Another stupid question

[Britva415]

But it isn't just the events of the last chapter that determine the end of the series. Life isn't that way most times. A real-life story doesn't just come to an end. There is ALWAYS questions left unanswered, things left unsaid. In a written story there are numerous ways to end it. As I said earlier:


Comshaw

I don't get it. You're the one who said the definitive conclusion was "apparent" in the last chapter, and asked why it was necessary to mark the series as completed.

 

[Comshaw]

I don't get it. You're the one who said the definitive conclusion was "apparent" in the last chapter, and asked why it was necessary to mark the series as completed.

Perhaps if you'd read all my posts in this thread you would understand.

Comshaw

 

[Comshaw]

Putting 'The End' at the end of a story gives no information to people deciding whether they want to give your story their time. Marking it as Complete, which takes two seconds, does.

I'd also say that not every story ends with a the-end. Almost Us is a great example. It's a complete story as written in two parts. It's also an ending with a million miles of runway, and I hope to God Ambersin continues it. Whether it's over or not is ambiguous, and it should either be marked 'Complete' or continued. Putting The End or an epilogue at the end of chapter 2 would make the semi-cliffhanger weaker and the story worse.

Marking it complete OR putting The End at the conclusion of a story does the same thing. In my little pea brain they accomplish the exact same thing, telling those who have come to the end of a story that it is the end of a story. The only thing "complete" does is tell the reader the series is done as far as the author is concerned. As noted by others many readers do not agree with a series conclusion and insist it needs to be carried on. So if the reader sees a "complete" marking on the series reads it and doesn't consider it complete, is it really? Or did it really matter if it had that label?


Comshaw

 

[YmaOHyd]

Marking it complete OR putting The End at the conclusion of a story does the same thing. In my little pea brain they accomplish the exact same thing, telling those who have come to the end of a story that it is the end of a story. The only thing "complete" does is tell the reader the series is done as far as the author is concerned. As noted by others many readers do not agree with a series conclusion and insist it needs to be carried on. So if the reader sees a "complete" marking on the series reads it and doesn't consider it complete, is it really? Or did it really matter if it had that label?


Comshaw

Marking it complete means that information is visible before the reader starts the story. Putting The End at the end tells the reader the story is over after they're done reading it. And, as much as the reader might want the series to continue, it's on the author to make that decision, whether they do it with a note at the end or marking it Complete. At least if they use the Complete feature they can re-open it for additional stories if they decide later that their ending wasn't quite enough or quite right.

And again, not every story ends in a spot where it's appropriate to put "The End" at the end. Another example of one that's like that is Cascades by Blackwell_Link, which for my money is the best group sex/open relationship story on Literotica. There are six chapters. The story could have ended after Chapter 1 as a perfectly satisfying standalone. It could have ended (a little weakly, I think, but it could've) after Chapter 2, as Nat lets go of her old relationships and embraces her future with Ash. It could have ended after Chapter 4, when Nat and Ash admit to each other that they're the most important people in each others' lives. And it could end after Chapter 6, when Ash accidentally proposes. Or it could keep going! There's plenty of story left to tell, if the author wants to. And if they don't, or the audience decides they're not interested and the author wants to move on to other work, they can just click Complete without having to make that decision prior to submission.

 

[Britva415]

This is a minor tangent, but I don't know - I wonder if an author can go back to a "marked complete" series and unmark it again?

So that it will then show as "in progress" again.

EDIT oh nevermind, @SimonDoom answered that on the first page.

 

[YmaOHyd]

This is a minor tangent, but I don't know - I wonder if an author can go back to a "marked complete" series and unmark it again?

So that it will then show as "in progress" again

You can, yes. Doesn't even need to be approved by a moderator.

 

[Britva415]

Perhaps if you'd read all my posts in this thread you would understand.

Comshaw

I have, and I'm really not sure whether I do or not. It sounds like you're just saying "you don't have to mark it as completed."

Which of course is true, but not what OP was asking for or talking about.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

To back up a little: When I first sought to show a series of mine as completed, I was first faced with a choice to take the series out of 'automatic' management. There appeared a warning that if I left 'automatic,' I could never return to it. (Oh, dread!) It took a few seconds for me to decide that I didn't see a reason to go back to 'automatic,' so I selected manual management. I was then shown the dialog box illustrated above by @ShelbyDawn57, and clicked to show the series as completed.

I may go overboard when it comes to easing a reader through a series. Not only do I write and edit the whole thing before I submit any of the parts, but I state in a preface that I did that, and in some cases I've said how many parts there are. Once I learned about showing a series as completed, I added that action. If I, as a reader, fear commitment to an open-ended story, I imagine other readers might feel the same way.

 

[Comshaw]

Marking it complete means that information is visible before the reader starts the story. Putting The End at the end tells the reader the story is over after they're done reading it. And, as much as the reader might want the series to continue, it's on the author to make that decision, whether they do it with a note at the end or marking it Complete. At least if they use the Complete feature they can re-open it for additional stories if they decide later that their ending wasn't quite enough or quite right.

And again, not every story ends in a spot where it's appropriate to put "The End" at the end. Another example of one that's like that is Cascades by Blackwell_Link, which for my money is the best group sex/open relationship story on Literotica. There are six chapters. The story could have ended after Chapter 1 as a perfectly satisfying standalone. It could have ended (a little weakly, I think, but it could've) after Chapter 2, as Nat lets go of her old relationships and embraces her future with Ash. It could have ended after Chapter 4, when Nat and Ash admit to each other that they're the most important people in each others' lives. And it could end after Chapter 6, when Ash accidentally proposes. Or it could keep going! There's plenty of story left to tell, if the author wants to. And if they don't, or the audience decides they're not interested and the author wants to move on to other work, they can just click Complete without having to make that decision prior to submission.

