Many people write fanfiction, but we don’t always get to see the process that happens behind the uploads. Some authors prefer to write the entire story before they start posting. Others post updates and write the next chapter in between updates! I personally prefer to have the whole plot written down and a dozen or so chapters written before I start posting. I made a huge mistake last time when I tried to write my chapters in between updates because school life interfered with my writing schedule. By having a dozen chapters previously written, I can allow some “wiggle room” for my writing schedule and more time to edit future chapters. What method do you prefer?
I kinda have my plot figured out, I’ve just been lazy with writing. Most of my storues kinda revolve around the story of the franchise like RWBY or Pokémon Sun. But, I add my own characters or charcaters from the cross over that have affects that differ from the original source material.
See, even when I stick to the in game plot I feel like I have to sit down and plan the entire thing otherwise events get jumbled up in my head!
I release my stuff on a schedule, and on specific days. If a delay comes up for whatever reason, I notify my fans, or if I'm really stuck, ask for their input.
I try to have some kind of schedule and try to write chapters as I go and post what I have when the deadline that I put for myself comes up, but it really depends on what is going on irl.
As you said, a couple of chapters then upload. I make a lot of grammar mistakes, and I don't usually catch them until I'm editing the chapter for release. So with some time between uploads, I can go back and check recent chapters, while having some on the back-burner for if I take too long.
Right now I’m operating on a biweekly schedule so I have some time to write without feeling rushed. If worst comes to worst, you can always call a hiatus and take a break! It’s always nice to have some chapters on the backburner. I find that the longer you let a chapter sit, the better your editing will be because you read it with a fresh mindset!
I'm not one to comment too much on how to work a schedule, since my upload schedule is really inconsistent and mostly mood based, but I do prefer posting chapters one by one instead of posting the whole thing and being done with it Ynever know how much audience feedback can help your writing And hey, it can also be the driving force that keeps you writing But as for how I work my plot, I come up with a general idea and just wing it along the way So far it's worked, prolly because I got lucky What I'm trying to do now is plan out a timeline of events from beginning to end to help me get a better feel for how my story's gonna go so my mind isn't completely blank Planning out (like a sort of pseudo storyboard of sorts) how the events of a chapter is gonna go is also something Im planning on doing That's pretty much my take on it Maybe not the best advice, but eh, tis what I do
For some of my stories I write the first three chapters, post them all at once, and then write the rest of the chapters as I go. I have a rough idea of what to do with the story, how to end it and what big events to include, but other than that I just write chapters out when I get to them and find myself mentally adding details to my story when I find myself thinking about it. I don't work well writing out even a rough draft or outline before starting. I have to just write what feels right at the moment, and then the second I'm done with a chapter I post it. This usually leads to some spelling or grammar errors, but if I let a story sit for too long after I finish it, I'll just end up psyching myself out of posting it at all. Because of these things, I don't have a set updating schedule. I write a chapter for one story, and then write a chapter for another story. I'm usually juggling three or four stories at once, but I'm pretty good at updating all of them every two weeks or so, so it's working out pretty well for me so far.
I haven't published a lot of stories so I haven't really gotten a full understand of how I upload. The story I did upload had a basic overarching plot that I had built, but it basically amounted to, they go here and do stuff. I updated chapters once a month and in between the uploads I would write the chapter. Mostly I went with the mentality that the fun was in the journey and not the destination and improved everything in between going here and the doing of the stuff. I'm currently trying a more structured approach with my next story. I'm planning to have all the chapters written out and done before I publish. I'm planning on submitting the story to an actual publishing firm so the updates thing isn't something that I'm planning on happening. I have several story concepts and ideas that come to my head but never any time to write them. I think the style in which you upload you story should be based on the story that your trying to tell. For example, if you're trying to tell a very plot focused story, like the one I'm publishing, I think you should have everything written out before hand then start uploading. However, if you do something that's far more slice of life, then it would be far better to spontaneously write the story and update to go along with the more spontaneous stories of every day life.
I used to write as I updated, but I switched to prewriting stuff atm, because I just feel it will give me more room to mess up and fix stuff again. I already decided to change the entire outfit of the protagonist of my current story because I realised that outfit was more for colder regions than Hoenn, whoops.
I mean, one time I forgot to switch the placeholder name of a character with his actual name, and then I had the same character being called two drastically different names for a couple chapters. Thank god it was a minor character who made an appearance in about five sentences!
Okay so on Fanfiction.net I've started planning out my Digimon fanseries and I don't just mean I what's doing to happen I have every episode planned out from start to finish. I don't do this with most fanfics I write but I also have a Pokémon fan series I'm doing this with I just haven't put it up because I'm trying to not cliche the first episode.
I write as I update depending on the story. If it's one that there are preset guides, I will write as I update but for ones I forget to update, I plan them out and do a mass update.
Depends on the story. Usually, I come up with cool ideas and link them up over time into one of my major universes. If there ends up being enough material for a story, I hash out major plot points. If I ever get around to writing something out, I try to get a thousand words or so on paper each day. In one experiment, I decided to just write the short Special 1000 ish word chapters and release them after a few weeks of editing, making up the story as I went along. Turned out pretty great up until the end. I was suddenly inundated with requests to re-write\continue past the ending, but that would require a genre shift I'm simply not too acquainted with. I've also run some experiments as to when each chapter should be posted. Whole stories being posted at once, and it's likely your audience will miss it in the deluge of other posts. Post a chapter a day or so, and you can net a larger audience. Do note that it is not a good idea to post anything without an editing process in place, or you're likely to lose readers faster than you gain them in any case. So when I do entertain the idea of posting chapters continuously, I have a great swath of chapters awaiting editing between the one I'm working on and the ones being released, so as to build myself a decent buffer.
I used to write as I update, but I realized that wasn't going to work out for me. Now I try to have at least most of the plot-points written down and try to write at least most of the story before posting anything. Considering some of my longer fanfics are probably going to end up just being REALLY long, this is probably the best method; I won't be posting/updating any of my longer fics anytime soon - though I am trying to gain inspiration with NaNo currently - but I do like to take breaks and post little fun one-shots in between.
When I still wrote my fanfic, it was kind of a combination of the two. I had had a full book already uploaded on a different site that died, so I started uploading chapters every day on Fanfiction after that. It was a lot better when I was able to go back and revise once I had more written, but it's just easier to upload a chapter at a time. I'm kind of struggling with a dilemma like this with a comic I'm trying to get motivated to do, but I think what I decided on was to upload a little at a time and make an announcement for when a full chapter is finished. As for writing it, I'm trying to write out a sort of "script" for it before I make the actual comic.
I Will Write As I Update. Because Sometime In The Future On Wattpad, I Can Re-Edit Them Once I Done And Write-Behind The Scene Content.
I know some comic artists upload a page at a time. I don’t know if that would help you, but it would definitely produce more updates within a smaller timespan. I like your idea about posting a chapter per day for a fanfic, but you must be a writing god if you can churn out high quality chapters that quickly! How many chapters do you pre-write before you post? I know you said a great swath, but I’m just looking for a number