I'm in line with viki on this one. I think there are some issues to consider, the key issue is canon and how that can affect what you're writing. Probably my most outstanding WIP was Politician's Wife (which took me five fucking years to finish), and I'd regularly get emails from people asking me about the next chapter, and seriously I couldn't finish that story until I knew the ending. Not that I knew that at the time, but there are some stories that have enough roots in canon that the trajectory of canon is key. If Draco had been killed by the end of the series, I couldn't have finished that story. Having said that, I would have posted a synopsis of where I wanted to take that story. Similarly, I can't write Snape as alive anymore, because, well, he's not.
In the case of that story whose title shall not be named, it is so far from canon originally that this doesn't apply. Her hostility to queries seems strange to me, but then I think she's always been cavalier about her relationship to fandom. Maybe she wrote herself into a corner and she can't get out of it gracefully. Maybe she's bored with it. I think she could just say that. Hey, I wrote myself into a corner, or, I'm just not interested in finishing it, thanks for all your kind words. Here's what I wanted to happen...but I can't write it now. And leave it at that. copperbadge did a similar sort of thing for one of his stories when canon finished and thereby killed any interest he had in finishing one of his epics. I thought that was stand-up.
Perhaps I'm coming at this from a much more "professional" POV than is reasonably applicable to fandom, but I do see my relationship with my readers as a contract. Seriously. I do my damndest to provide you with a great read if you will, well, read. It's that simple. And with a WIP, the contract still holds. I'm asking you to come into this world that I've created, offered you a seat, and perhaps a cup of tea if it's a long haul. If only you'll read. I don't need people to leave comments. It's really nice and I'm not complaining AT ALL. That is why I respond to every single comment. Because I do see it as a contract that should be fulfilled at some level. In deference to that contract, if JKR had killed off Draco, I would have posted a synopsis of what I wanted to happen but the trajectory of the original source had precluded finishing the story. Then I would have apologized like mad.
Because what I think happens when you have a WIP that languishes (a WIP that has a huge following), there is a trust that is broken. True, as writers in fandom we don't owe anyone anything, it's not like our readers shelled out $15.00 for a read and then the book ended halfway and we have 100 pages of blank book in our hands. But with every single bit of writing you do, when someone clicks on your story you're establishign a relationship of a sort. And now, with certain authors who get worked up over something and then abandon them halfway through that trust is now broken. If this author started another long-term project in a new fandom, would you get as invested in it? I wouldn't. I'd read with a reticence. Because there is a history here of failed expectations.
Having said this, I don't think she who must not be named has that sense of contract. I'm not making value judgment here. The nature of fandom is that we all approach it with a private set of rules. I actually would prefer that she not finish it than tack on a rushed up, third-rate ending in order to silence her critics. As it stands now, it's unfinished but intriguing and fascinating in its execution. Other authors who have felt compelled to finish a major piece of work in light of pending canon or whatever and done a pisspoor job have lost my interest permanently. THAT is pandering to the crowd. Which is the other end of the spectrum.
::EYES CHAMPIONS BECAUSE THAT ISN'T FINISHED EITHER::
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-02-24 04:58 pm (UTC)In the case of that story whose title shall not be named, it is so far from canon originally that this doesn't apply. Her hostility to queries seems strange to me, but then I think she's always been cavalier about her relationship to fandom. Maybe she wrote herself into a corner and she can't get out of it gracefully. Maybe she's bored with it. I think she could just say that. Hey, I wrote myself into a corner, or, I'm just not interested in finishing it, thanks for all your kind words. Here's what I wanted to happen...but I can't write it now. And leave it at that. copperbadge did a similar sort of thing for one of his stories when canon finished and thereby killed any interest he had in finishing one of his epics. I thought that was stand-up.
Perhaps I'm coming at this from a much more "professional" POV than is reasonably applicable to fandom, but I do see my relationship with my readers as a contract. Seriously. I do my damndest to provide you with a great read if you will, well, read. It's that simple. And with a WIP, the contract still holds. I'm asking you to come into this world that I've created, offered you a seat, and perhaps a cup of tea if it's a long haul. If only you'll read. I don't need people to leave comments. It's really nice and I'm not complaining AT ALL. That is why I respond to every single comment. Because I do see it as a contract that should be fulfilled at some level. In deference to that contract, if JKR had killed off Draco, I would have posted a synopsis of what I wanted to happen but the trajectory of the original source had precluded finishing the story. Then I would have apologized like mad.
Because what I think happens when you have a WIP that languishes (a WIP that has a huge following), there is a trust that is broken. True, as writers in fandom we don't owe anyone anything, it's not like our readers shelled out $15.00 for a read and then the book ended halfway and we have 100 pages of blank book in our hands. But with every single bit of writing you do, when someone clicks on your story you're establishign a relationship of a sort. And now, with certain authors who get worked up over something and then abandon them halfway through that trust is now broken. If this author started another long-term project in a new fandom, would you get as invested in it? I wouldn't. I'd read with a reticence. Because there is a history here of failed expectations.
Having said this, I don't think she who must not be named has that sense of contract. I'm not making value judgment here. The nature of fandom is that we all approach it with a private set of rules. I actually would prefer that she not finish it than tack on a rushed up, third-rate ending in order to silence her critics. As it stands now, it's unfinished but intriguing and fascinating in its execution. Other authors who have felt compelled to finish a major piece of work in light of pending canon or whatever and done a pisspoor job have lost my interest permanently. THAT is pandering to the crowd. Which is the other end of the spectrum.
::EYES CHAMPIONS BECAUSE THAT ISN'T FINISHED EITHER::