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Babylon 5 WIP is finally complete!
I finished that Season 5 AU WIP! Finally!
The Living and the Damned (23K, Londo/G'Kar, mature-rated)
Fixit (of sorts) going AU in 5x18.
Some thoughts on writing WIPs under the cut (not spoilery for this fic in particular, more like general musings).
I used to post nearly all my longer fic as WIPs, back in the day, but it's been a really long time since the last time I did it - close to a decade - and I realized with both this and the Murderbot WIP that I finished last winter that I really struggle with finishing them, these days. It's not getting it written per se; it's that I think my writing process has become a bit more holistic than it was in the 2000s, so I find it limiting to be stuck with what I've already posted, unable to go back and change anything.
And I also found with both this one and the Murderbot one that the last chapter was especially hard for me because by that point I felt like there were ~expectations~ and I kept worrying that I wasn't meeting them. As opposed to when you post the entire thing at once. Honestly, it's not even that I think I'm doing anything wrong with the arc of the story as written - in both cases, I knew how it was going to end from the beginning, so it was always pointing to that ending. but when a creative work is being posted as installments, you (the reader) have time to start anticipating what's coming next, and filling the gaps in your head, and it's a lot more likely for what's coming next to be disappointing because it doesn't quite meet those expectations.
(Back when I was posting the Murderbot fic in installments, I'd have people commenting things like "Wow, I can't wait for [thing that was definitely not going to happen]!" - and again, I don't think the readers were doing anything wrong, or that what I wrote was wrong, either. but it did make me think that perhaps I'm happier with the overall posting experience when it's all coming out at once and readers get to react to it at once.)
I don't know - what do you all think? Do you post WIPs? Do you read WIPs? It's been a long time since I've been in a fandom that had a lot of WIPs, prior to getting into Murderbot last year, which is almost like old-school ffn/LJ fandom with its very high number of WIPs. Including a lot of unfinished ones! And that's part of what got me back into posting some of my longer fic in WIP form, because there is a certain excitement and energy to it that I miss. Plus, in non-fandom spaces, I've enjoyed serialized media for a very long time (comics, webcomics, TV shows, etc). But it is obviously not without its down side, and I don't think I was prepared for how much trouble I was going to have finishing things when they're being written WIP-style.
The Living and the Damned (23K, Londo/G'Kar, mature-rated)
Fixit (of sorts) going AU in 5x18.
Some thoughts on writing WIPs under the cut (not spoilery for this fic in particular, more like general musings).
I used to post nearly all my longer fic as WIPs, back in the day, but it's been a really long time since the last time I did it - close to a decade - and I realized with both this and the Murderbot WIP that I finished last winter that I really struggle with finishing them, these days. It's not getting it written per se; it's that I think my writing process has become a bit more holistic than it was in the 2000s, so I find it limiting to be stuck with what I've already posted, unable to go back and change anything.
And I also found with both this one and the Murderbot one that the last chapter was especially hard for me because by that point I felt like there were ~expectations~ and I kept worrying that I wasn't meeting them. As opposed to when you post the entire thing at once. Honestly, it's not even that I think I'm doing anything wrong with the arc of the story as written - in both cases, I knew how it was going to end from the beginning, so it was always pointing to that ending. but when a creative work is being posted as installments, you (the reader) have time to start anticipating what's coming next, and filling the gaps in your head, and it's a lot more likely for what's coming next to be disappointing because it doesn't quite meet those expectations.
(Back when I was posting the Murderbot fic in installments, I'd have people commenting things like "Wow, I can't wait for [thing that was definitely not going to happen]!" - and again, I don't think the readers were doing anything wrong, or that what I wrote was wrong, either. but it did make me think that perhaps I'm happier with the overall posting experience when it's all coming out at once and readers get to react to it at once.)
I don't know - what do you all think? Do you post WIPs? Do you read WIPs? It's been a long time since I've been in a fandom that had a lot of WIPs, prior to getting into Murderbot last year, which is almost like old-school ffn/LJ fandom with its very high number of WIPs. Including a lot of unfinished ones! And that's part of what got me back into posting some of my longer fic in WIP form, because there is a certain excitement and energy to it that I miss. Plus, in non-fandom spaces, I've enjoyed serialized media for a very long time (comics, webcomics, TV shows, etc). But it is obviously not without its down side, and I don't think I was prepared for how much trouble I was going to have finishing things when they're being written WIP-style.
no subject
I go both ways on. I like posting them, because it's lovely to get feedback and comments that are kind of cheering you on (though I hear you about the unmet expectations thing), but I also like posting complete pieces because it's such a nice one-and-done kind of thing. Plus I think a lot of people prefer to read completed works.
I definitely have been in fandoms that were more WIP-friendly and personally I'm not opposed to reading a work that may be completed or even WIPs that were last updated a decade ago. As a reader, it can be fun to read a WIP that is frequently updated because it is so exciting (like serialized media) and also you kind of feel like you're riding a wave with everybody else who is also commenting on each new chapter. I don't have evidence for this but I do feel like my own is an old school perspective.
no subject
I don't have a problem reading them. I can't share material in progress; it short-circuits.