So if I'm doing an ongoing serial story, should I try to use categories/tags for what I think the complete work will be? I have a tendency to use "twist" endings, so the first few chapters I post will almost always have different categories than the last few chapters.
I don't want to mislead the reader, but sometimes I'm not even sure how a serial will end when I first start writing it. Would love to hear thoughts on this.
List those you know you'll use, and for any 'twists', you can always add those when you reveal the twist, there's no rush to add every single tag. Just list the main ones initially, then add the others when you post the individual chapters, or possible when the subplot begins. However, it's harder to remove tags than it is to add them.
As far as knowing how a story ends, I've always preferred writing 'towards the ending'. I don't always know precisely how it'll end, yet I'll have a decent idea (ex: I'll know if a character is going to sacrifice himself or get injured, yet won't know precisely how until I write that specific chapter. But then, I've always had a knack for keeping the whole plot arc laid out without plotting it out and detailing, so it's easier for it to evolve naturally.
Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.
I also tend to write towards the end, which is how I usually end up with a twist ending. I usually have the beginning and ending laid out in my mind before I start writing a story, leaving that pesky middle section to figure out.
Yep, those twists don't write themselves, instead they have to be planned.
One technique I've often employed, is to have the protagonists (i..e. the central protagonist and their friends) debate their various options, listing several, then they'll begin debating each, dismissing the most obvious and working down, to arrive at the best strategy.
So, you simply have them dismiss the ultimate solution, so readers won't expect it, yet when it occurs, they'll slap themselves on the head and exclaim "Oh yeah, they did discuss that one, and it did work, after all!"
It's an amazingly simple strategy, based entirely on the rhetorical 'Rule of Thirds', where you either list one thing in detail, two things sharing similar properties, or three things which are nearly identical. It's a way of prioritizing what to include in writing, and thus in storytelling too.
Thus, if you ever include more than three things together, your readers will never grasp them all, never remembering any of them, which is WHY you avoid Info-Dumps, as the human mind is simply incapable of processing them.
By the way, those 'literary devices' were first developed by the ancient Greece playwrights, who performed the same plays, over and over in each town they performed in, each time varying the material so it remained 'fresh', yet afterwards, they'd compare and contrast which worked the best, so they could focus on the most successful.
And those same 'literary devices' were what Shakespeare rediscovered and why his writing had such an outsized impact, as ALL he did, was to tell the exact same stories which were popular in his day, using the forgotten literary devices to breath new life into those stories. So now, no one remembers those original 'popular' stories, as they were eclipses by Shakespeare's versions (all published in a single volume), which is why most literary giants, and most political strategists, use them so extensively what writing out politician's scripts to read on air.
You think all that applause is accidental, they're all carefully constructed, using the self-same, 4,000 year old literary and rhetorical devices.
As far as knowing how a story ends, I've always preferred writing 'towards the ending'.
British author terry Pratchett also used this method, although he referred to it as "the valley full of clouds". At the beginning of the story you're on the hill and can describe it in detail, you can look across the chasm and see the outline of the next hill, the ending, but once you descend into the valley everything is muddled and you just need to try to keep heading in the right direction.
In at least one case he got lost in the valley and ended up excising an entire plotline and several characters from one novel, reworking the story to cover up the loss, and later using the excised part as the B plot in another novel.
So there are risks.
If any of the potential directions are a 'squick' or otherwise a risk of upsetting readers, I would suggest using the 'caution' tag. Also be clear in the description that not all tags are in place yet, but 'caution' gives you a catchall for 'something might be going on you might not like.'
It's mostly used in SOL, because there are so many popular story elements (incest, scat, snuff and of course gay storylines) which upset so many readers, so it's important to key the readers in on what to expect while also advising them on what specifically to avoid!
However you decide to proceed (and I'm probably the last person to advise on what approach you should adopt), you're going to upset at least some readers. I recommend you grow a thick hide ;-)
AJ
You wouldn't believe how many readers are so adamant over denouncing my writing more complex plots and sentences. I've always sought to write the same sorts of stories which were so popular before the 1960s, yet those raised and trained to always write so that any fifth-grader could easily understand it, a more complex story essentially undermines everything they've been taught to believe.
Whereas, I've always written for those of a similar taste in stories, so I've never expected to be loved or adored, so I'm happy targeting a small subset of loyal and dedicated readers, who are more than willing to support my efforts.
Thus, I succeed by 'writing for MY audience, and no one else's, so everyone can simply read my stories if they prefer them, or not, as it no skin off of my nose, if they don't! ;)
Thanks for the kind advice. I'm 57 and I've been dead a few times, so I seriously don't mind people getting cranky at me. I'm often curious to understand why, though.
I can relate (other than having been dead a few times), as I just received an angry comment to my recently completed Nowhere … Like Home?, where he attacked how I ended the story (my tying up of loose ends, I guess).
As always, you can never please everyone, yet I agree, I try to relate to their perspective, yet he was clearly expecting an altogether different ending than my opening to an, as yet, unwritten sequel.
As always, there's no pleasing everyone, though I'd still like to know what it was about the ending that so pissed him off, aside from the story ending, that is. Most get a little depressed when a favorite story ends, it's fairly rare when the personally attack the author but, maybe he really liked the story?
No matter what you write, someone is going to complain that you failed to add a code identifying what they find disturbing.
One reader posted a thread in the Forum wanting to know if a story contained any mention of group sex because sex between more than 2 people in a story made him ill. By 'mention', he included dialogue between 2 characters who were talking about more than 2 people engaging in sex with each other. The group sex scene didn't have to be included, just mentioned.
What makes the situation worse is some people don't check the codes before they start reading your story but they will blame you for what is in the story even though you included the appropriate codes.
