Follow on chapters disappointing?

[JLCC]

I hadn't posted new material for about a year then got caught up in a little tale in my head that I decided to elaborate on. Next thing you know, I pressed submit and I was caught up in the rush of it all and expanded the story to an otherwise unplanned second chapter.

The response on Ch. 01 (which was just the title because I hadn't planned another chapter) was awesome. Very fast rate of readership, my highest frequency of readers choosing to rate the story, a lot of favorites, along with a respectable rating above 4.5.

Along comes chapter 2 and the response is much less exhilarating - yes, I write for the glory. It's a similar effect I've seen on other chapter stories I've written.

Does anyone have insights into what triggers readers on follow on chapters? Maybe new readers see "Ch. 02" and think, "I don't want to bother with the first chapter, so I'll pass"?

Thanks

 

[sr71plt]

Readership naturally decreases here with succeeding chapters (not always, but that's the general trend). Often the rating goes up, though, as the ones continuing to read are the ones liking what they are reading more than the ones who dropped out did. Long about your 10th chapter you can start getting all of the monthly awards, since that's based on entries, not completed stories.

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Fall off?

Think about your own reading for a moment. If you are anything like me, you've probably started dozens of stories here that you thought were too awful to finish.

The authors that write one-off stories probably get more hits, but I'm guessing that they also have a lower % of their hits leading to completion.

Lit doesn't measure whether the reader finished the tale, only that he/she clicked on it.

I'm willing to bet that most readers who click on chapter 2... Actually read it.

 

[lovecraft68]

First if by writing for glory, you're talking votes, comments, etc...write stand alone stories. Any chapter series is going to lose readers the longer it goes, but you get better scores.

To back o Pilot's post, there's a very long running series here that that owns a third of the top 100 list in their category and has won many monthly contests.

The reason being its now so long its not getting many new readers because its daunting to start a 30+ chapter series back at ch 1-especially when you know its not finished so you may be reading it all for nothing or to have a long wait for the next one.

So what you have is just about literally the same people voting for every chapter and unless you do something they don't like to a character they're just going to keep doling out fives.

The series in question their last ten chapters have vote totals that are very similar and anyone who has been here awhile knows its rare to be that close in installments until you're really getting up there.

There is a series in incest that was here a few years ago, the author pulled it because they were pissed the top lists broke, now they're back with it again and same thing, very high scores and the chapter by chapter vote is very close. They're down to pretty much only a core audience.

 

[sr71plt]

Think about your own reading for a moment. If you are anything like me, you've probably started dozens of stories here that you thought were too awful to finish.

Umm, OK, gave it thought. No, I'm not like you in this regard. I haven't started any story that I didn't finish--and didn't finish before I started posting to Literotica, no matter how long it was (and I have some pretty long series posted here).

 

[Bramblethorn]

Umm, OK, gave it thought. No, I'm not like you in this regard. I haven't started any story that I didn't finish--and didn't finish before I started posting to Literotica, no matter how long it was (and I have some pretty long series posted here).

Nathan was talking about unfinished reading, not writing.

 

[sr71plt]

Nathan was talking about unfinished reading, not writing.

Ah, so. Thanks. I wouldn't read anything here that wasn't declared finished. But I don't read much here anyway. No reason other than I get more of a rush from writing them than reading them, I don't want the writing of others to sink into my brain to be used thinking it is an original thought to me (not necessarily an original thought to the world), and I'm too busy writing them.

But I don't believe in posting a story that isn't a finished and polished story, so I won't read them here.

 

[Kantarii]

I have read stories on this site for many many years before I became a member and started posting my own stories. My philosophy then hold true now. If a story I am reading doesn't hold my interest, I rarely if ever continue to read the series. I don't start reading a new story at chapter 7 or whatever. If the title catches my eye, I go back and start reading from the beginning. I have noticed that certain authors generally show progression in their writing style as the chapters progress, but not many. That's my take on reading stories on this site. Kant

 

[NotWise]

I have one chapter story up. It may be a little odd in that it is a long, slowly developing story and not a series of strokers. After the first few chapters I found that I had only about 1/3 of the readers for my second chapter that I had with the first chapter. The subject has come up before, so I understood that to be reasonable.

The first chapter has no sex, which may be a little odd for Lit.

The original story was 7 chapters which I posted in five "chunks." Since then I have extended the story. Each extension lead to more people reading the second and later chapters and the scores have all gone up.

To me, it looks like if you want some quick gratification, then don't write long stories. Stick to to short stuff, get your feedback and go on. If you want to build a following, then long stories with a lot of chapters seem to be good for that.

 

[JLCC]

Thanks all. If I feel compelled to write chapters, doing a decent job of writing and satisfying dedicated readers is the better outcome.