Having a summary will satisfy most readers, give closure, but of course you'll have some who say "THIS IS IT?!" as though you just magic this stuff into being.
I tend to admit defeat when I've said "yes I'm working on it" to new reviewers for months and haven't even opened the word doc. This tends to happen when I get bored with the story, honestly. I know how it will end, but getting there is proving difficult and no one will ever understand why you abandon a project. But sometimes it has to be done.
(Me? I fled the fandom. I left a string of HP WIPs in my wake and haven't touched HP fandom with a ten foot pole in at least three years, I think? Possibly more like five. You, I think you provide useful feedback to folks even when you're not writing, so I'd like you to stick around, if you please.)
I've done the whole 'hoping for ages that a WIP will be updated' thing many times, so I think at least a heads up that it may not be continued/finished would be great. Super respectful to the audience and freeing yourself up from the anxiety and the project. A summary is totally going the extra mile (I've never seen an author do that!).
And a summty drabble would certainly cheer your readers up, too!
Do whatever you gotta do. A summary/outline and lemony one-shot would be amazing!! ;) I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that you leaving the fandom would be the worst thing ever. So we'll deal with anything you have to do to prevent that.
I would LOVE it if you did an outline/summary. There is one WIP that I was so invested in, that I have seriously considered PMing the author to ask "This is my theory, am I close?" It KILLS me that I will never know. So the outline is a nice compromise: you stay in the fandom :)and are able to write things that do inspire you guilt-free, and those who want to know what happens will. Additional scenes would be an amazing bonus.
As a reader, I appreciate an author saying "Sorry, but I won't be finishing it." Of course there is disappointment, but that is better than hanging on for months and months hoping for an update that isn't coming.
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I tend to admit defeat when I've said "yes I'm working on it" to new reviewers for months and haven't even opened the word doc. This tends to happen when I get bored with the story, honestly. I know how it will end, but getting there is proving difficult and no one will ever understand why you abandon a project. But sometimes it has to be done.
(Me? I fled the fandom. I left a string of HP WIPs in my wake and haven't touched HP fandom with a ten foot pole in at least three years, I think? Possibly more like five. You, I think you provide useful feedback to folks even when you're not writing, so I'd like you to stick around, if you please.)
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I've done the whole 'hoping for ages that a WIP will be updated' thing many times, so I think at least a heads up that it may not be continued/finished would be great. Super respectful to the audience and freeing yourself up from the anxiety and the project. A summary is totally going the extra mile (I've never seen an author do that!).
And a summty drabble would certainly cheer your readers up, too!
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I told you how I felt on twitter this morning and would love to see an outline. But I'd take a hiatus too because I have my own mental ending. LOL
So I guess this post is completely unhelpful :-/
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I would LOVE it if you did an outline/summary. There is one WIP that I was so invested in, that I have seriously considered PMing the author to ask "This is my theory, am I close?" It KILLS me that I will never know. So the outline is a nice compromise: you stay in the fandom :)and are able to write things that do inspire you guilt-free, and those who want to know what happens will. Additional scenes would be an amazing bonus.
As a reader, I appreciate an author saying "Sorry, but I won't be finishing it." Of course there is disappointment, but that is better than hanging on for months and months hoping for an update that isn't coming.
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