I was looking through stories by authors I haven't yet read and I noticed something that made me curious. Often, an author who stories are scored in the 5's and 6's has one story that's rated in the high 7's or low 8's. Inevitably, that one story is incomplete and the author has apparently quit writing. Does anyone have any idea of what would be going through the author's mind to lead him to quit just when he was finding a little success?
One author I know quit because he thought he hit the jackpot with that high-scoring story and went away to have it published commercially.
Years later he was still trying (unsuccessfully) to make money off that one idea/book.
Without a crystal ball or mind reading device, I doubt that question could be answered definitively.
Could be so many reasons. It could be they that they wanted to write a story rated above a certain threshold and once attained, they went on to others things, mission accomplished. It could also be they were trying to write a 'good' story but kept on getting bad scores, decided "Fuck it!" banged out what they thought was a shit story in 5 minutes, it did really well and perplexed and a little annoyed at the readership, went out, got pissed, and then was run over by a bus...possibly.
Alas, most people have only a single story to tell, and even then, they aren't terribly committed to the process. Though many are NOW self-publishing, few go on to publish a second story, having gotten it out of their systems.
Writing is hard work, and it's a slog figuring out how to do thousands of different tasks. Few want to dedicate their lives to learning how to write.
As many have noted, writers don't write for the money, as McDonald's pays more per hour, or the recognition, which is always a double-edged sword. Instead, authors write because they're driven. They've got a story to tell, and it'll come out whether they want to tell it or not—even if no one cares about it.
Quitting early is simply the wise decision, those who remain are those without a choice, whose personal muses control their every waking moment. Thank heavens everyone is not chained to a laptop, pounding away every day, but have actual lives to live!
The rest of us, though, make up for everyone that likes to pretend they can write. If a story doesn't dictate your daily schedule, I wouldn't waste my time. :(
The author has some fans. They rate the story early. Everybody else waits until the story is finished. If it's not finished, the earlier ratings are all that you see.
The author has some fans. They rate the story early. Everybody else waits until the story is finished. If it's not finished, the earlier ratings are all that you see.
I blame aliens. They often stop by and highly rate incomplete stories when they aren't busy using anal probes.
I blame aliens. They often stop by and highly rate incomplete stories when they aren't busy using anal probes.
Ok, so since you appear to know about this stuff, a few questions need to be answered...
(1) Is it really impossible to highly rate an incomplete story whilst using an anal probe.?
(2) Why do they stop by (earth) to use anal probes?
(3) Do you mean they use anal probes on themselves/each other, or on humans?
(4) Why don't they have their own anal probes on their home planet and/or spacecraft?
(5) Is it true that anal lube breaks down during FtL space travel? (Would partially explain aliens visiting earth to use our anal probes)
(6) Do these aliens repeatedly stop by earth due to an addiction to our anal probes, or in the hope those stories will be completed?
Enquiring minds need answers... please.
(2) Why do they stop by (earth) to use anal probes?
Joy, the answer to this question also answers most of the others - we seems to have more assholes than the rest of the universe!
we seem to have more assholes than the rest of the universe!
Maybe they are used to cloaca.
"Cloaca definition is - sewer:3. 2 a [ New Latin, from Latin ]: the common chamber into which the intestinal and urogenital tracts discharge especially in monotreme mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and elasmobranch fishes also: a comparable chamber of an invertebrate."
Why do they stop by (earth) to use anal probes?
We have lots of ass holes in high places?
Ireland has it's own space program, They sent a probe looking for extra terrestrial beer (an ale probe) and the aliens misunderstood.
Ireland has it's own space program, They sent a probe looking for extra terrestrial beer (an ale probe) and the aliens misunderstood.
An ailing ale anal probe? If you ain't got no lube, you use whatever's on hand!