Comments | rheasilvia: Posting Unfinished Stories

rheasilvia

Posting Unfinished Stories - The Poll

Feb 21, 2012 02:00

There are stories on my harddrive that I will never finish. Many of them are just fragments; some are too embarrassing to ever be allowed to see the light of day. The latter category includes my first foray into slash, which took place in Star Trek: Voyager fandom (I went the extra mile to include every tired ST:V slash cliché I could buy, steal or ( Read more... )

Comments 21

executrix February 21 2012, 01:09:33 UTC

Not exactly the same, of course, but month_of_meta.livejournal.com, which already has sign-ups, has a couple of dozen meta articles slated for posting during March.

I *think* the metafandom mod just had too much RL stuff to do, and it wasn't a very active comm so nobody stepped up to the plate.

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 17:45:03 UTC

Cool, thank you! :-) *joins up* It is a bit different, but also looks like an excellent meta ressource.

I've missed metafandom... but yes, it was definitely a lot of work, so I suspected the same about why the comm fell silent. I hadn't seen any notices by the mod(s) that they were looking for someone to take over, though. Hm, maybe it's worth contacting them and asking if they wouldn't like to make a post to that effect...

pashoshi February 21 2012, 01:13:01 UTC

It drives me crazy when shiny things are unfinished, but I'll read them anyway if they're of interest to me and then just sulk about how there will never be more. (Or in some cases try to prod the writer into finishing them anyway, but I assume that won't so much work here.)

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 17:48:48 UTC

It drives me crazy when shiny things are unfinished, but I'll read them anyway if they're of interest to me and then just sulk about how there will never be more.

That sounds very familiar - I am much the same! :-) I used to have the fortitude to resist unfinished stories, but... no longer. *sigh*

I've read some unfinished stories that I love, though, and that I'd have hated to miss out on, finished or not.

(Or in some cases try to prod the writer into finishing them anyway, but I assume that won't so much work here.)

Well, no, prodding me does not usually have much of an effect. :-) I guess I'm pretty transparent, huh?

lilacsigil February 21 2012, 03:47:38 UTC

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 17:50:50 UTC

Metafandom stopped posting a while ago, but was still archiving links on Delicious. Then Delicious changed owners and messed up all the tags and now it seems to be completely gone.

The internets have really not been over-friendly to fans this past year or so, have they.

I've joined the month_of_meta comm on dreamwidth so I hope that's got good stuff!

Oooh, they're on DW too? I'll definitely join up there too, then. I'm really glad you and executrix have pointed this comm out to me!

solo February 21 2012, 07:27:48 UTC

I always suspected metafandom got socialjusticewanked to death, but since I unfollowed it long before its demise I have no proof whatsoever for this.

I might read unfinished stuff if it's sufficiently long, and if I don't find the premise so intriguing that I'll be really sad when the story suddenly stops. I'd rather not get too engaged with unfinished stuff.

#amiweird?

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 17:56:22 UTC

I always suspected metafandom got socialjusticewanked to death, but since I unfollowed it long before its demise I have no proof whatsoever for this.

Who knows... it just seems to have stopped one day, with neither explanation nor public outcry of any kind, socialjusticewanky or otherwise. (And I have not encountered overmuch socialjusticewank since, but then, it's not like I ever went looking. I'm sure it's still alive and well elsewhere.)

I might read unfinished stuff if it's sufficiently long, and if I don't find the premise so intriguing that I'll be really sad when the story suddenly stops. I'd rather not get too engaged with unfinished stuff.Makes sense! Although I am lamentably weak, and usually can't hold out like this these days, I entirely understand the impulse ( ... )

glitterburn February 21 2012, 08:25:14 UTC

I miss metafandom too and from reading your comments here it's good to know there's an alternative starting up. I've been reduced to reading old posts from metafandom, which is vastly amusing to see the same topics come up over and over...

Unfinished stories can be enjoyable as long as I don't get too involved in them, because then it's just depressing knowing there's nothing more. Though sometimes just the act of posting an incomplete fic can spur the writer on to continue it. And sometimes it doesn't. I have so many incomplete fics it's a joke, and I do go through and delete the ones I know will never be finished now, even though some of them are 25-80k D:

Also, unfinished fragments might serve as bunnies for someone else. Or a discussion about a fragment might spark a fresh idea that you can swing off the back of the fragment. So I say post them!

Also also, now I want to know what the really wrong JE fic is, because wrong fics are always the best kind!

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 18:09:14 UTC

which is vastly amusing to see the same topics come up over and over...

Yes! Fandom keeps biting its own tail. I'm sure we could start linking to old posts on certain subjects and nobody would ever know they weren't brand-new. :-)

Unfinished stories can be enjoyable as long as I don't get too involved in them, because then it's just depressing knowing there's nothing more.

This is true. I'm the same, which is why I mostly tried to stay away from such things, until my willpower pretty much totally deserted me some years back. :-) And I do have to say that there are some unfinished stories that I am very involved in - and whose unfinished status I frequently lament - that I think about more often than finished stories I love, and that this is not altogether a bad thing.

I have so many incomplete fics it's a joke, and I do go through and delete the ones I know will never be finished now, even though some of them are 25-80k D:Noooo, don't delete them! Chances are some people really would still love to read them, particularly if they ( ... )

glitterburn February 21 2012, 19:43:24 UTC

I get very attached to some unfinished stories, sometimes over-attached, and sometimes I wonder if I deliberately keep them unfinished because I like the idea of them more than I'd like the reality, if you know what I mean. I have one I plotted out last year that's 12k of notes and dialogue snippets but it hasn't got any further, though I'm determined to push at it some more this year. Maybe. Perhaps. I look at it every week and coo at it but don't add to it ( ... )

rheasilvia February 21 2012, 20:20:04 UTC

I do think I know what you mean about not finishing some stories because they might not be as good as the idea you have of them in your head. One of the unfinished stories I am contemplating posting is a somewhat similar case (though maybe not exactly the same). The issue here is that it's a sequel, and I really like the way the first story turned out, so I have always feared that a sub-par sequel would bring down the first story... which is almost certainly a major factor in the story's unfinished status.

Seriously I hate to think how many thousands of words I've deleted over the years. With some fandoms, when I lose them, they go forever and it's pointless to keep reminders hanging around.I guess I am just a hamster. :-) I never delete anything, no matter how crappy it may be, and/or how dead the fandom is to me. I mean - I still have that horrid Star Trek Voyager thing! You really can't get worse than that without pregnant kittens, cutesy nicknames and knitted socks being involved somehow. (It was more of an angstfest than a ( ... )

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