Anyone have a hard time publishing the first chapter of a serial?

[dasgoodshit]

Because you know that you are locked in to what your foreshadowing and what you can get away with in future chapters?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Write more of your story before you post the first chapter, preferably all of it. If you can't wait until you have it all down or at least have all of your plot outlined before you start posting it means that you're impatient for the scores. If you're impatient for the scores then we know that it's just the ego talking and getting in the way of the quality of your story. You said it yourself, you lock yourself in. Why else would you be willing to compromise the quality of your work other than to start collecting your bouquets before the story is even done?

It's different if you write a story never intending it to be a serial, then a few weeks/months later you just get a new idea for the characters, but in this case you already know that there is a whole lot more plot to come. Finish it. That's my advice.

Choose your heart over your ego. Finish your story before you post it.

 

[Altissimus]

Write more of your story before you post the first chapter, preferably all of it. If you can't wait until you have it all down or at least have all of your plot outlined before you start posting it means that you're impatient for the scores. If you're impatient for the scores then we know that it's just the ego talking and getting in the way of the quality of your story. You said it yourself, you lock yourself in. Why else would you be willing to compromise the quality of your work other than to start collecting your bouquets before the story is even done?

It's different if you write a story never intending it to be a serial, then a few weeks/months later you just get a new idea for the characters, but in this case you already know that there is a whole lot more plot to come. Finish it. That's my advice.

Choose your heart over your ego. Finish your story before you post it.

Nah. Oh, I can't deny the pragmatism, but.... nah.

 

[Mastered_again]

I wrote the first nine installments to my Proclivities series before submitting any. This forced me to revise multiple times to maintain continuity. Judging by the positive reactions to the whole series, it was worth the effort. Just note, the audience was limited because I don't write quick stroke stories nor in the most popular categories, at least that's what I tell myself anyway.

 

[dasgoodshit]

Write more of your story before you post the first chapter, preferably all of it. If you can't wait until you have it all down or at least have all of your plot outlined before you start posting it means that you're impatient for the scores. If you're impatient for the scores then we know that it's just the ego talking and getting in the way of the quality of your story. You said it yourself, you lock yourself in. Why else would you be willing to compromise the quality of your work other than to start collecting your bouquets before the story is even done?

It's different if you write a story never intending it to be a serial, then a few weeks/months later you just get a new idea for the characters, but in this case you already know that there is a whole lot more plot to come. Finish it. That's my advice.

Choose your heart over your ego. Finish your story before you post it.

My ego isn't the problem; I'm not impatient for scores, lol. It's that I don't stop having ideas! If I want a new score, I can find a one-shot to submit. I'm submitting a story on average once a week, or actually more often than that, if you count the three that I have in Pending.

It's like, once I think that I'm done, I put it away and come back later in the week, and then I have tons more ideas. I guess the title of this thread should have been, "Anyone else have a problem with having too many ideas?"

 

[pink_silk_glove]

My ego isn't the problem; I'm not impatient for scores, lol. It's that I don't stop having ideas!

The thread title claims specifically 'the first chapter of a serial'. If you know that it's a serial before you post and you still want to post it, then the only reason in favor of posting early is for the instant gratification of applause. When all other reasons beg to wait, how is that not ego driven?

 

[dasgoodshit]

The thread title claims specifically 'the first chapter of a serial'. If you know that it's a serial before you post and you still want to post it, then the only reason in favor of posting early is for the instant gratification of applause. When all other reasons beg to wait, how is that not ego driven?

Because there's too much to post in one story. Most people don't care for stories that are 10+ lit pages long. I can segment the various plots in my mind and understand how long the whole story is going to be, and that I'm not going to submit a 100 page one-shot.

It's not that I want to post it; it's that I think it's done, but then I'm told that it's not.

I know how the story begins and ends, and a lot of the action in the middle. If I didn't have an overall story plot, then it wouldn't be a big deal. I could establish the "formula" for an episodic serial, then just churn out a new story whenever and it wouldn't be an issue. The thing is that I do have an overall plot, but the characters keep telling me more about themselves and their backstory, etc., and they just won't shut up, lol. Actually, someone said something a while back about reigning in the characters and telling them to stfu. That might be what I need to do.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

You haven't countered my argument sufficiently. If it's not done, it's not done. If you are having difficulty posting early, it means that you have an urge to post early. If you didn't you would have no problem and would not have started this thread. Since you have this urge to post before you're done, the only real reason to have that urge is for the gratification of the applause.

If you have a genuine excitement to share what you have so far, there are always close friends and beta readers that you can slip preview snippets to. Even I have a couple of those and I'm the least popular author here.

 

[dasgoodshit]

You haven't countered my argument sufficiently. If it's not done, it's not done. If you are having difficulty posting early, it means that you have an urge to post early. If you didn't you would have no problem and would not have started this thread. Since you have this urge to post before you're done, the only real reason to have that urge is for the gratification of the applause.

If you have a genuine excitement to share what you have so far, there are always close friends and beta readers that you can slip preview snippets to. Even I have a couple of those and I'm the least popular author here.

Oh, I didn't realize we were arguing.

About finishing the entire story before publishing any of it, I'm just never going to do that. I'm not going to be one of those people that submits a new chapter ever day for a month. That's just not my style.

I guess we have two different mentalities, and that's ok.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

About finishing the entire story before publishing any of it, I'm just never going to do that. I'm not going to be one of those people that submits a new chapter ever day for a month. That's just not my style.

Then keep struggling with your problem.

 

[ronde]

Because you know that you are locked in to what your foreshadowing and what you can get away with in future chapters?

It depends upon your intention for the future chapters. Are you writing a continuing plot or are you writing the same characters in a different plot? If it's the former, you need to at least have the flow of the plot established and how the series is going to end. Otherwise you'll end up wishing you'd done something in a prior submission to make what you're writing in the current submission at least plausible if not believable.

If you're just writing the same characters in different situations, ala most TV series, post as you write and don't worry about it.

 

[dasgoodshit]

Are you writing a continuing plot or are you writing the same characters in a different plot? If it's the former, you need to at least have the flow of the plot established and how the series is going to end. Otherwise you'll end up wishing you'd done something in a prior submission to make what you're writing in the current submission at least plausible if not believable.

Continuing plot. My problem is that, compared to when I'm writing a one-shot, I have so many more ideas when working on serials. Sometimes I know a story is going to be a one-shot; sometimes I know it's going to be much, much more. I think that the epicness and the excitement of a really great story generates a lot of ideas that are constantly adding new possibilities. I guess I need to try to finalize the first third of my chapters or so, and just not be bothered about the fact that my characters keep pestering me, to reign them in and say enough is enough already. Then just go with it.