Is an author under any obligation to complete a story?

[Sammael Bard]

You wrote a story. It was a standalone-ish. You thought that maaaaaybe it could benefit from a sequel or two. A few hardcore fans are enthusiastic about it (aren't they always?) and you agree.

Then life happened and the shit is nowhere to be seen.


The obligation to complete it makes sense when you're making a living out of what you write. Even the cobwebs in your wallet will demand a sequel for your sake.

Not so much on a free site like this.

Then my motivation changes to 'it'll be done when it's done'. I'm not talking about leaving it altogether, just postponing it to a latter date. That date can be weeks, months or years.

What do you, as an author, think about it? Is it okay to postpone a work indefinitely, or write it at a pace that you are comfortable with but your readers aren't?

 

[Laurel]

One take on it (Neil Gaiman):
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

Particulary:

Look, this may not be palatable, Gareth, and I keep trying to come up with a better way to put it, but the simplicity of things, at least from my perspective is this:

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly George is, indeed, your bitch, and should be out there typing what you want to read right now.

People are not machines. Writers and artists aren't machines.

 

[lovecraft68]

I recently posted a thread in your forum about a series I doubt I'm going to finish.

On one hand because in general I consider myself a stand up follow through type of guy, it bothers me I won't finish it. First off because it annoys me that I can't, then I also feel I let my loyal readers down.

But then it does come down to if I don't feel I can finish it without forcing it and having it come out like shit, that's more insulting to the readers than letting it lie.

Then comes the, it is a free site meaning we put up what we want, when we want. That becomes further cemented to me when I get the obnoxious comments that "still waiting for X, but you keep putting other stories up!" and much ruder than that.

If I owe anyone about a story its myself. For years I have always said this, that the writers owe the readers nothing, so I'm not posting this take based my deciding to give up on a series. Its how I have always felt.

The half assing it is worse was driven home to me by following a series that was good, then just went to hell. You could tell the author had 'lost it' and their blog was filled with "I'll finish I promise!" and actually asking readers what they wanted to see.

I prefer to pull the plug if the stories life is no longer worth living.

 

[ChloeTzang]

........

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I didn't vote as you have the explanations for each choice switched. And you don't have the Hillary Clinton option.

No. I'm under no obligation to finish anything, except to myself. If I want to finish it, I'll get around to it. If I don't, it will sit on my hard drive and languish until the bits deres.(<--- Highly technical term.)

Just because I post a beginning and maybe in even a middle, I feel I'm under no obligation to post the end. After all this is a free site...you get what you pay for. Besides, I might have gotten tired of the whole thing. Maybe in a couple of years or a couple of decades, I might get around to it.

I really don't publish anything for pay unless it's complete. I may publish bits and pieces (short stories) about a subject, but the story I tell is complete when published.

 

[ChloeTzang]

.........

 

[sr71plt]

The choices contradicted the question and are both incomplete and cynical (a push poll?), so no vote.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

The question's a little absurd. I didn't sign any contracts and so I'm under no obligation to write. No one's under any obligation to read. Everyone's free to do their own thing.

That said, so far I plan to add to stories I don't consider finished (Rent Comes Due 2 is under construction now, but it will be weeks before I post). But that's because I feel like the characters are interesting and complex in ways I'm still digging into, not out of any sense of obligation.

 

[MLClifton]

.............

 

[Hypoxia]

No. I'm under no obligation to finish anything, except to myself. If I want to finish it, I'll get around to it. If I don't, it will sit on my hard drive and languish until the bits de-res.(<--- Highly technical term.)

Fixed. And ditto. As mentioned, our obligations are to ourselves, not our readers, not unless they pay us. Some authors here ARE after payment -- in the form of votes and favorites. We must keep writing if we want the brownie points to continue rolling in. Most of us here write for the lolz when we feel like it. So when I feel like extending / finishing some series, I will. Maybe.

 

[DwellerDark]

By "standalone-ish," do you mean it was presented as a "Part 1" or something like that, or is it simply a story that you finished but readers are asking for a sequel? Either way I don't think you're obligated by anything, but especially if you wrote a standalone story (even if there's room for a sequel).

We live in an increasingly entitled, consumer-focused market where the artist is treated more and more like a servant who is expected to give everybody exactly what they want, and I don't subscribe to that at all, whether you're a writer, filmmaker, musician, video game designer, etc. The artist should always be free to follow his or her muse, regardless of the marketplace or demand.

 

[TxRad]

Nope, under no obligation at all. It's a free site and you get what you pay for. The same goes for precise editing. That will come if and/or when it is put up for sale.

By the way, SB, you suck at polls.

 

[jehoram]

Of course, there's no legal or financial obligation to finish a story, but I do feel that I owe it to my readers to give them what they expect.

I'm currently writing a four-part story. Parts one and two have already been posted. Part three is waiting to get back from the editor. Part for is written, but still in the polishing stages. I like to space the releases out a few days, so that the preceding chapter is still more or less fresh in readers' minds.

I have the impression that the closer the chapters are to each other in terms of their release time, the more likely the readers are to comment on them. I'm not one of those who obsessively monitors comments, but they do seem to be an indication of how receptive the reading public is to the stories.

 

[electric1]

There's no obligation to write a sequel just because fans want one. But it is douchy to end with "to be continued" and then leave fans waiting years for a continuation that never arrives.

