WIPs?

[forestofglory]

SO I'm still pretty new at transformative works fandom. So one thing I've been trying to figure out recently is works in progress(WIP). Its common for people to post stories on AO3 one chapter at a time. Either because the work is still being written or sometimes because the want to serialize it.

At first I was like well I'm really bad at serialized work, I don't even watch TV as its airing. But then I was tempted by something that wasn't finished. So I started reading along, and actually it was fun to wait and also to have the whole social thing with people commenting on each chapter. So now I sometimes read WIPs.

I'm trying to develop some guidelines for WIP reading for myself. Here's what I have so far:

I'm far more likely to start a WIP if I know the author a bit or if people I know are talking about the WIP

If I find a WIP that already has big chunk posted I'll probably wait until its done rather than get caught up and then follow along.

I'm trying not to read too many at once. How many is too many? Maybe 4?

I don't always go off and read the next chapter of WIP as soon as it lands in my inbox. I did this for a bit and it was too stressful.

Those are my personal guidelines at the moment. Things have been evolving though so this very subject to change.

Do you read WIPs? What kinds of personal guidelines do you have for them? How do you kept track of new chapters?

Comments

[clevermanka]

I don't read them for a variety of reasons. I am bad luck (seriously, it's A Thing), I read very quickly, and I tend to not be able to keep plots in my head when I have more than a day or two between chapters.

But I am envious of the people who can and do read them because the progressive comments as the chapters go on are so fun!

[trascendenza]

I will verrrrrry occasionally read one, like maybe 2 a year? And usually there's something about it that grabs me enough that I'll bother to subscribe -- the writing itself, an unusual premise, a particular trope I don't often see. Normally I find it too hard to keep track of something ongoing.

[jo_lasalle]

As someone who's been reading fanfic forever, I've been enjoying reading about your process of discovery a lot!

I enjoy reading WIPs as long as I feel reasonably sure the posting isn't suddenly going to drop off because the author got sidetracked by something else shiny. (For which I'd take into account track record and whether it's written-as-posted or more like editing-as-posted.) As someone whose fic also tends to be on the long side who knows what a slog that can be, I also generally enjoy giving ongoing props. I do think four-ish is probably the limit of concurrent ongoing things I could handle. (Also, in Guardian specifically, as you know I'm a bit hampered by needing some things vetted, so depending on the story's setting I might not want to risk getting invested in a story and then realising in chapter 13 that it contains shellfish, so there is that.)

I'm inconsistent about subscribing, though. I followed one WIP I had tracked, but when someone posts regularly, I tend to remember when stuff goes up and then don't want "unnecessary" notification emails. I'm very unsystematic and sometimes strange about what I want in my inbox. *g*

[forestofglory]

I'm glad you enjoy my thoughts on fanfic, sometimes I feel a bit self conscious talking about it.

Most of the WIPs I'm following or have followed have been edited as posted rather written as posted. I don't yet have good sense of authors track records having not been around very long. And I can see how your "shellfish" problem would make reading Guardain WIPs more less fun. How frustrating.

I know what you mean about not wanting to get emails for everything though. If I think I'm going to find out about new chapters through DW or twitter I don't necessarily subscribe to things.

[calissa]

Just popping in to say I think it's cool you're talking about this. I'm still pretty new to transformative works fandom, too, and still haven't figured out WIPs.

[forestofglory]

I'm relived that I'm not the only one. It's confusing. I do think that I understand the pacing of fic a bit more when I realized that most long fic was published as as WIPs. Serialization means that the works tend to be a bit slower and more episodic than novels.

[lunabee34]

I read a lot of WIPs. I prefer to read completed stuff, but don't always have that luxury. I always look to see how long ago the latest chapter was published. If it was 2 years ago or 7 years ago! I assume that it's abandoned and either don't read or read knowing that it's not going to be finished.

I just subscribe on AO3 if I like it and read the new chapter when it comes in.

[forestofglory]

I wish AO3 would tell you went each chapter was published -- it can be hard for me to get a sense of how often something have been updating. Though yet if its been years I assume the WIP is abandoned.

[naye]

What a good question!

Before Guardian, I did not read WIPs because it had been years and years since I was invested enough in a particular fandom to read fic at all. The exception was fic written by a few friends of mine, that I was following because they are good writers and I enjoyed the stories even if I wasn't actively fanning on those canons.

Now though? OMG. FIC. So much fic?! And the embarrassment of riches makes my approach to WIPs completely scattershot: some I get sucked into and read & comment on as soon as they show up. Others I keep either meaning to start, or am saving for some nebulous "later". I will say one factor for me is how the author reacts to comments when I start reading? Some people (myself included) are quite comment driven, and I will feel like they not only appreciate comments, but use them as motivation to keep writing. And if I like a fic, I am there for the cheerleading.

On the other hand, if I check out a first chapter without getting any kind of response to my comment, or the author's note/other info indicates the fic is in good hands and the author already has plenty of support I might put it on the "to read when finished" list.

