What’s with the desire for never ending stories?

[coldwater1]

All of the stories I have written to date I intended to be complete stories on their own. In each, I felt I had resolved the significant conflict and, as they were all intended to be romances, the leading lady and leading man were happily ‘together’ in the end.

The first two, I did leave open ended in the sense that I chose not to spell out whether the couple ended up making a long term commitment to each other. I didn’t think that was particularly important to the story.

Many comments from the readers were along the lines of, “You’re not going to leave the story unfinished are you?” and “When’s the next chapter coming out?”

These responses took me by surprise.

So I decided to carry the next couple of stories further, ending them with marriages and pregnancies and happy families. I did everything short of actually writing out “they lived happily ever after.”

I still got the “this needs a sequel” and “please write another episode” comments.

The most recent one I wrote, I let myself be talked into writing a sequel. I took the little child born of the happy couple in the previous story, sent her on a new adventure after she turned 18, and ended it with her walking down the aisle. End of story. Especially when it was not received nearly as well as the original.

Except I just received a comment asking me to “please continue this storyline.”

I’m thinking, “with what?”

Don’t get me wrong; I am flattered that there’s at least a few readers that like my amateurish stories enough to want to read more. I just wonder what it actually takes for readers to accept that the story is really done.

I think maybe my next story will end with the sun exploding and vaporizing the entire solar system. Something tells me someone will still ask, “When can we expect chapter two?”

 

[oggbashan]

The simple answer is that the person making the comment liked your characters and wants to read more about them.

 

[TxRad]

Don’t get me wrong; I am flattered that there’s at least a few readers that like my amateurish stories enough to want to read more. I just wonder what it actually takes for readers to accept that the story is really done.

I think maybe my next story will end with the sun exploding and vaporizing the entire solar system. Something tells me someone will still ask, “When can we expect chapter two?”

I've already tried that. I killed off everyone in one huge explosion. Talk about pissing people off.

What is even funnier, the story is actually the first chapter of a long sci-fi novel. Problem is, my laptop was stolen on a trip with the next six or seven chapters already completed. Rebuilding a story to me is three times as hard as writing it in the first place.

 

[JKendallDane]

I just wonder what it actually takes for readers to accept that the story is really done.

I am currently 22-1/2 chapters into what will end up as a 45 to 50 chapter trilogy. It began as a one-off stroker story and with no thought whatsoever of turning it into a full-blown series. Between the Muse and the reception it received, things went down a new path before I knew what was happening.

The two main characters began the story as an eighteen-year-old college freshman and a twenty-two-year-old first-year med student. At this point, I have something in the neighborhood of 12,000+ fans that I believe would be happy as hell if I didn't end the story until they those two guys were collecting their first social security checks. And even that might not totally satisfy them.

Sometimes you can make your characters TOO loveable.

.

 

[sr71plt]

All of the stories I have written to date I intended to be complete stories on their own. In each, I felt I had resolved the significant conflict and, as they were all intended to be romances, the leading lady and leading man were happily ‘together’ in the end.
”

Yes, Lit. readers specialize in wanting story scenarios to be beaten to death. Sticking to your guns on deciding when your story is finished usually is the right instinct, I think. That said, seeing this comment on a story occasionally gets my Muse churning again and I'll write a followup--it's only if I think I'll enjoy doing that, though.

 

[Hypoxia]

A couple of my short standalones birthed user requests for MORE, MORE! I succumbed, to good effect. Others also prompt such desires but I really am done with those. Others I leave unresolved, for readers' imaginings to complete. If I were in churn-em-out mode I might spew endless derivations. My lazy muse has yet to poke me in that direction, nor to force me to write a few (or more) obvious prequels, sequels, and follow-ups.

Endless series tend to gather high vote scores from diminishing readerships. Authors get to decide: brownie points, or eyeballs? My most-read tale is my lowest scoring but also my most-favorited. I can live with that.

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

All of the stories I have written to date I intended to be complete stories on their own. In each, I felt I had resolved the significant conflict and, as they were all intended to be romances, the leading lady and leading man were happily ‘together’ in the end.

The first two, I did leave open ended in the sense that I chose not to spell out whether the couple ended up making a long term commitment to each other. I didn’t think that was particularly important to the story.

