is less whether a story should be posted in chapters, than whether someone should begin posting before the story is completely written.

I think most of us would prefer the ideal of having a story written before posting it, whether in chapters or not. I can speak from experience and say that after spending a couple of months writing something, I get to the point of wanting to post it in part because I need a break from the actual writing. Or, I need something in addition to the writing. I doubt any comment would change what I'm writing unless it pointed out a blatant contradiction in the story.

Even though I try to wait until better than half my story is done before posting, that doesn't always mean the story will post without a gap (as evidenced by my most recent story).

If you don't want to read an incomplete story, I can understand that. You can check the author's submission list to see when it's done. But I don't think most authors start with the idea of not finishing. And as was pointed out in reference to castlestone's "Sophia" in another thread, sometimes things beyond a writer's control end the writing a story. For others, like me, it may just be that life happens and you get too busy to write for a while, or a chapter or plot line gives you more trouble than you expected.

 

[SevenSquared]

The segmant of my post that you quoted, mentioned nothing about finishing a story before posting it, that point was about a single reason as to why posting in chapters was a good thing. No question or mention of whether it was finished or not, merely how you could post it.

And I never said that it was the ONLY or even PRIMARY reason, I merely said it was A reason. I also said that this is a decision you may want to make after looking at the pros and cons to each.

Ah sorry, I misunderstood your post. I thought you were saying that the only reason to wait until you had finished was so that readers did not get frustrated waiting for the next part.

I agree with you that there are different ways of doing things and people have to go with whatever works for them. Just pointing out some of the less commonly cited problems with publishing on the fly.