Web Fiction Guide Forums | On the Web
Can't keep my schedule up
So right now I'm on a two-chapter-a-week schedule, which I thought seemed pretty conservative, but it's turning out that I was wrong.
I just don't have the time or energy to write two (good) new chapters a week and still keep my job and keep up with my classes.
I know some of the writers on here post many more chapters per week than I do, and somehow manage to keep it up. I was wondering, how do you do it? Are there any tricks you use to write your chapters faster? or do you set a time limit on how long you'll spend editing? I seem to take ungodly amounts of time to write each one, generally at least eight hours, though sometimes more.
It's looking like I don't have any choice but to drop down to one chapter a week, which i don't want to do. Only posting once a week seems like it would lose a lot of readers and make it harder to become immersed in the story.
Damn you, Life! Why must you taunt me so?
Children of the First
Responses
Posted 3 years ago
Well, how much do you need to sleep? I write my own chapters between midnight and the witching hour, mostly :)
Posted 3 years ago
I do two posts a week myself and I do find it hard. In my case the combination that makes it hard is work (freelance web development and technical support), family (wife plus kids), and attempting to do things other than write in my spare time as well.
One's options:
1. Shorter chapters
2. Cutting back to one a week
3. Creating a better writing process (setting time limits, etc...)
Personally, my basic approach is to write until I've got something I like, sometimes staying up too late to do it or alternately informing people that it will be late.
The ideal situation in my mind is to set things up so that you've got a schedule you can keep. I think that a consistent schedule (and a good story) gets more readers than an inconsistent schedule and a good story...
Of course, I can say that and then go and read Megatokyo which is a good story and is (in)famously inconsistent. So maybe a slightly inconsistent schedule is workable.
My Blog (Jim's Brain Online)
Posted 3 years ago
I generally write at night too, belial. And I sleep very little. Probably go without it at least one night a week. I don't mind it, but I have a feeling it's not doing my health any good.
Children of the First
Posted 3 years ago
I think your readers will be pretty forgiving if you explain the situation to them and are upfront about it. I agree with Jim -- generally readers tend to prefer a consistent schedule with less updates than an inconsistent schedule that promises more (but in reality doesn't typically deliver). Alexandra Erin recently had a problem similiar to this, and decided to just drop one of the update days. You can always go back to two updates per week once you feel more comfortable with it.
Posted 3 years ago
I know what you mean. I used to try to do it twice a week. I would recommend just keeping your readers informed. They'll understand, they have lives too (I hope. I'd like to think people don't spend all day reading web fiction all day) As a reader, I would rather have one really good chapter than several haphazard ones =/.
Posted 3 years ago
Thanks, I guess I just wish I could do more. I really like it, but it don't pay the bills, ya know?
Children of the First
Posted 3 years ago
Yeah, I know how you feel. Readers are pretty understanding. Good luck on everything though.
Posted 3 years ago
The main thing is telling your readers what's going on, and then sticking to that. My readers have been EXTREMELY forgiving. I had to take two weeks off for a paying gig that didn't materialize until nearly a month later, and then I had to cut back to once a week no bonus to get the lion's share of it done. Now I'm finding I may have to cut back permanently to two updates a week. The muse comes when she comes, and I am a wife and mother as well as a writer.
We're not making widgets here, kids, as I'm fond of saying. Unless your piece is already finished and all you're doing is formatting and posting, sometimes a schedule is just not going to happen. Set something realistic and then stick to it. Your readers will understand.
*rant* I have never understood all the pressure on AE to post something every single f-ing day. It's her full time job. Great. It's Stephen King's full time job, too, and I doubt even he could reliably post something every single day that he'd be happy with. It's not manufacturing; it's not even blogging, which I've done since 1994, before the work existed. It's an entirely different matter. We're not making widgets.
http://www.meilinmiranda.com/
Posted 3 years ago
i get sorely disappointed when i open my RSS feeds in the morning and not one of the stories i'm following has updated. but i will religiously keep on checking until there is one, if the story is good enough. a missed update here and there is not really a big deal - i've got family, kids and other life going on too and i know i'll miss a day posting on my site (or six) in the future.
honesty with your readers is important, as mentioned above. a writer loves to keep their readers happy, but as a reader i want the writer to be happy too... if the reader knows your situ, they will be more than willing to accommodate. after all, if we're hooked, we haven't much choice :P
then there are the writers who just stop. there is a hidden fear in this reader's mind that if i get into a story and the writer just disappears - does this mean we'll never hear from them again?
read what you like into that, but the writer/reader relationship is exactly that: a relationship. the best kind is the one built on trust and honesty with the reader generally being the more passive.
meilin: i've stopped reading your rss feed. i got sorely disappointed when every time i received my 'fix' it was just not enough. next week i think i'll binge ;) hopefully this means i'm a responsible addict...
Posted 3 years ago
NiSp said:
That's a good point. My wife once mentioned to me that she only reads finished stories or those with a large archive for that very reason -- too many of her favorite authors have up and dissappeared on her. That's why I think communication is so important. Having a blog or newsletter where your readers can find out about what's going on in the author's life is a biggie for me, especially if they only update once every two weeks or so. That way, if an update is missing, I can check in to see what's going on in the author's life that might have led to that (though getting an explanation on the front page is nice, too).
Alex said:
*hugs* I know how you feel. I think most creative people wish they could do their work full-time.
Posted 3 years ago
You guys have been very encouraging, thanks. Also, a couple of my more consistent readers have been joking about crepes falling on me versus pelican crap... it's really nice to see them interacting and joking around in the comments of my schedule cut-back announcement. I like people :)
Children of the First
Posted 3 years ago
I agree with the above posts,when it comes to web-serialization or web comics a conservatively paced consistent schedule is better than a supposedly faster or inconsistent schedule. Try emphasizing the point that the 1 chapter a week deal will allow you to edit more and in the process make higher quality posts.
Reply
You must log in to post.