How far into writing a fic do you post it?

[BoredStraight]

So like the title says how far into writing a fic do you post it? After the first chapter? Five chapters? Or do you wait until it's completed to post?

[kisakimiko]

I post chapter by chapter, my stories are usually kinda short. If I waited for five chapters I would have nothing on here

[Asexual Biped]

Since everything I've put on here has been a drabble, a short, or a twitfic, I just finish them and post. I don't dare put my longer one(s) up until I have a few chapters since I'm the type of writer that doesn't plan what she writes. I usually just wing it around several main points so it takes me a while to get the in between details down.

[JayDee]

I mostly do one shots, so, when its finished. With a multiparter I prefer to finish the whole thing first then post it. Don't like leaving folks with unfinished work online, but occasionally I have added extra parts to stories intended as oneshots. Eh...

[Shadowknight12]

I vary. Sometimes I'll wait until the whole thing is finished, sometimes I'll just post as I write. Each fic is different, I suppose. Some of them make more sense when they're posted in one go.

[shinigamiinochi]

I am, what my friends affectionately call, a 'Stephen King writer'. Meaning, I tend to write 1,000+ page stories (which explains why nothing I write is currently finished) or anthologies of short stories. So, really, how I post depends on a story. If it's an anthology, I only post when the story is finished. If it's a longer story with short chapters, I post after I finish a chapter. However, I do have quite a few stories that have long chapters. For example, when I first started writing a story called The Road to Kindness, I posted once a chapter was finished. Then, chapter 6 ended up being over a hundred pages long, which a site (it was too long ago to remember which one, but probably ff.net) wouldn't allow me to post. I ended up breaking chapter 6 into several 'parts' of thirty pages each. Now I use this policy for all my fiction. If a chapter ends in 45 pages or less, it remains one chapter. If the chapter goes beyond that, I break it up into smaller parts of thirty pages each. I find that this allows me to update faster and the reader is not overwhelmed by enormous chapters. I honestly can't imagine not posting a story until it is completed. I guess that works if you have a story that is only going to be three to five chapters long, but I really like posting an incomplete story. That way, readers can tell me what is right or wrong about the story before I've put so much effort into completing it.

[cowgirl65]

I always wait until I finish. I have been on chapter 20 and had to go back to chapter one and make significant changes because it's gone in a different direction than i anticipated!

[mikimaro]

I am now up to five multi-part stories/fics that I've been reading online that I got really into, only to have the author up and disappear from the face of the internet. I am sick to death of it. So I will no longer read anything that isn't finished.

And I practice what I preach; I won't post anything until it's done. This has worked out wonderfully for me, since, like cowgirl65 said above, it means I'm free to go back and edit or add stuff in to the first chapters.

[DodgeSuperBee]

It all depends on the story. If I have a clear road map of the entire plot in my mind, I usually post it in increments as I'm writing, but there have been other multi-chapter stories that I've entirely finished before posting. I don't want my readers to have to read a chapter twice because I made significant changes, which sometimes happens before I'm done writing the piece.

This may sound selfish, but I like getting more reviews by posting a completed multi-chapter fic with a few days between updates. I do not, however, believe in that awful technique of holding future chapters hostage for "X" number of reviews, nor do I bother mentioning that the entire fic is finished.

[Guest Robin_Mask]

Personally I upload from the first chapter and upload chapter-by-chapter . . .

I actually plan every novel before I write it. I have the chapters listed in chronological order, with a synopsis of what needs to happen, so for me the whole 'running out of steam' or writer's block etc. isn't really an issue, because I know that all I have to do is actually write, the story - in a sense - is already complete. I also find posting in this way actually gives me an incentive to write too. My work's not hugely popular, but I do have a few regular readers, so by posting each chapter as I complete it then it's like "I owe it to my writers to finish this" and it gives me motivation to carry on, rather than say 'well, maybe I'll finish it later instead'.

I've had authors give up mid-story on some novels I adore, and I was forced to do that with a fanfiction a decade ago (when I first began writing) because of a lack of a plan and motivation, so I know how agonising and frustrating it is for readers to get so far and then never see the ending! So for that reason I always write an update as regularly as possible, with only illness and death being valid excuses for keeping me ever from my keyboard.