Part of this is that I tend to spend way longer writing comments than I do reading fic. This is my way of enjoying the medium - I read pretty fast, and love delighting in those kind of stories that really hit the spot. So going through something almost line by line gives me more time to enjoy it! But it does mean I rarely read things I can't commit to leaving at least a brief(ish) comment on.

Anyway, the final response is apparently "it depends", but right now I am subscribed to about 3-4 WIPs (not counting non-Guardian ones), and looking to diving into a couple more.

[clevermanka]

Your comments are a fuckin' delight. Seriously. I have upped my comment game on fics that particularly Speak To Me, thanks largely to your example.

[forestofglory]

I'm so impressed with your comments. I try to leave them when I have energy but sometimes its hard to think of things to say.

[isis]

I very rarely read WIPs. Part of it is that I have been burned by authors abandoning their works, and also by stories which have gone off the rails and I've lost interest, but mostly it's because with fic, I'm generally reading other things in the fandom (and thus with the same characters) at the same time, and so I find it hard to keep track of things, like, did X happen in an earlier chapter, or was that a different story?

I will occasionally read WIPs if they are by an author I have reason to trust and are updated on a regular schedule.

[ratbones]

Here's a filthy WIP-poster reporting in with her own take! I don't expect anyone who's apprehensive of WIPs to trust me, upstart rando that I am, enough to follow my updates. I enjoyed the second wave of readers that showed up after I completed the last one. So it's all good with me, but I will admit there's a special place in my heart for people who keep up with me as I post. It's incredibly motivating and helps me keep the pace.

I also read WIPs. I guess I'm keeping up with...like 6, some of which are slow updaters? And hoping for updates on some other things that might be dead in the water. I have basically no limits about this, I'm all kinds of easygoing. Irregular updates and potential abandonment don't trouble me, and usually if I lose track of the plot I only need to skim the last few paragraphs of the last chapter to prompt my recall. I'm slowly working on my commenting skills, and trying to pay the motivational enthusiasm forward by focusing on authors who seem eager for feedback.

[forestofglory]

Hey, don't say mean things about yourself! Posting things as written seems like a pretty normal and fun part of fic culture. I do enjoy it when see stuff form the comments or meta conversations showing up in the fic I read.

[ratbones]

I'm kidding about the filthy thing. Sort of? Some people really aren't into it, and I understand why, that's all. Yeah, I really like the community aspect of WIPs!

[forestofglory]

I know you aren't serious but I really don't like it when people talk down about themselves. I feel like we get enough of that for the world at large without doing it to ourselves.

[ratbones]

You know what? You're right. There's enough cruelty out there to be had, and I wouldn't have said that even "in jest" about someone else. Point well-taken! <3

[forestofglory]

<3

[goodgriefcharlie]

I definitely read WIPs, although the number I'm okay with reading at one time varies greatly on how intensely fannish I feel about a fandom at the time and how big the fandom is/how much fic is being created. The greater my fannish feels, the smaller the fandom/the fewer the fics, the more likely I am to dive into a bunch of WIPs. I am also more inclined to read a WIP if it has one of my favorite tropes (e.g. time travel fix-its are my kryptonite) or written by an author I know has a consistent history of finishing WIPs.

I do most of my reading on AO3 and so just subscribe to the fics I'm interested in. When a new chapter is released, I typically re-read the last chapter or two before starting the new one to remind myself of the details, although I'll skip that if the author has a really quick update schedule. (Depending on how busy I am IRL and how much leisure time I have to actually read, I also sometimes will let the new chapters build up and then read them all in one go when things calm down.) If it's been a number of months (or years!) since the last update, I may or may not go back to the story; it really depends on if I still am interested in the fandom or if something about that particular story really sparked something in me.

Some of my approach to WIPs may have to do with the fact that Harry Potter was one of my first fandoms? I feel like most everything written in the early-to-mid 2000s for HP was an epic serial and so I just got used to stories being doled out in pieces over several months. There were also a lot of abandoned stories that I found and still loved anyways, so the possibility of never getting a proper conclusion has never deterred me from starting a fic. I will say I tend to read WIPs that already have a lot of chapters posted (because there's enough of the characters/world building/plot/whatever to enjoy) or ones that are very very short (because they're almost like what-if plot bunnies rather than full stories). If the author continues, great! If not, I can still be satisfied with what's there.

It is also possible that I am somewhat of an instant-gratification reader? (Not sure if that's the best way to phrase it, but that's all I'm coming up with right now.) My brain literally goes oooooh shiny MUST READ and then I'm four chapters in before I know it :D It is amazing to me how many people have the patience and self-control to wait until the whole story is posted before they start reading!

[forestofglory]

Thanks for this long comment. It's interesting to think about how your history shapes how you handle WIPs -- but it makes a lot of sense. I'm having to learn some new reading protocols for fanfic, and some of them have to do with the different pacing that comes with most long things being serialized.