How does your Unfinished Story count look?

[Blind_Justice]

This. I love real dialogue, even when it’s a digression. Instantly puts a story above the pack.

And it sure as hell beats the normal standard of dialogue, which often goes something like:

“I think you are sexy.”
“I think you are sexy also.”
“I want to do the sex with you.”
“You want to do the sex with me?”
“I am doing the sex with you and it’s so sexy. Oooo!”
“Yes baby, we are doing the sex with our sexy parts and it’s so sexy!”

You forgot the "Oh God, oh gawd, omigoshI'mcummiiiiiiiiiiiiing" inflation.

 

[MindsMirror]

A dozen stories/chapters at about 80-90% complete.
A dozen or more at 30-50% complete.
Two dozen story seeds 25% or less.
Of the 22 published, 11 are stories with chapters and of those 6 need more chapters to complete.
It is approaching a year since we published something on Lit.

Never enough time... maybe they'll be complete someday. -MM

 

[ElectricBlue]

This. I love real dialogue, even when it’s a digression. Instantly puts a story above the pack.

And it sure as hell beats the normal standard of dialogue, which often goes something like:

“I think you are sexy.”
“I think you are sexy also.”
“I want to do the sex with you.”
“You want to do the sex with me?”
“I am doing the sex with you and it’s so sexy. Oooo!”
“Yes baby, we are doing the sex with our sexy parts and it’s so sexy!”

Lol. Doing "the sex." Make it work, EML, make it work!

 

[Duleigh]

Six. Not counting the Muse Whispers, notes to self, plot bunny droppings, and unintentional hooks in stories that beg for a second episode. As of today, all my story arcs are tied up, all my plans are wound up tight with these nine stories. And I'm sure to have all eleven posted by March.

 

[jaykaythree]

I have ...

* A 9700-word draft I've been working on since March (and isn't finished yet). I still have quite a bit to go on it, even so.
* Another draft I started in December. I have the ending in mind, but need to get to that point.
* Five others in my mind, with none to be started until sometime after I submit the one I'm working on now.

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

41 work in process

Plus the one posting tonight.

 

[Northstar4695]

Three drafts around 5k words that need about 5kish more. There are also two full-formed outlines and a phone note page of around a dozen one-line ideas for later outline.

 

[SimonDoom]

This. I love real dialogue, even when it’s a digression. Instantly puts a story above the pack.

And it sure as hell beats the normal standard of dialogue, which often goes something like:

“I think you are sexy.”
“I think you are sexy also.”
“I want to do the sex with you.”
“You want to do the sex with me?”
“I am doing the sex with you and it’s so sexy. Oooo!”
“Yes baby, we are doing the sex with our sexy parts and it’s so sexy!”

This sounds less like the "normal standard" of dialogue than something from a Borat movie.

 

[other2other1]

I've got 29 stories in the pipe, three of those multi-part series.
Of those stories 5 are ready for editing, another 6 are in the process of being written and all but 3 have a full concept/plotline outlined.

I find that if life doesn't get in the way I can get around 20k in words drafted over the course of a weekend. The issue is moving into editing, that takes time with all of us giving our time for free.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've added a few more to the TBD list, as I fizzled out on three promising stories late last night. I hate it when a plot won't come to gather.

 

[KeithD]

I have been knocking down my unfinished story count briskly of late--about one story/day, but my muse has been adding one to write as I wake up each morning. Lots of reviewing for coming anthologies just now too. Pushing on one for Halloween.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I have been knocking down my unfinished story count briskly of late--about one story/day, but my muse has been adding one to write as I wake up each morning. Lots of reviewing for coming anthologies just now too. Pushing on one for Halloween.

Like the song says, Halloween's the hap-happiest season of all. Marshmallow toasters for all the Kill-kill-killing, scary ghost stories for little ones, and their little hearts will be roasting, when all are dead loved ones are so near! Can't wait!

 

[Cali_Love]

I have >20 unfinished. Some, I can't find the ending and just write in circles, most I get to 25k - 30k words and decide I don't like it anymore.

I am scared to death that someday I'll get a comment that goes, "Feels like you rushed the ending." I've read those comments and I keep telling myself not to let that happen. Instead, maybe even just a single page away from my characters going off into the sunset, hand in happy hand, I give it a hard stop and let it waste zeros and ones on Google Docs.

I have 5 more that are finished but I won't publish. I've read those 5 countless times over, but then I think, "well, I kind of like it, but . . . , meh."

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I have around 10 that are actually conceptualized and begun, and another 100+ that are mere concepts with no actual paragraphs or pages. Two of the "in process" are multi-chapter stories with at least one chapter completed and submitted. The oldest was started 9 years ago, the newest two weeks ago.

 

[dmallord]

Two, too many. Most have the synaptic nerve links broken between bits and pieces of the ideas. Just two actually on paper er computer at the moment.

 

[storyteller19]

I don't know why but I didn't realize having a lot of unfinished stories would be so common. Right now I am bouncing back and forth between an entry for the Halloween contest, a summer-loving story that I started two years ago and now am halfway in, a story that no longer fits into the rules of the at-work story event, and easily 10 others that aren't even on the back burner at the moment. Slowly my log of almost done stories is overall getting closer to being finished, but then I get editing fatigue and go back to writing either an unfinished project or something new.

 

[Defluer]

I think by being the "winner" of this I'm the loser. The big loser. Thanks to keeping all my writing in a Cloud Drive, about a year ago I counted what I had in my main folder, which is just the one that I start all my stories in. It was just a quick estimate as they were spaced out by five and then how many rows (I couldn't seem to find a way to have it just tell me how many documents were in the folder.) and then did the math. Once I got that I started numbering them each time I added another one, just to depress myself the more I add to the count but also so I can refer back to that if I add a detail to my made up town or character I want to bring back/added more information about. As I often change the name of the story right before publishing.

