I've been wrestling with a question: I have around twenty stories in my story list which I started work on, and never finished. OK, yes, doesn't everyone, but I mean I never got them to the point where I felt they were ready to be unveiled to the general public. Their just sitting there: like unexploded mines, waiting... And distracting me. I keep trying to add to them and get them ready... Nothing: my muse has abandoned them. So that brings me back to the title of the thread: Publish; or Perish? Do I publish them fully understanding that while someone might find inspiration and continue where I couldn't: A: that's unlikely, & B: it leaves my profile looking like a scrap heap: OR simply click that little delete button...?
I find it hard to let go of creative work - (it equals time and emotional investment!) Since you asked for input from others, I'll give it a shot: Why don't you: Straight up publish 1-2 that look like they might be accessible or interesting to others, where you'd allow others to take in their own direction (*eyes Nemo suspiciously*) if they express more interest than you have managed, even with the forethought intention of making another a editor or owner if they become invested. Keep another 1-2 that still interest *you* on some level, unpublished, but in reserve. Maybe without the clutter your muse wont be so confused, and will help you out. And scrap the rest. Delete. (Save the content to a flash drive if you feel bad about the invested time lost).
Part of the advantage of this site is that you can get returns, feedback and suggestions from readers between your chapters. Trying to finish a story before even publishing it thwarts that. There's also the fact that if you publish a whole finished story as one go, very few people will see it because there won't be updates. I'd say pick either the one you like the most or think will be of interest to readers/writers. Then remove the last three chapters and publish it. Add back the three chapters along 2 or three days and see how it goes. As for lack of inspiration I noticed that trying to work on stories with different point of view and tense at the same time makes everything a lot slower, so maybe try to focus on those with the same.
Unless it would really bother you to have "unfinished" stories in your profile: Publish! Of course nobody knows if another author will ever continue one of these stories. But it is possible. I personally joined chyoa so that i could add to a story that wasn't very well developed. I think that TheDespaxas as well wrote something along those lines as his reason for signing up. (I hope that my memory is accurate!) Surely there might be a few more people with a similar history.
While stating the advantages of this site as the ease of gaining feedback or comments is, in reality, not necessarily as big a bonus in practice as it is in theory for most of us mortals - publishing your works as less finished versions of themselves, and re-adding chapters, is truly a quite ingenious take on your problem. You could slowly trickle in your stories and see if 'likes' or inspiration or *another's inspiration* hits. This is a great idea for someone in your position. Also true. And as an aside - I dont know what other authors do, but I don't have twenty stories waiting to be published - I have zero. Including a shit story that goes nowhere and I'm not actively working on (but that I still feel has a foundation for existing, underneath) I published. (As a side note 'epically overleveled' is an open story. I will continue to welcome all hereto non-existant contributors to it.) I will offer one additional strategy to try and simplify your problem - Without knowing your unpublished stories, I might ask you to ponder - are you able to combine some of your stories into one or a few? Like a loose premise or common thread you could use as an introduction, where you might be able to combine some (or all) of your stories? Purpose being that don't have an (obnoxious) number of partial stories flooding the site and your profile, perhaps (I say this without knowing the nature of your stories, or the viability of this suggestion), perhaps you might group some of your unpublished stories into a single, or a few, themed 'megastories', leaving yourself or other authors able to contribute to their take on the theme of your 'megastory' or (even more ideally) on one of your already established story threads (ie bank of unpublished work) within the 'megastory', without the same format/profile clutter as straight up publishing your current series of unpublished works. So... That's another thought.
I have a collection of drafts, half-baked drafts, and ideas (sometimes only a single sentence or just a word). Probably 80% of it is crap and I'm pretty sure, that more than 99% won't ever see the light of the day. But sometimes I skim through them, add a word here and there and get some ideas for other stories. (And it can be great if you enjoy reading something you wrote years ago.) I would recommend to keep your profile clean and avoid distraction, either by storing it on a local drive or copying it into a single story draft.
Thank you to everyone who has commented, and your words have revealed to me the flaw with my thought processes here: if I do not publish, the effort I have put into writing the stories already will have been utterly Wasted! I need to go through and isolate those stories which have the potential to be published as they are, and publish. Then those where I must make some edits to be published, make those edits, and publish. Once again, thanks.
If you already have some sex scenes in the story: Publish If not: Leave or Ditch If you can leave the readers with something to have a crafty wank with, you've done your job, no matter if anyone continues it or not. If they like your style and think you can give 'em what they want, they might check out your main stuff, which is a plus for you anyway. If you can get one good sex scene out of it, then that's enough imo.
I would say it is ok to have a few stories that you are working on at the same time. I do have at least one on my profile I know I am unlikely to ever go back to but you never know who will pick up and add to a story. One of the things I like about having a few very different stories on the go is that I can switch up as my interests wax and wain.
