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Happy Fourth of July, to those that celebrate it.

Given that we’re mostly amateurs on these sites, it’s understandable if stories aren’t finished. Sometimes, the author realizes it won’t work out, or, they lose interest due to a new book getting released (Lots of Harry Potter fics were like that when I started into fanfic), RL death/disease/stress (understandable), or many other reasons. I do want to finish my potter fic, but the draw/lure of my own stories is stronger – and my potter fic’s been stuck on a plot point for ages (how to portray something w/o being considered deus ex). In my originals, the main culprits have been plot bunnies! I’ve got WIPs because I decided to split the original story (it held too many competing plot threads, and was better to tell several separate stories than to try to stuff it all under one title). So, I’ve got Fiends (the most direct lineage from the first story), Alaska Trekkers (backstory, complete), Dolbourne Chronicles (backstory, WIP), Jefferey (backstory to a character appearing in the backstory, WIP), and Dale’s Game (backstory that was sparked by a holiday fic, WIP). And, I’ve got some sequels to fiends planned. Of course, once a story hits the printing press, it had better be complete! Even if I haven’t truly written the last sentence, I do like to have a good idea early on what that scene will be like, or the general conditions. I try to worry about start/end to each chapter as I write, so that’s a good way to practice, IMO. Frequently, I’ll stumble across the last sentence as I write, not always what I had in mind, but my typing will reach it and it becomes, “damn, that’s a good one – cut!”

I have a bunch on hiatus because I had too many cool ideas I could not resist starting. Sometimes i get a little cornered moving between two sections, and can’t go forward. right now my laptop keyboard needs replaced and it will be weeks until the part comes in. There just isn’t room for my storyor comment window AND an on screen keyboard. One stopped as no one read it. I’m toying with a summary postscript, as all that was left was lots of battle and onle a few small char things. jst don’t have the time to finish them, especially as I want to get back to original stuff.

Have you read it yet? Several stories (Dolbourne & Jefferey), I’m writing more episodic, because they’re less in terms of overall plot but in more small stories tied together by the same main character(s). So, having micro starts/ends is actually helpful in terms of practice, and tightly scoping the plot because I need it to resolve by the end of the episode. I might split up those two stories, just because they’re spanning many years. My potter fanfic (the one on more or less permanent hiatus) was over 600kwords before I went and edited it down … it’s now at a more modest 500kwords. Its prequel (complete) is almost 180k. Though, my average is lower because I’ve also got two really short ones (~200 words each).

I understand what you're saying… I guess I didn’t take the fanfic aspect of your abandoned work. I’m glad your focusing on your original stuff Yay!! I don’t have an ending planned for my story It just gets longer and longer Like its almost 200,000k at this point with no end in sight. Lol It’s getting ridiculous and I’m using the smiley faces to show how delirious I feel lol. I wish I could restrain myself and find the perfect last sentence long before I get there. That’s why my endings sound so rushed! They are! I can’t expect anyone to beta for me anymore either with a story length like that… I’m all on my own!!! fuck, fuck, fuck!!! Ships going down guys!!! lol, I'm mostly joking btw

So the dark beast has struck again... My archnemesis, Self Doubt, is back... . I wish he'd fuck off... Jump into a fiery, raging volcano... Or something... At least let me kick him in the nuts... Just once...

Aww, that makes me sad… I just put a story on hiatus and I’m hoping to god I won’t abandon it… I just got busy on another story. That’s why I did it!!! This made me ROFL!!! I really like your take on first and last lines… I’ve had a lot more first lines than last… And either way, I was so exhausted by my story at the end, I really flubbed it IMO. That story is no longer up because I wanted to remedy that… But if Bilbo had woken up to realize the Hobbit was a dream…? That’s hysterical!!! I didn’t do anything stupid like that...

Often, a reader is lucky if there *is* a last sentence, given the number of WIP/abandoned and unfinished stories out there. I’ve got a potter fic that’s still listed as WIP, but haven’t updated it in five years.

That’s a good way to look at it. Just don’t front load. The last sentence of a story is immeasurably more important than the first. It’s a bad thing to turn the reader away at the begining. But, and I can attest to this, the worst thing you can do is end your book in such a way as to make the reader regret the time spent reading.. The first , the reader will think it’s just no their kinda of story and move on to something else. the latter , they get emotionally invested and follow page after page only to be met with a disappointing ending. Imagine if Tolkien had ended The Hobbbit with the whole adventure being just a dream in a sleeping Bilbo’s mind My own point of view is that you should give the reader an honest picture of what kind of story they’re in for so they can opt out.