Backlog - Is this a record?

[Writer61]

A few months ago, I decided that it was better to finish writing a series before posting the first part, and not to submit the next part until the previous one had a publication date.

Unfortunately, due to spending more time writing and finishing incomplete works, my pipeline is full. I have three stories from three separate series, one standalone, and an edit in Pending. In Draft, I have six more stories from three series waiting for the one ahead to go live.

Have you had more? How did you handle the frustration of waiting?

 

[WittyUserName]

A few months ago, I decided that it was better to finish writing a series before posting the first part, and not to submit the next part until the previous one had a publication date.

Unfortunately, due to spending more time writing and finishing incomplete works, my pipeline is full. I have three stories from three separate series, one standalone, and an edit in Pending. In Draft, I have six more stories from three series waiting for the one ahead to go live.

Have you had more? How did you handle the frustration of waiting?

I am sort of in a similar boat. I started a story for the Summer Lovin' contest and decided not to enter it. So, I split it into multiple chapters. Only the first chapter is out and I can't get a posting date for the others. It's erotic horror, so maybe that's why? And it wasn't too well received. At least the first part. So, I have 3 chapters ready to go. Not a ton, but more than I ever had before.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'm in the same boat. I have an open ended series published outside Lit on Amazon/SW that's needing to be finshed. It's added pressure of wanting to finish the series for people who are paying for the work. Plus another half dozen stories in the 1/2 done realm, that I just ned to find the time for.
I get about six hours of time for writing and it's very frrustrating. But my writing is a hobby and I have to keep that in mind and not let it affect other areas of my life.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I probably have six stories patiently awaiting more of my attention. I may get struck with the inspiration to start more at any time.

It's okay, they can wait. Nothing will drive me to publish any part of them until they are complete, and they all deserve the patience required to make that happen.

 

[deathlynx]

I've been pacing myself. Between stories that I'm pretty sure were once posted on Lit, but were taken down after I left, stuff I finished but never posted, and unfinished PB, I have a lot of stuff. I decided that I was only going to add one a day, to keep from overload (myself or anyone following me). It's funny, because even doing that I have two scheduled to publish tomorrow but none popped up today.

I do have quite a few waiting, and as editing/rereading is quick the list grows more than it shrinks.

 

[Writer61]

I probably have six stories patiently awaiting more of my attention. I may get struck with the inspiration to start more at any time.

It's okay, they can wait. Nothing will drive me to publish any part of them until they are complete, and they all deserve the patience required to make that happen.

My issue is not stories that I have not finished. I am referring to finished stories that are ready to publish but are waiting for the ones ahead to be approved.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My issue is not stories that I have not finished. I am referring to finished stories that are ready to publish but are waiting for the ones ahead to be approved.

So the pipeline you are referring to is the publishing cue on the site?

 

[Writer61]

So the pipeline you are referring to is the publishing cue on the site?

Yes, I have four (plus an edit) in Pending, and six in Drafts. All of which I consider ready to publish.

 

[Voboy]

It's called discipline.

Old business before new. If New Business is insistent on getting dealt with right away? That's tough shit. It waits its turn. And if it never does get written? Them's the breaks.

I read about writers here who have multiple stories on the go simultaneously and it makes me think about why I wouldn't really want a threesome. I like to lock in and really experience each story. The more my focus is spread, the less satisfying my achievement ends up being.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have two 8k drafts for sequels, each three or four years old. Other than those two, nearly everything else I start gets finished, so I don't have a backlog as such.

Recently, two stories stalled, but I can't see them ever getting finished, so they're not backlog, either, just never-finishers. There's an important difference!

 

[JohnBJohn]

I've been lucky with the few that I've published that way, submit one chapter and then the next when I get a publish date. All my stories came out within three days, so I had a nice rhythm going

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I was working on four simultaneously for a while. Now it's two novellas, one within sight of the climax and coda, one about half done. The other three (one of the four dropped out and was replaced) are between 70 and 15% done, in stasis waiting for "Beast" and "Shiny and New" to be completed. I drop in on them once a week or so and add a paragraph, just to keep them from cooling off too far.

 

[deathlynx]

Yeah, they'll back up a bit, depending on what's in the cue. That's why even though I've been entering one a day, sometimes a couple come out at once and then a gap.

 

[Writer61]

It's called discipline.

Yes, it is. Which is why I have 3 stories in Pending awaiting publication and 6 more in Draft waiting for those to be approved.

To be clear, I'm not talking about stories that I am working on. These are finished pieces that I would be happy to go live.