Many comments from the readers were along the lines of, “You’re not going to leave the story unfinished are you?” and “When’s the next chapter coming out?”

These responses took me by surprise.

So I decided to carry the next couple of stories further, ending them with marriages and pregnancies and happy families. I did everything short of actually writing out “they lived happily ever after.”

I still got the “this needs a sequel” and “please write another episode” comments.

The most recent one I wrote, I let myself be talked into writing a sequel. I took the little child born of the happy couple in the previous story, sent her on a new adventure after she turned 18, and ended it with her walking down the aisle. End of story. Especially when it was not received nearly as well as the original.

Except I just received a comment asking me to “please continue this storyline.”

I’m thinking, “with what?”

Don’t get me wrong; I am flattered that there’s at least a few readers that like my amateurish stories enough to want to read more. I just wonder what it actually takes for readers to accept that the story is really done.

I think maybe my next story will end with the sun exploding and vaporizing the entire solar system. Something tells me someone will still ask, “When can we expect chapter two?”

Write your stories for you, and finish them as you see fit. I've come to just ignore the 'moar plz' comments, and as a result, some have started to get creative. My favorite thus far:

"By: Anonymous
I am going to be saving this to see if you write a followup. If you don't, I will be at the end of a long line of people wanting to kick your ass."

receiving compliments can be lovely.

 

[Handley_Page]

" All of the stories I have written to date I intended to be complete stories on their own. In each, I felt I had resolved the significant conflict and, as they were all intended to be romances, the leading lady and leading man were happily ‘together’ in the end.

The first two, I did leave open ended in the sense that I chose not to spell out whether the couple ended up making a long term commitment to each other. I didn’t think that was particularly important to the story.

Many comments from the readers were along the lines of, “You’re not going to leave the story unfinished are you?” and “When’s the next chapter coming out? ”"

Write your stories for you, and finish them as you see fit. I've come to just ignore the 'moar plz' comments, and as a result, some have started to get creative. My favorite thus far:

"By: Anonymous
I am going to be saving this to see if you write a follow up. If you don't, I will be at the end of a long line of people wanting to kick your ass."

receiving compliments can be lovely.

Be aware that such comments indicate that you've written well; you should take it as a compliment.
I suggest you ignore the Trolls.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I get those now and then. I mentally translate them to "I liked this story, please write another one with similar themes".

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

Be aware that such comments indicate that you've written well; you should take it as a compliment.

I'm aware that's what anon considers to be a compliment. I find it amusing, but it's just not the kind of comment to motivate me, personally.

 

[HectorBidon]

“You’re not going to leave the story unfinished are you?” “When’s the next chapter coming out?”

I think maybe my next story will end with the sun exploding and vaporizing the entire solar system.

I get this too. My most growlworthy comment was along the lines of "I would have given you a five, but not until you finish the story."

I found these types of comments frustrating too. My stories never try to be anything more than little slices of life. My ideas are just every-day situations that I find interesting or titillating. So maybe they aren't even stories, at all, just sketches or vignettes. My basic plot line is "boy meets girl." And once the meeting has taken place, once the situation has come to fruition, once the weekend or semester is over, I'm not much interested in going on. Either the boy and the girl stay together, or they fall apart, or the sun explodes. Kind of formulaic and a chore to write either way. I did add an epilogue to one story, but I'm not sure whether the story is better off with it or without it

But the more I think about it, the more I think that Oggbashan's reply probably hits the nail on the head.

The simple answer is that the person making the comment liked your characters and wants to read more about them.

Like a soap opera, like Downton Abbey, like David Copperfield, you get to feel you know the characters, you enjoy their company. You want to hang out with them, see how they're getting on, hear about the day-to-day adventures of their lives.

I don't have the capacity to imagine entire lives myself, so I'll probably stick to my little vignettes and put up with the comments I get.

But I do enjoy reading more extended works. I just read a real corker: "Love in the Age of Chemicals" by negeren. In it I met two fictional characters who are as vivid and real and lovable in my mind as most of the actual people I interact with through email and internet forums.

 

[lovecraft68]

They will always want more. Back in 2010/11 I did a 50 chapter series that had an ending that gave complete and total closure.

All I got was "But they could....and you could have them and what if they...."

I even had one person ask my permission to write one of his ideas for them, which I politely refused.

