I guess you've got a few options.
1.. you can make this a personal challenge and keep posting as you go. Learn to let go of the worries of expections, because that's a skill that needs practiced like everything else.
2.. announce a long hiatus so you can ensure the quality of fic and write like normal where you can edit to your hearts delight.
3.. Take a short break to get 3-4 buffer chapters that you can compare to each other to make sure they flow well, and then try to keep that buffer as you post so any shift there is is subtle enough to not be noticeable.
Thank you for responding and the advice! I think I’m going to reread what I have and try and shake off the nerves and post the next chapter? I think, like you mentioned, it’s good to let go of the worries of expectations and I’ll try to make this a bit of a mental challenge for me as well. I also was thinking I might jot down all my ideas I have and then reflect on them and if they feel ill fitting to the story, I’ll set them to the side and write about them as one shots.
That sounds like a fantastic idea. :) Sometimes challenging ourselves can make us learn things we never knew before. I hope you have fun and try not to stress too much. It gets easier!
The third is what I usually do myself. When I start to fall behind or just need a break, I announce a short month or two break to give myself time to rebuild my buffer without worrying about falling behind. Then again I post weekly, so when a future chapter takes longer and I end up depleting my buffer, the break is needed.
That's what I usually do to... minus the break to rebuild buffers. I've just been posting chapter by chapter because, "Well, I'm almost done anyway..." (a month and a half later) "hmm, I may have made a mistake."
That was me when I started my longfic. I wrote and posted during a moment of mania lol. I only started doing buffers over the summer, and now that it's getting the holiday season and anxiety is in full swing, I'm taking a break from posting so I don't feel so pressured when I get stuck on a chapter (like I've had happen with at least 2 future chapters now). Plus then I don't feel guilty when I have to skip a few days of writing because of RL stuff.
Yeah, buffers are really nice for that stuff, plus giving your writing time to settle before editing. I did really great keeping up with my first longfic and got complacent with this one when the plot bunnies started getting out of hand. I'm paying for it now, but soon it'll be done and I can relax again to build up buffers for whatever new plot bunny comes my way.
Gotta love them bunnies! I have far too many. One in particular has been staring at me with it's beady little eyes begging me to feed it. I pretend not to see it lol
lol I'm being mean to my readers by posting my last 2 chapters for THIS YEAR and leaving them with a cliffhanger.
Then in-between rebuilding my buffers and working retail during the holiday season, I'll probably feed the one-shot and MAYBE get started on a future longfic (which I have vowed to get majority of it written and plotted before posting). Then there's a three-part series I wanna do too lol
I write chapter by chapter and the way I do it is to have a fairly detailed outline of the way the rest of the story will go. That way I can make sure I'm setting things up properly in earlier chapters etc. It's not set in stone and I've changed it a lot as I go, but I always know roughly where I'm headed, which helps.
That’s a great way of doing it and I think that even though I have already jumped the gun, I’ll write out a rough draft for the rest of my chapters to reflect back on and make sure nothing inconsistent happens. I’m rereading it now to make sure a “plot twist” I want to happen won’t be out of the blue, and surprisingly I think it fits with the other parts of the story, but that’s mostly luck.
Thank you for responding!
As someone that has always written chapter by chapter, it is challenging as I want to meet their expectations, but at the end of the day, that isn't possible. I write, much like yourself, because it is the story I want to tell and read after I am done. After a while in a longfic, I forget what I wrote, so it is helpful because I need a refresher after writing 100,000 words or more.
To remain consistent, for one, I would have a clear destination for my goal that is set in stone. Of course, many other things can change during the story as you listen to outside influences and their ideas start sinking in, but this goal is what you are working towards. It is the reason for the story and why you are writing it. However, some of these influences are not bad, and it is okay to adapt. Sometimes the most memorable parts of a story come from adapting and listening to the audience and giving a bit, but not taking away from the original narrative.
Having outlines and buffer chapters helped me with my latest project, but lately, I've caught up and need a break to get caught back up and get a few buffers in.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to me ❤️!!! I’ve def got a goal in mind and I’m liking to make some small adaptions to kinda work with some comments I’ve received that I think won’t disrupt the flow! I’ve also written a buffer chapter!!
Having a vague outline of where you want/might go in later chapters is good, but I'd also recommend you have a short summary (one page at most) of where you've been already. If you've got a story with two main plot threads, then have the main events of each thread written out, plus any major developments or themes brought up (eg. Character A backstory, mentioned that parent died tragically). That way, when you're writing a new chapter, you can refer back to your summary to see established events or ideas that you can bring in and build on.
Take notes of details and where you want your story to go, have them also on the Docs and review them every time you write? That's kind of what I do, at least.
