[ SECRET POST #5296 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5296 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 18 secrets from Secret Submission Post #756.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

01. https://i.imgur.com/QLQDnP0.png

[ailurophile6]

And so my resolve to never, ever, read works in progress is confirmed

[(Anonymous)]

+1. The only time I read WIPs is when I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for a current OTP and read it on the basis that it is unfinished and never expected to see more.

[(Anonymous)]

The only time I ever read them is if it's by an author that has a good track record of finishing fics. And even then, I've been burned.

[(Anonymous)]

Yuuuup, this is me, too. I never read WIPs when I was in massive fandoms, because you just never run out of fic in those fandoms (*wistful sigh*), but then I got into a smaller fandom and soon found myself reading WIPs because I'd read all the finished fics. And sadly, almost every WIP I read DID get abandoned. I think there was only one that actually got finished. Fortunately, it was the best of the lot.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, me too. I also get annoyed when readers start to make too many “predictions”/suggestions in the comments, personally. I have never even teamed up with another writer on a fic. I’m not about to turn one into a group project with random readers.

[(Anonymous)]

Heavens Forfend, people are trying to engage with the story.

(I mean, yeah, the author is the one who gets to decide what happens next and by the time it goes up on A03, they should probably...have enough of an idea that they don't need to ask the audience. But comments are GOOD, comments are never a bad thing unless they're abusive.)

[(Anonymous)]

Obviously comments are good. But there is a difference between engaging with the story and demanding what the author should write, or bitching when they don’t take the “advice”. Or is that not ~abusive enough for you?

[(Anonymous)]

commenting isn't the problem - suddenly revealing that there's probably no real plan for the story = unlikely to have an ending is.

[kaijinscendre]

I can't remember the last time I read a WIP. Sometimes I even flip to the ending of a fic to make sure it isn't a bait and switch "first part of a series that will never end" or "abandoned but marked as completed" kind of story.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, that's not a good sign.

The author really great WIP I'm reading now will occasionally be like 'I'm not sure if I'm going to include that element/event/trait' and then either they do or don't. But I always feel like they know where the story is going even if they don't have it 100% mapped out. So what I'm saying is there are gradients.

Also I really like speculating in WIPs. It's fun for me, and I feel like it shows I'm engaged, and it's fun to get to type "I KNEW IT!!!!" If I accidently do it to an author with a stance similar to anon a couple replies above me they can just delete my comment.

[(Anonymous)]

YEAH, definitely there are gradients-- as both a reader and writer of WIPs, and based on my experience with spitballing with other writer friends, both in fandom and in writing groups for original fiction, like... I always have a map, and I know that the writers who write long things that stay good and engaging, they also have maps. But that doesn't mean there's not wiggle room.

I think there's a HUGE difference between 'what do you think will happen?' or even 'what are you interested in seeing more of?' and 'what should I do next?'! A writer asking what people think they SHOULD write in upcoming chapters is a red flag that they're off-roading without a map. But asking what people *expect* is a great way of gauging how well you're laying in foreshadowing-- or, to make sure you haven't accidentally written a great lead-up... to a payoff you never intended to write! And asking which elements you're already including are most interesting to your readers is a fair 'keeping up engagement' question-- you MIGHT tailor future chapters to lean into what's resonating with people, but you're not promising to change major plot points or write a specific ending based on what people want. You're doing market research, essentially, and it's an important part of the process for some writers.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT from above - I enjoy when readers speculate and get excited if they’re right. I’m referring to a specific type of “tone” which is rare but has still happened to me on several occasions where it is much more aggressive or entitled, especially when it turns out the commenter was “wrong”.

[(Anonymous)]

tbh if I ever ask something of my readers, it's usually something suuuuuper trivial, like the color of a dress a character will wear. Stuff like that. I like seeing what people say and I don't mind opinions on stuff that really don't impact my story at all.

When it comes to my actual plots, I ignore any suggestions, though I do encourage speculation because I like seeing where peoples' minds go.

[(Anonymous)]

I never learn my lesson with WIPS.
I'm pretty sure there's more than 10 WIPs I have bookmarked on AO3 when they were being updated regularly, before they eventually slow down to not updating ever again. Like, I know that life happens and I would never be one of those assholes who get mad in the comments demanding another chapter - but it still sucks when a story you're invested in just stops (and omg I remember about 4 of them that stopped on a cliffhanger or right in the middle of a slowburn - those times alone nearly destroyed me because I so badly wanted to know what happened next).

But sometimes the summary is that interesting and the tags has everything I want in a story, so I tend to say fuck it and jump straight in in hopes I won't get abandoned. I have to admit I haven't come across anyone saying something like what the secret has stated - but I have come across people who won't update until they get a certain amount of comment and get mad about it.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd be all right with it if the author made it clear from the beginning that they had no real plans. Throwing at the readers midway through the story seems kind of lame, though.

[(Anonymous)]

By the time I actually start posting, I have enough of the story drafted (not just in my head; my head is not reliable) that I feel confident I won't get stuck. I may take some things that readers say into account here and there, but the basic plot is set. And I do like to mention in the first A/N how committed I am to the story, how many words I've already written just in rough draft, because I know people can be wary... but I don't know how much good that does. I mean, I'm sure readers have seen that sort of declaration before and then still been disappointed by a promising story getting abandoned anyway. They're all jaded!

But man... it's just not a good idea to get your chapter content from readers like that! What happens when they have conflicting ideas? Which they will. You can't make everyone happy, and if you try, you won't have a coherent story in the end.

Also, I suspect that people who tell me they only read completed works, and then never actually read my stuff after I DO complete it, are simply letting me down easy because they know they'll never read it and just don't want to say so.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah that's always so annoying. I have my own stories to write, why am I supposed to contribute ideas to someone else's story?