This site loves never ending stories, just look at the success long running series have here and how they dominate everything here.

People here love two things, tropes being beaten to death and that death lasting an eternity

 

[PennLady]

Yep, I've had this too, for both stand-alone stories and multi-chapter stories. I'm pleased people enjoy the story and characters, but to me, the story is done. I have no interest in continuing any of them. Toyed with an epilogue for one (wish it had occurred to me at the time) but decided it wasn't worth it so far after.

What surprised me was with my story "Rhythm and the Blue Line." People were mostly satisfied with the ending for the two main characters, but many people wanted more stuff for the woman. I'd made her family a bit estranged and unsupportive of her goals, and boy did people want me to give them some comeuppance.

At any rate, I'll join the chorus: write for you, and end the story when it's finished for you. If you find more to write, great. If not, on to the next one.

 

[loquere]

Greed

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have two that have comments on them about wanting more, even though both are complete. No more story to tell. The characters aren't dead. They drove, flew, blasted off, warped out of the solar system, in to the sunset. The only way to bring them back is to twerk some time travel shit and use a lot of mirrors.

 

[Hypoxia]

I have two that have comments on them about wanting more, even though both are complete. No more story to tell. The characters aren't dead. They drove, flew, blasted off, warped out of the solar system, in to the sunset. The only way to bring them back is to twerk some time travel shit and use a lot of mirrors.

Then go for prequels. If George Lucas can do it, so can you. Or, force the sequels -- trace what your characters are doing in exile. They could (individually) conquer stellar realms, or drive back alien fleets, or loll on jaded sin-planets, or be captive of nefarious villains, or obsessively write a decadent philosophy, or whatever. They could find reason to return to Earth -- maybe they need vitamins. You'll find a way.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Then go for prequels. If George Lucas can do it, so can you. Or, force the sequels -- trace what your characters are doing in exile. They could (individually) conquer stellar realms, or drive back alien fleets, or loll on jaded sin-planets, or be captive of nefarious villains, or obsessively write a decadent philosophy, or whatever. They could find reason to return to Earth -- maybe they need vitamins. You'll find a way.

Actually, George didn't. He wrote nine books in all, a trilogy of three trilogies. He started filming with the first in the second trilogy. Menace was actually an enhanced version of the first book in the first trilogy. Now they are working on the last trilogy.

And one of mine they want continued, starts at the end and tells, via flashbacks, the beginning.

 

[redzinger]

After a few requests, I extended my Domme story, but I'm pretty certain those who suggested for it to be extended have never returned to read it.
(Mostly my fault as I had publishing stuff to sort out and it took some time.)

I hope, with the myriad of plans Laurel & Manu have, that they can set up some kind of follow-alert system. It would benefit both readers and authors and Lit overall.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

IRL readers want to continue the enjoyment. Humor them a little. You can do both.

 

[trigudis]

On-going Stories

All of the stories I have written to date I intended to be complete stories on their own. In each, I felt I had resolved the significant conflict and, as they were all intended to be romances, the leading lady and leading man were happily ‘together’ in the end.

The first two, I did leave open ended in the sense that I chose not to spell out whether the couple ended up making a long term commitment to each other. I didn’t think that was particularly important to the story.

Many comments from the readers were along the lines of, “You’re not going to leave the story unfinished are you?” and “When’s the next chapter coming out?”

These responses took me by surprise.

So I decided to carry the next couple of stories further, ending them with marriages and pregnancies and happy families. I did everything short of actually writing out “they lived happily ever after.”

I still got the “this needs a sequel” and “please write another episode” comments.

The most recent one I wrote, I let myself be talked into writing a sequel. I took the little child born of the happy couple in the previous story, sent her on a new adventure after she turned 18, and ended it with her walking down the aisle. End of story. Especially when it was not received nearly as well as the original.

Except I just received a comment asking me to “please continue this storyline.”

I’m thinking, “with what?”

Don’t get me wrong; I am flattered that there’s at least a few readers that like my amateurish stories enough to want to read more. I just wonder what it actually takes for readers to accept that the story is really done.

I think maybe my next story will end with the sun exploding and vaporizing the entire solar system. Something tells me someone will still ask, “When can we expect chapter two?”

