Multi Chapter Stories

[MrHappy212]

Do you put up each chapter as you finish it? Do you put up chapter one to see how it goes? Or do you wait until the entire thing is finished and put up one really long book? How much is too much? How long is too long? Is there a page/ word limit to submissions?


I ask because I'm 4 chapters into a story and not even half way finished with it.... something tells me it'll be Christmas before Christmas and Mom is completed....

Hmm think I could submit the final chapters as a winter contest submission?

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Every single one of those ways has been tried.

There are a LOT of unfinished stories here, and this prevents many readers from even considering reading something unfinished for fear of being let down. On the other hand, long running serials are extremely popular and tend to develop a fan base.

How disciplined are you?

 

[Tigersman]

I know of two or three authors who do serials. One likes to put the next chapter up fast while the other two will take their time. One of these two, the authors next chapter could easily stand alone so the reader does not miss anything with a delayed submission.

 

[SamScribble]

I think one of the things to consider is:

Is your story a single story, complete in itself, broken into chapters? Is it a serial? (Or a soap?) Or is it a series of short stories based around the same setting and characters?

If it’s one of the first, I suspect that you are best to ‘do a Dickens’ and have them done and ready to post at regular intervals, say weekly or bi-weekly. But if they are a series of stand-alone short stories, I don’t think it matters.

Good luck.

 

[Hypoxia]

Hmm think I could submit the final chapters as a winter contest submission?

For a contest, combine all chapters into one submission. Separate chapters are not allowed. Don't worry about length -- Roz won the 2014 Hallowe'en contest with a 76,000-word novella, ten chapters submitted as one piece, 19 LIT pages. If yours is good, people will read it.

 

[PervOtaku]

I get it all written before I publish any of it, for two main reasons:
1. This allows for a consistent and timely release schedule (weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever) and readers won't be left wondering.
2. It gives me the ability to change things in earlier chapters if I suddenly need to tweak a detail or add foreshadowing in order to set up something in a later chapter that I hadn't properly planned for.

Note that these are stories where I know exactly where things are going and have definite planned endings.

On the other hand, folks posting chapters as they write them is totally a thing that exists. These tend to have more stand-alone chapters that finish open-ended. Some of those actually end up going for quite a while as long as the author can keep coming up with new ideas. I suspect those are the kind of stories that also tend to be difficult to put a satisfying ending on, or to even know when it's time for an ending.

These are trends, not rules, you can do it however you want.

 

[Hypoxia]

I vacillate between write-em-first and on-the-run serials.

I have a couple of series awaiting completion before submitting anything. My first few series were like that.

I have some series that *could* use endless add-ons. I need more ideas.

I have single stories that grew into series due to reader requests. Some may keep growing.

I have a long series with all but the final chapter posted whose completion has stymied me for months. I figured how to end it only yesterday and am busy on that now. I don't need to kill off everybody, only the title character! Oh, it will be a tragic stroker...

The "hanging series" dilemma has oriented me towards write-em-first, but also toward story cycles of standalone episodes. My model there is Ian Fleming's 007 cycle. Most can be read without referring to any other, but the totality encompass a long storyline. The episode approach may entice readers to search out the other works.

But on-the-run is sometimes necessary. Get an idea, write it, post it, note the reactions, and maybe write more, all starting from a faulty premise and leading to no conclusion. We can even abbreviate that in Just Plain Bob style, where EVERY story is unfinished. Think of it as cliffhanger universe.