 

[lovecraft68]

By the way, SB, you suck at polls.

Whoa, keep the man's sex life out of this!

 

[Hypoxia]

There's no obligation to write a sequel just because fans want one. But it is douchy to end with "to be continued" and then leave fans waiting years for a continuation that never arrives.

True. One escape: Leave the story dangling and invite readers to finish it. Then move on to another story.

Still, responding to sequel requests can be rewarding. I've bowed to pressure a couple times and receives praise and votes. You want brownie points? Give-em what they want. They want the tender mom-son romance to advance to frenzied ass-fucking and slut-turning? So be it. Principles? What principles?

 

[sr71plt]

Phrasing this "is the author under an obligation to complete a story" sets up a combative relationship between authors and readers. Of course the author has no such obligation. But does the author want to attract and keep readers and have a good relationship with readers? If so, the author should think more about a partnership with the reader than what the author is obligated to do. I don't think either the question or the choices given in this poll are constructive--or helpful in marrying authors to readers in a mutually satisfactory relationship.

 

[NotWise]

I don't think you're obliged to continue a story, nor do I think you need to continue at the reader's pace if you do continue it.

My one series is trickling out and I'm continuing another story that will also probably just trickle out. One of the advantages to posting a long series of stories is that you build a fan base that follows the story. If you don't put the stories out at a fairly quick pace then you lose your readers between stories and with each new chapter you build a somewhat different fan base, and that fan base may never get very large.

There is that disadvantage to putting stories out at your own pace, but it's nothing that can't be overcome.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Mayday, mayday....poll is a f-ing farce. It was posted as a poor, somewhat cynical, joke. Polls won't really help in such discussions. Opinions might. Sorry if you took it seriously.

Hey, at least some people got interested in the third one.



Neil Gaiman sounds like a man who's been through it all. It was encouraging. Thanks for sharing that, Laurel.

I expected a hardcore reader to barge in here and demand justice but looks like we're all on the same boat. Woo!

What pissed me off today was an email from Amazon. They still keep pestering me with Kindle Direct(?) offers and selected stories/excerpts from people who've 'made it' through their 'successful' programme. One segment in particular caught my eye:

"I am consistent. Consistency is the key to success. Authors should try and publish a book at least thrice a year. It may be a short or a long one. Anything. Just publish it. It doesn't matter.

When you're publishing in a market like this, quantity matters, sometimes more than quality. Time matters. Don't fret over the script. Some take years and their productivity is not so good. Readers are disappointed and that's not good. That's the last thing any author would want."

And so on.

If you had a picture of a man snapped in half by being bent over backwards, you've got this ex-pepsi manager turned writer. I'm not complaining about his background. But to peddle this sort of manufactured script aimed at turning writing into a productivity based drivel is not good.

I haven't been much productive this year. It hasn't been a good one, TBH. And to read these 'success stories' is kinda disheartening for people like me who take their own time (f*** u Amazon). Sure, I've been gathering a whole lot of plots and new styles, but the need to do my work exceeds the want to write.

I love my readers. From the ones that send long letters to the ones that just say 'good one. MORE!'. But I guess we, as the manufacturers, have to draw a line somewhere. We can't always meet the demand. We aren't under any obligation, but what use is my work is someone isn't reading it?

I guess you can't make one faction happy without pissing off the other.


/rambling

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Sure...when things go badly claim it as joke. Or a dream sequence.

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, in the marketplace and in maintaining a readership even on a free site, consistency and a posting schedule that readers can count on is advantageous.

 

[OliviaM]

Unpopular opinion time.

I clicked "Yes", assuming you meant that you would want to finish, but on your own time with work that met your standards of quality.

I do think writers owe something to their readers. Without readers, writing becomes a kind of masturbatory activity, doesn't it? Readers support you, either through feedback or actual money, in the case of authors who sell books.

That said, a good reader should have a little understanding. A good fan will treat the writer as a human being. They'll recognize that life sometimes interferes with writing done for pure enjoyment, or that a writer, like anyone else, can change as a person and the work that once meant so much to them no longer appeals. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to one particular author I was following on here, actually. She poured her heart and soul into it, and when she finally reached a turning point in the story, she realized she no longer had the need to write it. For me, that's kind of disappointing, but I absolutely do not think less of her because she moved on from a story I enjoyed. I'm sure your readers feel the same way.

So no, a writer is not the reader's bitch, but I think we should have some sympathy and respect for people who get more invested in the worlds we create than we ourselves do. We've all been there.

Now, I have to finish editing so I can submit the ending to my own story, which I promised people would be done in September.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Sure...when things go badly claim it as joke. Or a dream sequence.

That....was a joke too.

Yes, in the marketplace and in maintaining a readership even on a free site, consistency and a posting schedule that readers can count on is advantageous.

Would you sacrifice quality over quantity? Not saying both can't go along together, but putting quantity over quality is what our 'accomplished' KD star said. I thought that was detrimental.



BTW, the poll with Mr. D as an option was a bad idea, as some of you have inexplicably expressed through vitreolic anonymous feedbacks. Shouldn't mention American politics at its high - point taken to heart.

 

[Kantarii]

Whoa, keep the man's sex life out of this!

Well, I'm glad I lost my taste for polls a long time ago ..... HahaKant so, I didn't vote.

 

[Learin]

I thought the third option meant 'It doesn't make sense'. Sorry.


*runs out*