Is a consistent posting schedule and chapter length more important than sensible ending points for chapters?

[CaryJanJunior]

I am writing a story, and am writing a chapter including five characters going through paralel events. It starts with them splitting up, and was intended to end with them reuniting.

However, the intro and 3 out of 5 character's sections combined already are three times the length of my average story and I am about two days away from my usual once every two weeks posting time.

Would it be more reasonable to cut the chapter into two, with the intro and the three written scenes being one half and the two other scenes and outro being the second half, in order to post on time? Or is it better to accept that I will post a mega chapter later than usual and keep the start and end as it is?

 

[iwatchus]

How long are you talking? A factor of two is probably not a big deal.

In general, worry about writing what is best for the story, rather than worrying about release cycles. In six months, no one will care about the release cycle. But if the story is good, people will still care about the story itself.

 

[CaryJanJunior]

My usual stories range between 20-40k characters. The first chapter of the series was an exception because together with a short prologue it hit 97k. The intro and three perspectives are already 90k by themselves.

 

[iwatchus]

I will admit 97K will be intimidating to a lot of readers. How long do you expect the entire series to be? And you are writing one of these every other week? Wow.

 

[CaryJanJunior]

I am trying to, but failing as of right now. The series itself is split into arcs, and the arc would have two more chapters, but at least the next one would be about relationships between the characters, so it would be shorter, and the one after that could be also shorter.

Also given that the chapter as it is (that is, about 3/5 done) is 90k.

 

[Britva415]

If it were me, I'd publish better stories on an inconsistent schedule rather than publish inconsistent stories on a regular schedule.

 

[TheLobster]

If it were me, I'd publish better stories on an inconsistent schedule rather than publish inconsistent stories on a regular schedule.

My approach to this dilemma is to I take the middle road and publish inconsistent stories on an inconsistent schedule.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This sounds like something that should have been considered before posting any pieces of the story.

Live and learn. Good luck.

 

[StillStunned]

I will admit 97K will be intimidating to a lot of readers. How long do you expect the entire series to be? And you are writing one of these every other week? Wow.

Note that the OP said "97k characters". Divide by 4 or 5 for an approximate word count.

 

[TheLobster]

"97k characters"

And here I am, having trouble trying to keep track of all the story arcs when I’ve got, like, ten characters tops!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I am writing a story, and am writing a chapter including five characters going through paralel events. It starts with them splitting up, and was intended to end with them reuniting.

However, the intro and 3 out of 5 character's sections combined already are three times the length of my average story and I am about two days away from my usual once every two weeks posting time.

Would it be more reasonable to cut the chapter into two, with the intro and the three written scenes being one half and the two other scenes and outro being the second half, in order to post on time? Or is it better to accept that I will post a mega chapter later than usual and keep the start and end as it is?

Write it all - ALL of it, before you post ANY of it. That way you can post regularly with no pressure. Also, you can manage all of your lengths and chapter breaks. You can also edit to your heart's content to vertically integrate ideas and to generally make it as good as it can be.

I wouldn't worry about the chapter lengths too much. Each chapter should be as long as it needs to be, but of course reader enjoyment must be considered, whether a chapter is too long and needs to be split or too short and could be merged with another.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

This sounds like something that should have been considered before posting any pieces of the story.

Live and learn. Good luck.

100% this. ^ ^

 

[CaryJanJunior]

Well, what I am hitting here regarding 'write it all first' is that I established a posting schedule of one shots, and then transitioned to a series. I have made the decision to post the half, then post the other half, and when the third (much shorter) chapter is published somewhere in the future, I will edit the second half into the first, edit it to rename it, and ask for the second half to be removed (or leave split it as is if that is too much to ask). This is done so that I can use the second half to announce that I will no longer be trying so hard to stick to the schedule.

I am learning, as some of you suggested, that any other series after this one will have to be written slowly and unmentioned alongside other stories to keep schedule.

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Well, what I am hitting here regarding 'write it all first' is that I established a posting schedule of one shots, and then transitioned to a series. I have made the decision to post the half, then post the other half, and when the third (much shorter) chapter is published somewhere in the future, I will edit the second half into the first, edit it to rename it, and ask for the second half to be removed (or leave split it as is if that is too much to ask). This is done so that I can use the second half to announce that I will no longer be trying so hard to stick to the schedule.

I am learning, as some of you suggested, that any other series after this one will have to be written slowly and unmentioned alongside other stories to keep schedule.

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.

I have had stories where I felt like the chapter breaks didn't fit the flow that I wanted. In those cases, I posted the story (completed) in parts containing multiple chapters. "Story Part 1" "Story Part 2", etc.

They were well received, but like with posting my stories by individual chapters, the most common feedback that I received from readers was that they preferred single, longer submissions. The stories posted in parts got converted to single submissions when I did the same for all of my chapter stories. The only things I break up now when posting are my episodic series.