[phoeyay]

I wait until I am almost entirely done. I do this because in the process of reading a bunch of fanfic before I decided to write it, I saw a huge number of unfinished fics where the last posted chapter was four years ago, and they made me feel really sad and lonely for reading them and wanting them to go on more than the author obviously did - I would have adopted them if I thought I could do them justice (and the author would let me of course).

The *almost* part is because, similar to cowgirl65, I do usually have a tendency to branch in a slightly different direction than intended as my fic goes on, and sometimes right before posting I will read through the chapter and realize it's all wrong and give it a rework.

[kagome26isawsome]

I post one chapter at a time and the chapters are not really long

[banesraver666]

Well for me, it all depends I started writing Abraham's Daughter last week before the holiday's started and I originally wanted to write chapter's 2-10 in two days and I set a deadline, I would have certain chapters done on a certain day by a certain time well, needless to say, deadlines aren't my friend and for the past few days. Also, writers remember to take care of your self's before, during and after the writing process! I've learned this the hard way last night.

[Aysha c.c.]

Whenever I damn well feel like it! But seriously, I tend to end my chapters with something dramatic.

[knzen]

I usually have something in mind for the first chapter so I write and post that and ask for pairings if anyone wants to see anything in particular. Generally I try to sit down and push through one chapter at a time then get it posted immediately. I have one fic Ive been working on where I got half a chapter written then I kind of got stalled writing. Still it's half written and unposted (sorry FF6 people, it'll be up sometime). Similarly one of my stories I posted the scene I wanted, and didn't have any ideas where else I wanted to take it. Without feedback or new ideas I just kind of back burnered the story. It's officially ended now.

I'm working on a fic right now where I started based on one idea (which I didn't even use) and by the time I got through three chapters I had a bunch of requests. Without pairing requests I just kind of let the characters go and see what happens, which is what the third chapter is. I've always been kind of bad at dividing chapters up, even in my serious writing I separated all of my novels by days instead of by chapters. That idea works well for novel length writing with thirty something page chapters but not so well for an 8-12 page story. That's kind of why I had the first few chapters popup in rapid session around Thanksgiving. Two chapters got split into three to keep all of the similar content together.

[Dr_Jackal]

Personally I upload from the first chapter and upload chapter-by-chapter . . .

I actually plan every novel before I write it. I have the chapters listed in chronological order, with a synopsis of what needs to happen, so for me the whole 'running out of steam' or writer's block etc. isn't really an issue, because I know that all I have to do is actually write, the story - in a sense - is already complete. I also find posting in this way actually gives me an incentive to write too. My work's not hugely popular, but I do have a few regular readers, so by posting each chapter as I complete it then it's like "I owe it to my writers to finish this" and it gives me motivation to carry on, rather than say 'well, maybe I'll finish it later instead'.

I've had authors give up mid-story on some novels I adore, and I was forced to do that with a fanfiction a decade ago (when I first began writing) because of a lack of a plan and motivation, so I know how agonising and frustrating it is for readers to get so far and then never see the ending! So for that reason I always write an update as regularly as possible, with only illness and death being valid excuses for keeping me ever from my keyboard.

This is what I'm trying to get to. I'll admit I did share a part of an ongoing story I want to do with characters from ATLA, but like many have said if I'm not organized enough (outlines, synopses, ect) and/or run into writer's block and/or lack of inspiration or motivation, this can kill any interest in the story so I'll try to avoid this. I'm re-writing other sections of the story that can still be tied together in order to give the first chapter I uploaded some sense of continuity.

[spiralbreeze]

I post as soon as I'm done with the first chapter. Hence why I have at least five fics just sitting there collecting dust cause I haven't gotten past the first chapter... oh well.

[Cuzosu]

I try to be at least halfway through the second chapter, but sometimes I only have the first chapter, or sometimes I have two full chapters and the start of a third.

[Shunskitten]

I usually update when my story or chapter is done, but sometimes when I'm busy (like now, shouldn't even be online, I'm definitely procrastinating) I'll wait until the next Sunday to update or add whatever.