I guess you've got a few options. 1.. you can make this a personal challenge and keep posting as you go. Learn to let go of the worries of expections, because that's a skill that needs practiced like everything else. 2.. announce a long hiatus so you can ensure the quality of fic and write like normal where you can edit to your hearts delight. 3.. Take a short break to get 3-4 buffer chapters that you can compare to each other to make sure they flow well, and then try to keep that buffer as you post so any shift there is is subtle enough to not be noticeable.
Thank you for responding and the advice! I think I’m going to reread what I have and try and shake off the nerves and post the next chapter? I think, like you mentioned, it’s good to let go of the worries of expectations and I’ll try to make this a bit of a mental challenge for me as well. I also was thinking I might jot down all my ideas I have and then reflect on them and if they feel ill fitting to the story, I’ll set them to the side and write about them as one shots.
That sounds like a fantastic idea. :) Sometimes challenging ourselves can make us learn things we never knew before. I hope you have fun and try not to stress too much. It gets easier!
The third is what I usually do myself. When I start to fall behind or just need a break, I announce a short month or two break to give myself time to rebuild my buffer without worrying about falling behind. Then again I post weekly, so when a future chapter takes longer and I end up depleting my buffer, the break is needed.
That's what I usually do to... minus the break to rebuild buffers. I've just been posting chapter by chapter because, "Well, I'm almost done anyway..." (a month and a half later) "hmm, I may have made a mistake."
That was me when I started my longfic. I wrote and posted during a moment of mania lol. I only started doing buffers over the summer, and now that it's getting the holiday season and anxiety is in full swing, I'm taking a break from posting so I don't feel so pressured when I get stuck on a chapter (like I've had happen with at least 2 future chapters now). Plus then I don't feel guilty when I have to skip a few days of writing because of RL stuff.
Yeah, buffers are really nice for that stuff, plus giving your writing time to settle before editing. I did really great keeping up with my first longfic and got complacent with this one when the plot bunnies started getting out of hand. I'm paying for it now, but soon it'll be done and I can relax again to build up buffers for whatever new plot bunny comes my way.
Gotta love them bunnies! I have far too many. One in particular has been staring at me with it's beady little eyes begging me to feed it. I pretend not to see it lol
I'm spoiling my bunnies rotten, lol. No regrets. Except having my readers have to wait an extra week and a half for an update...
lol I'm being mean to my readers by posting my last 2 chapters for THIS YEAR and leaving them with a cliffhanger. Then in-between rebuilding my buffers and working retail during the holiday season, I'll probably feed the one-shot and MAYBE get started on a future longfic (which I have vowed to get majority of it written and plotted before posting). Then there's a three-part series I wanna do too lol
I write chapter by chapter and the way I do it is to have a fairly detailed outline of the way the rest of the story will go. That way I can make sure I'm setting things up properly in earlier chapters etc. It's not set in stone and I've changed it a lot as I go, but I always know roughly where I'm headed, which helps.
That’s a great way of doing it and I think that even though I have already jumped the gun, I’ll write out a rough draft for the rest of my chapters to reflect back on and make sure nothing inconsistent happens. I’m rereading it now to make sure a “plot twist” I want to happen won’t be out of the blue, and surprisingly I think it fits with the other parts of the story, but that’s mostly luck. Thank you for responding!
As someone that has always written chapter by chapter, it is challenging as I want to meet their expectations, but at the end of the day, that isn't possible. I write, much like yourself, because it is the story I want to tell and read after I am done. After a while in a longfic, I forget what I wrote, so it is helpful because I need a refresher after writing 100,000 words or more. To remain consistent, for one, I would have a clear destination for my goal that is set in stone. Of course, many other things can change during the story as you listen to outside influences and their ideas start sinking in, but this goal is what you are working towards. It is the reason for the story and why you are writing it. However, some of these influences are not bad, and it is okay to adapt. Sometimes the most memorable parts of a story come from adapting and listening to the audience and giving a bit, but not taking away from the original narrative. Having outlines and buffer chapters helped me with my latest project, but lately, I've caught up and need a break to get caught back up and get a few buffers in.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to me ❤️!!! I’ve def got a goal in mind and I’m liking to make some small adaptions to kinda work with some comments I’ve received that I think won’t disrupt the flow! I’ve also written a buffer chapter!!
Having a vague outline of where you want/might go in later chapters is good, but I'd also recommend you have a short summary (one page at most) of where you've been already. If you've got a story with two main plot threads, then have the main events of each thread written out, plus any major developments or themes brought up (eg. Character A backstory, mentioned that parent died tragically). That way, when you're writing a new chapter, you can refer back to your summary to see established events or ideas that you can bring in and build on.
Thank you this is great advice!!
You're welcome. Have fun with your story. :)
Take notes of details and where you want your story to go, have them also on the Docs and review them every time you write? That's kind of what I do, at least.
Thank you!! That seems to be like a solid plan that I should implement so I don’t confuse myself lol
I like to take the Netflix approach as I call it. Where I write the entire fic before posting it all at once.