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| Re: How Long? [message #45064 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 07:47   |
Niknokitueu
Messages: 649
Registered: May 2011
Location: Swansea, UK |
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| Dr. Bender wrote on Tue, 30 August 2011 12:01 | Now that the title has your attention...
What would people prefer? Shorter, more frequent updates or a whole story at once?
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It is sad that we have to choose... 
Personally, a long-enough block of a story to count as a chapter (about the length of any of the non-short ones), and for that I am willing to wait as long as the authors need.
(ie I personally think you all have the length of each part about right, and am willing to accept infrequent updates as a consequence.)
However, I fully understand that there is a need to frequently update a site in order to keep visiting traffic high, and that many people desert sites they think are too infrequently updated, so in the end it will have to be your call.
Have Fun!
Niknokitueu
[Updated on: Tue, 30 August 2011 07:48]
Do, or Do Not. There is no Try.
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| Re: How Long? [message #45079 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 10:14 |
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 Polk kitsune
Messages: 340
Registered: January 2009
Location: Canada |
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As a reviewer, I have to admit, I prefer a longer, much more full story for two reasons.
First one, mostly personal, it means I have to write one full review for a single story, rather than split it into five or so. I don't have to hold up to the cliffhangers so much, and I can give a proper opinion.
Second one, a full story gives a much more fulfilling experience. Cutting up the story into sections breaks the sense of continuity you get from it. There's a few times I compare a reading experience as a roller coaster, but I don't think your ride should stop every two hills to refuel. People would lose interest pretty quickly after a while.
On the flip side...
I know pumping out a story takes a lot of time, and we can't urge a writer to write that much faster to pump out an excellent full story every weeks.
At the same time, if traffic on the website is what keeps the new blood coming over and keeps the site alive, making updates infrequent would really hurt that. Personally, there's enough activity in the forum to pass time, but not everyone will agree.
Maybe there's a way to compromise? Short updates most weeks, except the first week every two months for a full length story? I'm sure it'd be tricky to pull off, but it might be the best of both worlds?
"Action speaks louder than words. Especially if you have a giant moon cannon."
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| Re: How Long? [message #45084 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 11:26 |
sam105
Messages: 12
Registered: May 2011
Location: Kansas |
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It depends on the story. Long stories can be broken up into several updates while some shorter ones work best as one post.
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| Re: How Long? [message #45085 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 12:32 |
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Nicky82
Messages: 1404
Registered: May 2011 |
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| Dr. Bender wrote on Tue, 30 August 2011 13:01 | Now that the title has your attention...
What would people prefer? Shorter, more frequent updates or a whole story at once?
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Like many things in the life it should be considered case by case; generally it's better having the story broken in chapter rather than a single behemot of an update in order to keep the gap between the updates shorter and avoid relising updates so long that it takes days to read (take a look to "In a single fold", now just think Insanity prerequisite or most of Diane's stories relised in that format), but sometimes you have to simply accept that it's ready when it's ready, sometimes the story doeasn't take interruptions well, in those cases it's better to wait one week rather than breaking the narrative flow at the wrong point.
| Dr. Bender wrote on Tue, 30 August 2011 16:16 | What if I brought out chapter-size updates then collated them into a single file?
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I would say that it would be better if each update was a file and each file had a link to the previous and one to the next; in this way you keep the loading time down for the slower connections and it would make easier to make copies to read when you don't have access to internet (just open the file copy all and paste on a file on your computer without having to worry of copying a part that you had already)...... hmm, if there were .pdf files of the stories for that.
Anyway, as long as we get to read the story we are happy, dettails like whether using a single file or multiple ones are secondary; just do what you feel more confortable with, we aren't going to complain one way or the other.
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| Re: How Long? [message #45106 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 17:10 |
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Sir Lee
Messages: 3069
Registered: May 2005
Location: São Paulo, Brazil |
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I would say "whatever fits the story best."
If the story has natural breakpoints, I would say chapter-by-chapter could even enhance the reading experience. As an example, I would mention "Christmas Elves," which was planned as a four-parter and as such had a couple big cliffhangers that kinda lost part of their impact due to being published all at once.
The converse, of course, is that breaking apart a story with no natural breakpoints feels kinda odd.
Chapters, in particular chapters with regular sizes, are in large part an artifact of serialized publishing in the XIX and XX centuries. Some writers, like Terry Pratchett, don't bother with them in most cases -- but even pterry will break apart a story on occasion, when it feels right to the structure of the story (like on "Pyramids.")
Don't call me Shirley. You will surely make me surly.
--
Sent from my Bugs Industries® bPhone™
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| Re: How Long? [message #45110 is a reply to message #45061 ] |
Tue, 30 August 2011 18:37 |
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ShinZed
Messages: 155
Registered: May 2011
Location: UK |
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It doesn't matter how long so long as it's a cohesive story. Cliffhangers are always good if you need a cutoff point (and I know you love watching your readers beat their heads against a wall!)
A story out every week would be wonderful, whatever you can do to keep up that pace would be great. I always check the site on sunday morning, and I'm a sad bunny when there is nothing new to devour. Of course, the server move has been a spanner in the works, but it would be great to return to regular service! 
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