It appears we are arguing right past each other. So let me see if I can clarify my position.
"... complete means that information is visible before the reader starts the story." Absolutely it would, if it were readily visible. I went out and came in on the home page of Lit. That's where most readers are going to enter the site. I went to my works page first and found no "complete" marking for the series I have. I then went back to the first page and clicked on the Series tag which brought me to list of series. After scanning mine and many of the others I found no "complete" or "in progress" markings on any story. So where do these labels on the series exist? The only place I found one is on the 750 word compalation in the romance category. A "complete" label on a story would give the reader that information IF it were readily available. From my investigation it doesn't seem to be readily available. Or am I missing something? Feel free to educate me if I am.

I never said nor insinuated it wasn't up to the author to end a series. I did say that sometimes readers don't agree with that decision. Because of that when such a reader comes to the end of a series, does it matter if it's marked or not any which a way as to the end? Not really. They are still going to think it shouldn't have been ended so marking the end for those people makes no difference at all. That's what I was trying to get to.

I think I said something similar in a previous post here as you did in your second paragraph:

But it isn't just the events of the last chapter that determine the end of the series. Life isn't that way most times. A real-life story doesn't just come to an end. There is ALWAYS questions left unanswered, things left unsaid. In a written story there are numerous ways to end it...

Your argument that using the complete feature rather than an end written into the story makes it easier to reopen the series to ad more. That's a good point and one worth considering.


Comshaw

 

[Comshaw]

I have, and I'm really not sure whether I do or not. It sounds like you're just saying "you don't have to mark it as completed."

Which of course is true, but not what OP was asking for or talking about.

Nope didn't say that. I said, or intended to say, that marking it complete OR writing in a "The End" or epilogue does the same thing.

Actually the only thing the OP asked was how to use it and never asked whether using the complete feature in the series tools is appropriate.

Like all discussions here, this one took a left turn. Not as severe a detour as some have been, but one that got us on a different branch of the same subject. Ain't it fun???

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I looked for as long as my Internet Age-level attention span would permit and I didn't find anything, so I'm bringing it to you. Feel free to call me a dolt as long as you answer my question first.

How does one mark a series "Completed?"

Thanks in advance.

Comshaw

 

[YmaOHyd]

A "complete" label on a story would give the reader that information IF it were readily available. From my investigation it doesn't seem to be readily available. Or am I missing something? Feel free to educate me if I am.

Here's the landing page for Story Series. You can see the green Completed tag under the Duality series; Sometimes Two Just Isn't Enough doesn't have it.


Here's what it looks like on an author's Works page:



There's Ambersin again. You can see the Completed label under the series Shy Boy.

I don't use Classic Lit, so maybe that's the difference.

 

[Comshaw]

I don't use classic Lit either and that doesn't show up for me. Hmmmm....

Chit! I just went back to that page and took a second look and damned but the completed tags were there! They weren't the first time I looked earlier this morning. Either the program on the site is slow showing them to me or selective vision wouldn't let me see them. 'Course my ego ain't gunna let me admit the latter so it's got to be the former. Damned slow site!!!


Comshaw

 

[YmaOHyd]

I don't use classic Lit either and that doesn't show up for me. Hmmmm....


Comshaw

Are you able to check on mobile, and do you see it there?

 

[Britva415]

@Comshaw I grant that it's a little obscure and the reader has to use the "series info" link to get here, but here's one place where a reader might see the "in progress" marker:

https://www.literotica.com/series/se/genies-wish

 

[Britva415]

the OP [...] never asked whether using the complete feature in the series tools is appropriate

Right, I guess we are on the same page then.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It is often said, there are no stupid questions. Um, that's just so wrong in so many ways! But this one isn't one of those. And to go along with stupid questions, there a ton of dumbassed answers. But the advice given is yours to take or reject. I take great solace, if I give bad advice, in the end, the one acting on it is at least as dumb as me.

 

[TheLobster]

The author is still actively writing this series.

I've got a hunch this description is a lie for a vast majority of series on this site. "Actively," huh? Yeah, no -- definitely not for my one series that is marked In Progress.

We could really use an alternative status such as "On Hold". Even better if it was automatically applied once the author hasn't published anything in the span of time equal to, say, three standard deviations of the series' average time between installments.

 

[Comshaw]

I've got a hunch this description is a lie for a vast majority of series on this site. "Actively," huh? Yeah, no -- definitely not for my one series that is marked In Progress.

We could really use an alternative status such as "On Hold". Even better if it was automatically applied once the author hasn't published anything in the span of time equal to, say, three standard deviations of the series' average time between installments.

On hold? Nope. I think a much more honest one would be: "I lost interest in this MFer and I'm not gunna ad to it anymore!"

Comshaw

 

[Comshaw]

@Comshaw I grant that it's a little obscure and the reader has to use the "series info" link to get here, but here's one place where a reader might see the "in progress" marker:

https://www.literotica.com/series/se/genies-wish

View attachment 2513375

I believe you said:

You have to not overestimate readers.

If ever there was an instance of overestimating the reader, depending on them to read this has got to be it.


Comshaw

 

[Britva415]

I believe you said:

If ever there was an instance of overestimating the reader, depending on them to read this has got to be it.


Comshaw

I wasn't saying "depend on them to read it," I was saying don't depend on them for anything at all, especially not if they come across a specifically misleading and counterfactual statement.