Complete or Incomplete?

Started by Phantom March 5th, 2014 8:48 PM
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  • 13 replies

Phantom

Uh, I didn't do it

Age 32
Female
Minnesota
Seen September 18th, 2017
Posted September 18th, 2017
1,182 posts
11.8 Years
Do you prefer reading fics that are complete or still in the works?

I bring this up because just today I finished reading everything posted in a 78 chapter fic... only to have no resolution because the fic is still being written, having been updated a month before I picked it up.

So are you content waiting on new chapters? Or do you want to be able to read the whole thing through?

I prefer to read complete ones. I really liked this fic, and I will read as new chapters come out, but I was heartbroken when I realized I'd made the mistake of reading an unfinished work. I'm a bit impatient. :P

Also reading only complete works prevents running into a fic that might turn dead, which is the worst.

tabor62

Who?

They/Them
Secret Sun Base Super
Seen August 13th, 2022
Posted July 8th, 2022
1,653 posts
14.5 Years
It makes me compare it to manga releases. Dragon Ball (Z) for a completely series, UQ Holder as one that doesn't update too regularly, and Zombie Powder for one I got really interested in only to find out it got cancelled ;.;

Anyhow, I don't have any real preference, but of course for me a nice long fanfic that's been finished is a big plus. I do follow a few inprogress fics, but only because I like them and they update fairly regularly. There's only one fic I follow that updates really irregularly, and that's the sole exception because the author is awesome, the plot is good to me, I love the idea, the prequel was awesome, he still updates, etc. etc.

However there is nothing I hate more (in the world of writing that is) than to read a good fic only to find out it was either abandoned or abruptly ende-





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Nolafus

Aspiring something

Age 27
Male
Lost in thought... again
Seen March 3rd, 2018
Posted March 11th, 2017
5,722 posts
10.9 Years
For me, it doesn't really matter. I guess I read now so that I can review, so I prefer shorter stories so that I don't have to review as much work. That means I mostly read either short stories, or fics with only a couple chapters up.

I just realized I haven't read a fic purely for my own enjoyment for a long time. Hmm... I'm going to have to do that sometime.
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bobandbill

one more time

Male
A cape
Seen 7 Hours Ago
Posted 23 Hours Ago
16,786 posts
15.2 Years
I do prefer reading fics that are finished, just because of the number of fics I have seen that have gone unfinished. Finishing mine felt like a good achievement considering that, tbh (also the time it took me but that's something else =p). But I am used to reading fics with more to come, just a mild preference to know that what is there is concluded.

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moon

they/them
Online now
Posted 2 Days Ago
37,443 posts
15.5 Years
I want to read fanfics that are either finished by the time I reach the end, OR that have a decent amount of chapters to get me hooked on the story before I reach the current point. But in the latter case I also want new chapters more often than once a month, or I'll lose interest.
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Incinermyn

The Abomination Lives!!!

Age 37
Male
Wisconsin, USA
Seen July 29th, 2018
Posted May 21st, 2016
646 posts
15.8 Years
Personally, I prefer completed works because of the fact that they are complete and I don't have to wait for the next chapter to get updated before I can continue it. However, I personally have a bad tendency to go back and revise things, even after I've gotten most of the story written out and planned to near completion. As for others' fanfics, I definitely try to avoid reading incomplete ones because I foresee people doing that exact same thing I do: go back and revise everything jut because they aren't satisfied with what they've got down.

Silversnk

Valar Dohaeris

Male
CODIAC's Operating Center
Seen January 11th, 2015
Posted October 16th, 2014
98 posts
10.2 Years
I'm okay either way as long as I like the fic. But I do prefer reading a complete one or at least one with chapters delivered in less than a month because I've seen a lot of fics abandoned or that take a lot of time to update with a new chapter. To be honest, I'm not much of a fic guy but I do enjoy writing them. I like to have an outline of all the story before I start writing so I don't have to keep going back and changing stuff when things doesn't come up in a good way; or when I can't figure out a good turn for the story.

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Sheep

She/Her
Australia
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 7 Hours Ago
39,253 posts
16.6 Years
Oh my it is always amazing when a fanfiction I get into is complete and has a lot of chapters. Love going through everything without having to worry about what'll happen next plus how long each update would take to be published.. but the depressing feeling when you're done reading a fic is just awful. :(

So I'm torn. Incomplete fics means I have to wait but at least there'll be things to look forward to and I can be there as the story progresses.

Eevee

╰( ´・ω・)つ━☆゚.* ・。゚

Age 28
Female
Canada
Seen July 7th, 2016
Posted July 4th, 2014
678 posts
9.6 Years
I like both.

I like having the fic all there so I don't have to wait but that means that I'll finish it quickly XD

I do like having fics that are getting written currently but it sucks when the author abandons the story and then you don't know how it ends. D:


Nolafus

Aspiring something

Age 27
Male
Lost in thought... again
Seen March 3rd, 2018
Posted March 11th, 2017
5,722 posts
10.9 Years
but the depressing feeling when you're done reading a fic is just awful. :(
Yes, I hate this feeling. Especially when it's a well-written fic. It's just like, that's it? It's over already? I don't care if there were 70 chapters, you have to continue!

I haven't had the time lately to read much with my college quarter wrapping up, but hopefully I'll have more free time to dedicate to reading after all of this. I haven't read many fics compared to some people, and I would love to change that.
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Venia Silente

Inspectious. Good for napping.

Male
on the second floor's nest
Seen 23 Hours Ago
Posted 2 Days Ago
1,177 posts
14.6 Years
Perhaps I'm different enough from most people I see here… I tend to prefer fics in progress (though definitively not abandoned works).

Partly because it gives me a feeling I don't have to consume all the work in one sitting: I can read a chapter today and then I'll have to save the next one for next week , a feeling hard to achieve with completed works (not only fics) where one can easily go into marathon mode. In that way, fics in progress are for me easier to schedule reading than already completed works, as I know I can pace them at a max rate and not get any utility out of rushing it - it keeps my spare time for reading fics "manageable" so to speak.

But at the same time, perhaps, as a form of balance. I know, or at least expect, most of the fanfic works are in an unfinished state. I expect other people to read my work, even if it is not finished. If I had to wait for the whole thing to be completed before I would get any (good) reader, or worse if I was flat-out told "sorry, won't read until 'published'" I'd simply be too instantly disheartened to carry on with the behemoth of a task. So picking a work I like, seeing it is incomplete and trying to encourage the author by saying "you know, I'm reading this"… I guess it has more than just an inherent value for me.

I guess there's some form of dark cosmic irony there, that the last few stories that have caught my eye are all apparently abandoned works…
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moon

they/them
Online now
Posted 2 Days Ago
37,443 posts
15.5 Years
I guess a good part about reading a fic that's still in progress, is that you can give input to the author and maybe help them improve and make the story even better in the future! When you read a completed one, it's "take it or leave it".

I can get really sad and disappointed when I'm reading a great fic and realize that the author abandoned it before finishing it. But at the same time, I don't blame them too much. I know I've done that too, many times.
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Fernbutter

Murder is the way.

Male
The depths of the internet
Seen June 10th, 2017
Posted June 2nd, 2014
821 posts
9.4 Years
If the fanfic is incomplete but I consider it worth waiting for I will read it up until its latest chapter, but if it is a story that I would deem as "I wanna read this" then usually I would prefer it if the fic was already complete. In an overall I definitely want to see some finished fics.

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