another complaint

[amalthia]

In about 8 days I think I'm going on a road trip and I may not have internet and okay i'll admit I've been reading the Three Fates story and right now i'm kind of annoyed because I have time to read it the whole damned thing right now but in 8 days I won't be around to read the last part, but then again none of the parts have me feeling anticipation for the next....edit: okay i'm so totally lying about not wanting to read the next part. It would completely suck if I had to wait a week to read what happens next, because I'm really getting into the story and I'm like the most impatient person on the planet.so maybe it won't be that bad to wait a week to see what happens next.

I'm now thinking I should kick myself for even starting this fic before it was finished. the worst is that I knew it was a bad idea, that I'd feel nothing but annoyance, and resentment towards the authors and I went ahead and started reading anyway. I'm mean seriouslly, I'm probably not going to leave feedback at all because I'm that annoyed with how they are presenting the fic. (i know it's irrational but can't help feeling this way) They are hitting one of my biggest pet peeves ever, which is not presenting their finished story all at once. The knowing it's finished and they aren't sharing the entire story kills me every time I think about it.

Comments

[rogue-planet.livejournal.com]

I dunno, the chaptering doesn't bother me that much. There's no way I'd ever make my way through something that long if it was all presented at once. Of course, I'm guilty of chaptering my own long fics, because I post WIPs.

And hey, if they double post a couple days, it might be finished before you go!

[amalthia]

i'm crossing my fingers for them to double post. I'm a big fan of reading long stories in one sitting.

the really funny part is I wouldn't mind reading this story as a WIP at all. In fact I'd be happy to wait a week between each part and excited to see new parts posted. the thing that bugs me is that they don't post hte entire story at once. I don't know why they are only posting one part a day. It doesn't make sense to me.

What some authors do with long stories is provide chapters, and then a single file with the entire story. So readers have the option to read at their own pace by chapter or grab the story in one go. I'm a fan of the second option.

[palebluebell.livejournal.com]

That would absolutely *bite*. God, you'd be one post away from the end! I cannot imagine anything worse. My heart goes out to you if you're forced to wait, and I'll be hoping for a sneaky double post somewhere along the line so you can read it all before you head off.

[amalthia]

lol, I hope so too.

[lillyjk.livejournal.com]

see, I'm the opposite. I like the way it's being presented because I know there will be a post every day and I can look forward to it. I think that's much preferable to how I write, posting a chapter as it's completed and then it may be weeks or months until I update. It sucks that you'll be gone for the last few posts though, that would drive me crazy.

[amalthia]

I don't mind WIP presented a little at a time, because I go in knowing there would be a wait and that there's a good reason for the wait. the thing is they could still post it by chapter and still provide the entire story for those that like reading in one long sitting or two. I prefer to spend two or three hours on a story reading, it's just it's hard to do that with fan fics because most are really short. I'm reading these posts in less than 20 minutes 10 minutes for the 4000 word posts. when I heard they were posting it in 36 parts it's because I figured they'd post 10,000 words at a time which is LJ's limit and I thought, well 10,000 words is kind of a lot. but instead they are posting 2,000 and 4000 word chapters which are short.

Right now I'm kind of loving and hating this story. I like the story, I'm really hating how the authors decided to present it.

[primad.livejournal.com]

They are hitting one of my biggest pet peeves ever, which is not presenting their finished story all at once. The knowing it's finished and they aren't sharing the entire story kills me every time I think about it.

It's weird because one of the things that I personally have enjoyed about the presentation is that instead of consuming it all at once and skimming over and missing nuances, I've had the opportunity to actually think about each part. What motivates the characters, how each event effects the next, the concept of linear time and foreshadowing, etc.

I suspect that was one of the reasons why Auburn and Eretia chose to do it this way. Not to be teases but to get people to ruminate a little bit and not miss important plot points.

Plus, there's something to be said about the serial way of telling a story that invokes days gone by and I kinda like it.

The downside, of course, is that I can't help but think about the parts I have read all dang day. ;)

[amalthia]

I normally go back and re-read the story again at a slower pace if it was good. the whole serial thing just annoys me and I honestly don't give much thought to the story until it's finished....this one isn't making me think anything beyond how annoying it is. Yeah my biggest memory of this fic will be how pissed off I felt reading it.

And the sad part is I have only myself to blame. It's not like they tricked me into starting the fic. They did say they planned to post it over a period of 36 days.

Um I'm sure the author's intentions weren't to annoy people off but basically that's how I'm reacting to the fic.

[primad.livejournal.com]

Um I'm sure the author's intentions weren't to annoy people off but basically that's how I'm reacting to the fic.

Oh...I do understand. I mean, it's not just gut reaction to instant gratification...and I hope you didn't feel I was accusing you of that.

I don't know Auburn or Eretia personally well enough to know the exact motivations were in posting the way they have. Honestly, it could be just simple marketing for all I know.

It's worked for me but I can understand why you'd find it frustrating especially if you might miss the last part and not be able to read it when it's initially posted.

[amalthia]

Normally I wouldn't peg either Auburn or Eretia as people that would on purpose post the story like this to gain a lot of feedback but it is a tactic a lot of badfic authors use....though normally those are for WIP.

I think they honestly think it'll be easier for most readers to read, which is like an insult too because it kind of implies that readers don't have enough concentration or focus to read a long story unless it's broken down into little bitty parts and spread out over the course of a month, which also doesn't sound like something either author would think about their readers, but that's what it implies to me. Though I can understand breaking a long story up into four or five parts like 200kb for easier viewing on computer.

So all around not happy with the situation. WIP makes sense in my viewpoint, not posting the entire story when it's complete, doesn't make sense.