"So Jack and Sam looked at each other, and...", Stories that leave us hanging....why? Options

[mithwriter]

Okay, I'm going to spout a pet peeve here, so bear with me...

I am sick of going on fanfic sites and starting a decent story that the author can't/ won't finish. Why do people post chapters with, by their own admission, no ending planned, a story direction only marginally idealized....and then don't finish them?

I'm tired of it. I would never post something without having the whole thing finished, or at least have it finished and then dole it out in chapters each day or something. The current state of on-line fanfic is not impressing me. I want to read great stories with conflict, drama, and comedy (where appropriate) great the characters provided by these television writers. Is it really that hard to finish the damn thing before posting it?

::here endeth the rant::

[Parmenides]

...because they lack the talent to come up with an touching, effecting, effective, believable ending?

I've never really read any ship but yeah, I'd be pretty peeved too if it just left me hanging...so much so, I would never read ship again! ...come to think of it, I think I did read this one ship that one time...

[mithwriter]

...because they lack the talent to come up with an touching, effecting, effective, believable ending?

I've never really read any ship but yeah, I'd be pretty peeved too if it just left me hanging...so much so, I would never read ship again! ...come to think of it, I think I did read this one ship that one time...

I don't mean 'ship specifically, just fanfics in general. Guess the thread topic was misleading. Seriously though, I'v stopped reading Stargate fics on-line and stick with strictly the spiral-bound, hard-copy variety. At least the authors have to finish them or it won't get published. I also love a good BSG or House fic, but the majority of one-shots are mediocre and the same problem of not finishing the story persists...., so the disappointment continues.

[Magnavox]

As a rule I don't read anything that isn't already finished or anything that will take longer than a day to read (unless I know the author and how good they are), I hate being left in suspense.

[Rogue Ashrak]

Guys, you want good fan-fic that actually ends? Check this guys site out you won't be dissappointed. He writes the best fan-fics I've ever seen. Plus they are pretty close to official canon. Granted it's not perfect, but that's not due to any fault of his own. At least not in the beginning....it's probably best to think of his fics universe as being a ever so slight alternate reality version of the TV version. But seriously check it out, you'll be glad you did.

Stargate SG-1 Fanfiction byThe Prophet

Mith, I know you said you don't read online fan-fic anymore but....give this guy a chance. You'll thank me later. Just make sure you look at his fanfic chronology and start from the beginning, as he introduces a few new charchters into the SG universe.

[aliaras]

I *almost always* start with an end in mind. I only have one fanfic with an unfinished second chapter.

If the end is weak, that's what beta readers are for IMO. Write it, look at it, revise it, so what if it's the hardest part!

You don't even need to tie up everything at the end. Just the major plot - if there's a bad guy, he needs to be immobilized or the fanfic has to be in between episodes where the bad guy appears. That way, the reader can draw their own conclusions as to his whereabouts. If you don't end the fanfic with everything back to normal, you have to explain how things will change. Sequels can always be written later, and pick up from the previous well wrapped up story. Take how things will change in your past fic, keep them in mind and add a plot and voila, sequel without hanging threads.

I ranted a bit there too I hate when authors do this...

[xayeidemon]

I refuse to read anything that has "WIP" anywhere in the summary. If you're releasing the story chapter by chapter, fine. I don't care just as long as it's already been completed. But WIPs? They're a waste of time, and to be honest, most of the people writing them need a LOT more practice with grammar and, oh, middle school.

I don't post a story until it's finished. Unfortunately, I'm such a perfectionist that it can sometimes take months until I actually post a completed fanfic. As a result, I've got tons of fics on my hard drive, but there are only a few that I've posted online. To me, that's better than doing WIPS and then losing interested halfway through.

[Meem]

Ok, ok, ok - I admit it I'm a terrible person. I wrote my first fanfiction story immediately after Janet was killed off - had to put it right!! At the end I put to be continued??? Just to see whether people liked my writing or if it was crap!!

I had some great feedback so decided to continue and posted part 2 - over 12 months ago, again unfinished because people kept emailing me to find out what happened next.

I'm now half through the final part but I'm much busier now with work, life etc. so don't have as much time to write, and I'm also unsure of how to finish it without following some of the stereo typical endings I've read over and over!!

So I really am sorry to all those people who have read my story and are patiently waiting for me to finish (I still get regular emails!!) I promise to finish soon - I've written some more today!

p.s. If pink rabbit productions ever reads this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE finish the bits and pieces stories - we need closure......(yes I'm a hypocrite, I hate unfinished stories too!)

[MajikthizeII]

Oh I missed this topic when it was first started, which is a shame because it's a subject close to my heart.
First rule of writing anything is to actually have a reasonably certain idea of where the story is going and how long you want it to be. The longer and more complicated the story, the more important this is.

I refuse to read anything that has "WIP" anywhere in the summary. If you're releasing the story chapter by chapter, fine. I don't care just as long as it's already been completed. But WIPs? They're a waste of time, and to be honest, most of the people writing them need a LOT more practice with grammar and, oh, middle school.

I stopped reading fanfic for a long time because I was fed up with WIP and In Progress stuff. Alas I'm also disillusiouned with short one-shot fics as I've noticed a significant deterioration in their quality of late. A few months back I started readign a fic (shipper, I think it was heading in). It was actually quite good. Got to the poitn where Jack was dead and wandering round the infirmary as a ghost and I thought it was getting quite good. I ran out of finished chapters, life took over and now I can't find the fic and can't remember what it's called and I really would like to finish it. It annoys me when that happens so no more WIP or unfinished stuff for me.

What I find particularly irritating is that Fanfiction.net hasn't exactly got a very good search engine for sorting out story lengths and completed fics (if you seach for completed only then it'll chuck up anythign with the word complete in the summary, so if someone's summary is "chapter 7 complete" the it throws it out even though it's not finished.

I don't post a story until it's finished. Unfortunately, I'm such a perfectionist that it can sometimes take months until I actually post a completed fanfic. As a result, I've got tons of fics on my hard drive, but there are only a few that I've posted online. To me, that's better than doing WIPS and then losing interested halfway through.

That's me too. I've got so many half finished fics on my laptop it's not even funny. I get an idea, I jot it all down and I wait for a fic to come up where I can use the idea. To be honest I'm such a terrible perfectionist I'll edit and change something so many times it's completely unrecognisable by the time it goes out there. Nine times out of ten, if it does go out, I'll not be hapy with it even then and want to change it.
I went on my laptop this afternoon to write a new story that I'd had floating around my head. Instead I ened up re-editing stuff that's been on there ages.
Amazingly I've never got around to posting any of my Stargate stuff, even though some of it is finished (or as finished as it'll ever be with me anyway). I've never found myself anyone who'll beta stuff and I don't think I'm brave enough to submit without someone telling me it's ok to post.

[Magnavox]

Amazingly I've never got around to posting any of my Stargate stuff, even though some of it is finished (or as finished as it'll ever be with me anyway). I've never found myself anyone who'll beta stuff and I don't think I'm brave enough to submit without someone telling me it's ok to post.

We have a list of beta's right here if you're looking for one. I'd love to see some of your work.