Personally, I prefer resolution in one story rather than writing additional chapters. Two of my stories do have followups but only one. After that, I tire of the characters/theme/situation and then move on to something new.

 

[PervOtaku]

I get those now and then. I mentally translate them to "I liked this story, please write another one with similar themes".

This.

Some stories and scenarios lend themselves very well to adventure after adventure, as long as you have an idea you can tack on another adventure. Other stories have a very singular arc, lives are transformed, conclusions are reached, and creating a new plot conflict to hang a sequel on would be tantamount to undoing whatever significant and satisfying ending you worked hard to create.

Actually, George didn't. He wrote nine books in all, a trilogy of three trilogies. He started filming with the first in the second trilogy. Menace was actually an enhanced version of the first book in the first trilogy. Now they are working on the last trilogy.

I don't think Lucas actually wrote any such books. After the prequel trilogy came out, the promise of the third trilogy quietly went away until he sold everything to Disney. Lucas has nothing to do with the new movies, it's JJ Abrams in charge now. Now, the prequels themselves, it's hard to say what he really had planned and when. The original movie did not gain "Episode 4" or "A New Hope" until Empire Strikes Back came out. Given that at the time nobody thought this little movie called Star Wars would amount to anything, I'm sure not even Lucas expected he would have a chance to make more in the series.

The official line afterwards became that Lucas started with the part of the story that he felt would best stand alone, but that's very likely a load of crap. It's more probable that after Star Wars became more popular than anybody had a right to expect, he started writing Empire, decided it would be great if Vader was Luke's father, and then decided that Vader's early life might be worth exploring someday so he should retroactively mark the original movie as "part 4".

 

[Hypoxia]

Some stories and scenarios lend themselves very well to adventure after adventure, as long as you have an idea you can tack on another adventure. Other stories have a very singular arc, lives are transformed, conclusions are reached, and creating a new plot conflict to hang a sequel on would be tantamount to undoing whatever significant and satisfying ending you worked hard to create.

Like Doyle killing-off Sherlock and Moriarty? Yet Holmes rose from the dead and Doyle was compelled to craft more adventures -- money was a factor, yes? Popular sequels can be cash cows.

Any resolution may be un-resolved by applying yet more intrigue and drama. Any resolution can leave a few holes for later exploration-exploitation. Thus, Hamlet is extended as Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. Romeo and Juliet may return as vampires. In Citizen Kane, Rosebud is not merely a toy wagon, it's a clitoris -- follow that thread of thought. Anything can be nicely or rudely extrapolated.

 

[DwellerDark]

I've gotten those responses too. I figure it's because a lot of the stories here tend to be multi-part, so that's what people are used to.

I try not to let it bother me. I figure that if people want more, it's because they liked the story. What makes me a bit sad is when someone insults me because I "left the story unfinished" and because I tend to have ambiguous endings. I've had a handful of pretty scathing responses from people who otherwise seemed to like the story. I've just had to make peace with that, because I have no interest in writing a multi-part story or going into an Animal House-style "this is how all the characters ended up" ending.

 

[Hypoxia]

I've gotten those responses too. I figure it's because a lot of the stories here tend to be multi-part, so that's what people are used to.

Alas, sometimes I *do* slack off and leave a storyline in suspension. Then I get feedback like this:

Will you please finish Black,White and Red all over. It is a very good story. Hope all is well with you.
Cheers,
XXXXXXXX

Reminding me that yeah, I left shit hanging. I even know what the ending would be. (Spoiler: they get back together and screw more.) I haven't yet applied myself to wrapping it up. My bad. I have a few other series with further chapters planned, plot sketched-out, ready for my muse to regain consciousness and push the words out. I blame... whatever.

 

[timelord1963]

never ending stories

I agree with ogg. Very good authors get massive feedback from readers. I myself have given feedback that turned into a segment of the story.
Personally, I love to have stories that are long and have many chapters. Sadly many of those are taken off Literotica and made into an e-book. The Bluedragonauthor books, Just the 6 of us, Vassel Academy, Road Trip (no longer on Literotica, It was replaced by Crystal Clear. While still being a good book it is not as good as Road Trip.) Those are just some I love to read and reread.

Oddly, the Story series stories IMO are not the best. Chain stories are written by different authors so the vision and consistency are not there.