Large stories, better to release them in parts or as a whole?

[NickAxel]

that's a problem, since if I like my characters they take in a life of their own and demand more chapters even after I think they ae complete.

100% I keep finding things to change, and it does generally, make it better. Then there are those times it doesn’t

 

[NickAxel]

As for self publishing, I thought I could go down that road, but I to saw the obstacles I’d have to overcome, and at my age, I have enough to do without piling ten thousand more on top. Publishing here has been an eye opener. Stories I thought were good, weren’t, and one I thought wouldn’t do that well did. All in all, this experience has made me a better writer. I thank all of you for your responses. May we all continue to find success in our community here on Lit.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm a writer, like my father before me. The issue with writing for money, ghostwriting, self-publishing, or for a traditional publisher, to be successful it isn't enough to be a good writer. One must put aside writing for yourself and think only about what will sell. Whatever genre you write it, you must hit the tropes hard and stay inside the lines for the most part. This means less pleasure is gained from the writing.

As for self publishing, I thought I could go down that road, but I to saw the obstacles I’d have to overcome, and at my age, I have enough to do without piling ten thousand more on top. Publishing here has been an eye opener. Stories I thought were good, weren’t, and one I thought wouldn’t do that well did. All in all, this experience has made me a better writer. I thank all of you for your responses. May we all continue to find success in our community here on Lit.

 

[Gamblnluck]

100% I keep finding things to change, and it does generally, make it better. Then there are those times it doesn’t

This is why some of my stories have become so long. My 775K word "Gotta pay the Piper" was originally about 30k words. However, I did not like my ending as I went along. Later I had an ending in mind, but I'd departed from the original so far that changed.
I write differently than others. I write my story. If long, I like to use chapters of 10K words or so. What I do next is start from the beginning and revise the story. I might drop hints of what is to come, I call them breadcrumbs. Sometimes, that gives me a separate story line that I try to integrate into the original story. My story grows from within.
A simple fifteen thousand story, "My Mother Owns Me" turned into 116K. It was a break from Gotta Pay the Piper intended as an offshoot story in the same world. I had a character that was going to be nothing more than a mention, a character at the dinner table. She turned into a major plot change.
I also will start to submit stories long before I finished writing them. I know where I am going and if the story doesn't grow from within, it will get the original ending.
I am now working on finishing a story I left sitting. The end of the story is written. But now because I let a few things develop, I feel the need to push the end off a bit.

One thing I absolutely REFUSE to do is write a series of stories with different titles where, in order to understand the story, the reader has to go back and read others. They are stories in a series but not chapters. I hate to read, "this story follows X" Then find X followed M. And the author says you can read this by itself but in order to really appreciate it.....

 

[NickAxel]

This is why some of my stories have become so long. My 775K word "Gotta pay the Piper" was originally about 30k words. However, I did not like my ending as I went along. Later I had an ending in mind, but I'd departed from the original so far that changed.
I write differently than others. I write my story. If long, I like to use chapters of 10K words or so. What I do next is start from the beginning and revise the story. I might drop hints of what is to come, I call them breadcrumbs. Sometimes, that gives me a separate story line that I try to integrate into the original story. My story grows from within.
A simple fifteen thousand story, "My Mother Owns Me" turned into 116K. It was a break from Gotta Pay the Piper intended as an offshoot story in the same world. I had a character that was going to be nothing more than a mention, a character at the dinner table. She turned into a major plot change.
I also will start to submit stories long before I finished writing them. I know where I am going and if the story doesn't grow from within, it will get the original ending.
I am now working on finishing a story I left sitting. The end of the story is written. But now because I let a few things develop, I feel the need to push the end off a bit.

One thing I absolutely REFUSE to do is write a series of stories with different titles where, in order to understand the story, the reader has to go back and read others. They are stories in a series but not chapters. I hate to read, "this story follows X" Then find X followed M. And the author says you can read this by itself but in order to really appreciate it.....

Yes, I understand you. There nothing more to say other than, keep writing fellow author, for ourselves, and that’s good enough for me.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Now for a new question, for those of you with thirty-five thousand or more words, why have you not published on Kindle? Seems like you should be getting paid if you’re that good.

I think like most people it would be nice if I could make money off of my hobby. However, my longer stories especially are so incredibly niche that I'd be better off taking my kids out grown clothes and turning them into quilts to sell.

 

[alohadave]

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think most people are weird about completed series.

If you've ever watched TV, you've seen lots of unfinished stories. It doesn't mean that you can't enjoy what you do get to read. There is a series of books that I read many years ago that never finished because the author died. I'd have been out the enjoyment of the stories that were published if I waited for the series to be finished.

Hell, life is full of unfinished stories. You never get resolution to most of the things that you experience.