If it doesn't have an ending then don't force one.
my first ten stories in my Paul and Jenny series follow on one after the other almost seamlessly. stories don't end with a full stop, more ..... so leave threads dangling.
Some stories keep you the reader hanging on desperate to know what happens to the characters, but these rely on an exceptionally good initial chapter to ingnite or inspire that interest, there are a couple of stories I am following right now as addiional chapters are laid down but all of them could benefit from editing.
For me stories in three page segments or chapters and maybe ten chapters seem optimal, there is a limit to the amount of different experiences one character can realistically endure.
I think the answer is to plan the story, begnning middle and end and then flesh it out so the whole tale is rounded and has a conclusion, like Pride and Prejudice or a film.
Too many of us write like Charles Dickens, much of his work was serialied and written a segment each week with a loose structure and he like us had a job to collect all the loose ends and conclude his stories
I will not start to read a story further along than Ch 3 or 4, some are up to Ch 80 which is crazy, the hits on these become minimal.
Personally when the record of views drops too low thats when I abandon posting, although sometimes I give it a year or so and add a chapter.
I don't think there is a rule, just give up when the redership plummets.