As of today I'm at... Drum roll please!

1,211

One thousand, two hundred, and eleven stories that range from a couple of paragraphs to 20k words.

From that
27 are in a "In Progress" folder which I go through when the mood strikes me and add another part or clean it up but still need to add another part and get to a good ending.
165 in my "Done & Edit" folder which is a lie because they're not all done, some just have 1 sex scene finished and I tell myself I'll be able to edit it and clean it up so that it makes sense to just have that one scene in a story. I'd say about 20 are actually feasible to call done and just need me to edit it. 3 are Loving Wives stories and I lack the mentality to publish them and go through that turmoil.

Insert GIF of Brad Pitt from Troy asking, "Is there no one else?"

 

[Duleigh]

Wow, I feel like a piker in this crowd, maybe 20, tops, half of them are "semi-complete" just waiting for their turn in the schedule to get the final edit and pushed out the door.

 

[shakna]

I think by being the "winner" of this I'm the loser. The big loser. Thanks to keeping all my writing in a Cloud Drive, about a year ago I counted what I had in my main folder, which is just the one that I start all my stories in. It was just a quick estimate as they were spaced out by five and then how many rows (I couldn't seem to find a way to have it just tell me how many documents were in the folder.) and then did the math. Once I got that I started numbering them each time I added another one, just to depress myself the more I add to the count but also so I can refer back to that if I add a detail to my made up town or character I want to bring back/added more information about. As I often change the name of the story right before publishing.

As of today I'm at... Drum roll please!

1,211

One thousand, two hundred, and eleven stories that range from a couple of paragraphs to 20k words.

From that
27 are in a "In Progress" folder which I go through when the mood strikes me and add another part or clean it up but still need to add another part and get to a good ending.
165 in my "Done & Edit" folder which is a lie because they're not all done, some just have 1 sex scene finished and I tell myself I'll be able to edit it and clean it up so that it makes sense to just have that one scene in a story. I'd say about 20 are actually feasible to call done and just need me to edit it. 3 are Loving Wives stories and I lack the mentality to publish them and go through that turmoil.

Insert GIF of Brad Pitt from Troy asking, "Is there no one else?"

1211 in-progress, and 49(?) published? That's a hell of a ratio.

 

[Defluer]

1211 in-progress, and 49(?) published? That's a hell of a ratio.

I wouldn't call them "in-progress" so much as 1211 "unfinished" stories. And I didn't count the multiple chapter ones as separate, on my end those are all 1 story. So the ratio is way worse. Either way... It's fucked up and while I'm getting better, my stupid brain keeps wanting to have 20 part stories even though I only have the attention span (For the most part) for one offs.

 

[DarkRaven13]

As of today I'm at... Drum roll please!

1,211

Ohmygod! 1,211? Wow. Ok, I know you later followed with a qualifier about what the 1,211 stories entailed, and came down to 27. But .... 1,211?!?!? Wow. I am impressed.

 

[DarkRaven13]

Here's my unfinished story count ...

Its really just 4 sadly.
- Ch 01 of a series. It's written, but I am in the midst of editing it. I'm also holding back on publishing it until I at least have the Ch 03 completed.

- Ch 02 of the same series I mentioned above. I know most consider the combination of all chapters a series, but hey, I need to up my unfinished story count number!

- A story I had just begun that is only 10% done. I put that on hold because of the 4th unfinished story.

- My 4th unfinished story is a result of the Halloween 2002 contest that I just found out about a few days ago. I think I am about 25% done with that one. Its pushed me out of my comfort zone to write about something I had not considered, and in a deadline that I don't control. (I'm not quite as fast or prolific a writer as some of you.)

Other than that, I do keep a list of story-lines I'm wanting to write about at some point. There's a total of 5 short story ideas, a 3-part series work, a fan-fic 14-part series, and another 6-part series. At the rate I write it will take me near half-a-decade to finish. So I hope you don't mind me hanging around here

 

[KelvinBlack]

I have around ten at various stages of progress, five or so outlined and waiting to be picked up again, and around twenty bits of ideas put into Scrivener. It's always a challenge to be in the mood to just grab one and work on it until its finished...

 

[Northstar4695]

Does anyone else struggle with many stories stalling about 50-75% through the first draft?

I tend to write the parts that are easiest first in order to get as much on the paper as possible, but then I am left with the rest to slog through. For example, if there was a scene, a setting, or a character that was the "big idea" for the story, I start with that. In part, I don't want to lose the good stuff I brainstormed, but also its more fun. Then I am left with writing the more challenging bits and no real motivation to knock that out.

This is why I have a good handful of stories unfinished.

My current idea to deal with this is is to let myself write the fun part of some story or other as a reward after I knock out a few hundred words of an existing one.

Thoughts?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Why, yes, yes I do.

Does anyone else struggle with many stories stalling about 50-75% through the first draft?

I tend to write the parts that are easiest first in order to get as much on the paper as possible, but then I am left with the rest to slog through. For example, if there was a scene, a setting, or a character that was the "big idea" for the story, I start with that. In part, I don't want to lose the good stuff I brainstormed, but also its more fun. Then I am left with writing the more challenging bits and no real motivation to knock that out.

This is why I have a good handful of stories unfinished.

My current idea to deal with this is is to let myself write the fun part of some story or other as a reward after I knock out a few hundred words of an existing one.

Thoughts?