Bottom line is, write what you want to write. Include the codes you believe are appropriate when you post the story and then brace yourself for the complaints. When you receive negative feedback of that type, ignore it.
What makes the situation worse is some people don't check the codes before they start reading your story but they will blame you for what is in the story even though you included the appropriate codes.
And often they don't bother learning SOL's definitions of the codes and then blame you for following SOL's definitions. I've had many complaints that I didn't include the "rape" code. I had "non-consent" and codes like "blackmail" or "coercion," etc. But those stories, although legally rape, did not follow SOL's definition for rape.
There ain't no cure for willful ignorance (when you choose ignorance, unwilling to see what's in front of your face).
Don't be discouraged if readership is low while the story is being published:
* Many don't read serials until complete, fearing they will never be completed.
* 'codes to be added later' means many don't invest time in an unfinished serial, in case one of their squicks becomes a significant element of the story.
Having said that, i wish you well! Without new writers, this site will eventually atrophy.
This!
I normally don't read serials in progress because way too many never get finished. An exception is when we've been told that it's all written, edited and queued up for posting.
I never start a story with 'codes to be added later' until it's complete, and I entirely skip stories with 'not all codes listed' for whatever reason.
I normally don't read serials in progress because way too many never get finished. An exception is when we've been told that it's all written, edited and queued up for posting.
This is why I finished my first book before posting. I wanted to be sure I could finish the thing!
Subsequent books, thus far, have never been finished before publishing, partly because I wind up getting ideas from readers and can sometimes fit them into the current book. A limited set of advance readers would help with that (besides my editors, who also act as advance readers).
And I strongly support that last comment. More writers are always needed.
have never been finished before publishing
I could never not finish before publishing. I too often update previous chapters as I write new ones. Can't really do that if that previous chapter is already posted.
I may not have the final editing done for all the chapters when I begin posting, but they're far enough along that I wouldn't make a change that affected previous chapters.
I work with a 'buffer' of preferably at least 40 chapters ahead of publishing. That lets me double back and update without disturbing anything published.
It's really a two-layer buffer, because there are edited chapters and pre-editing chapters. The edited ones are higher cost to revise because editors have to recheck.
I seldom change significant arcs enough to necessitate a significant change, but have done so at least three times in my current book, all of which have happened in the buffer chapters. One was minor (pulling out setup for a plot arc that's moving out a semester), the other two were considerably larger and disturbed a bunch of stuff.
When my buffer gets short, I get cranky and nervous. It's very large now (nearly as long as it's been at any point other than Book 1) which makes me happy.
I don't think I would want to finish again before publishing unless I had a separate advance-reader program. I pick up too much insight from readers to want to delay incorporating it for a book-length period.
I seldom change significant arcs enough to necessitate a significant change,
It happens. In my story "Matilda and the Assassin" I had planned to make a series out of her being an assassin. Matilda was too young to drive so I knew I would need a driver so I created a minor character named Crash to be that driver. That was his only role (or so I had planned).
By the time I completed the story, I got attached to Matilda and wanted a better life for her than an assassin. The ending (as in the plot's climax) didn't change, but how she lived out her life did. So I had to go back and make Crash a significant character so that they would be a couple at the end.
Going back to my "shit-eating grin" idiom, "shit happens."
Oh, definitely. I have a lot of that. It's just that not much of it happens when I'm well down the road from when something happened the first time. Mostly, the characters say 'Nope, it happened this way' and that sets it. It's hard for me to convince them that they got it wrong. So most of the changes made to already written sections are picking up dropped balls or fixing nuances or the like.
Or, sometimes, realizing I contradicted something and having to fix it.
The longer the story, the more fixes, patches and corrections needed, just to keep it heading in the same direction, even without moving in new directions. Tis the nature of the beast.
The longer the story, the more fixes, patches and corrections needed, just to keep it heading in the same direction, even without moving in new directions. Tis the nature of the beast.
I actually haven't needed to do this for any salient story points. I have fixed anachronisms or historical errors, but none of the stories in the universe have been changed or patched.
And that's without creating a story outline in advance. I know where I'm starting and where I want it to go, but that's it. (AWLL is a bit different because there are autobiographical parts, so they are, in a sense, an outline, but I didn't formally write one out).
Being clear: the ones I was mentioning fixing happened before publishing, not after. Sometimes I'll write something and realize I contradicted something minor earlier, but that's sorted out well before publishing.
I do have one 'fix' that will be applied to Book 1, but it's in the 'anachronism or historical error' category (a train ride puts people in the wrong city; there is no change to any important plot).
And I'm the same way on outlines - there is none. I have a document called 'Rolling Outline', but it's not really that at all, it's more notes to myself to say 'On date X, you said Y would happen; make it happen.' Or thereabouts, anyway. Preventing dropped balls.
I know where I'm starting and where I want it to go, but that's it.
That is my general feeling as well. In fact, for the first story I posted here (using a different pen name), the first chapter written was the epilogue.
"A Charmed Life" was published as I wrote it, but the "incompete and inactive" line on too many stories I've started is why I have switched to finishing a story before I start posting.
My current story is marked "in progress" as it posts, but I've finished it and scheduled all the posts until the end of July (twice a week). The codes reflect the completed story.
My current story is marked "in progress" as it posts
Great! I should have added on my earlier post ..."unless the author has indicated that the story is completely written and just awaiting posting (or it's an author whose work I like and they have an excellent track record of completing their stories".
Or … unless you know the author, it's best not expecting them to finish anything. If they do, that's great, yet until they slowly build that reputation, they're still questionable about be able to finish a story (as successfully concluding a story is the hardest part of writing, unlike a strong start)!