Not (quite) the PSPC post either

[kiwisue]

I'm fascinated by the thought of all the incomplete Pros stories out there; poor little orphans in rags, shivering in the cold, just waiting for someone to pick them up and take them somewhere warm *g*. If I find one, I have to read it, even though I know I'll be disappointed by its incompleteness.

So when lj users nellhowell, helenraven and msmoat posted WIP's a while ago, I read them all, avidly. Then I found a couple more, and listmania struck...

Teamwork by Helen Raven

Cold Spring by Angelfish Archivist

In the Ghetto by Nell Howell

Untitled by PFL

Picture Perfect by Goodnightlady

Burnt Boats and Broken Hearts by Zoe Rayne (sequel to A Call of Nature by M Fae Glasgow)

Some authors said they had no intentions of finishing their work. Thankfully, most of them then went on to explain where they had intended to go with the story. I like that - somehow it means I can more easily use my own imagination to fill in the blank space beyond that last word on the screen...

Does anyone else feel like that? Or do you automatically avoid all WIPs?

ETA: byslantedlight reckons this should be counted as a PSPC post, so yay - only one to go - will get it done!

Comments

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

I have mixed feelings about WIPs, I can't say I have to read every one I come across. It's just too "Nooo!" when I get to the cut off point. Though I couldn't help myself with Angelfish Archivist's Cold Spring - and yes, I howled at the cut off!

Very interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up here -I'm curious to see what others may say.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, curiosity gets me every time *g* Thanks for commenting!

[andreathelion.livejournal.com]

I must confess I have to read even the unfinished ones.

And it leaves me dissappointed everytime, but I can't help myself, must be the masochistic side of me ;)

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I think I try to be constructive in my disappointment *g*. If it's a good story 'so far', and I know there isn't going to be a follow-up I spend time wondering how the ending would go. But yeah, can't help myself either.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I try not to read WIP's. They're just too much of a disappointment. Unfortunately, I have a few times, either because I didn't know it was a WIP or I like the writer's work so much I can't help myself. But, sure enough, I'm disappointed every time.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

So were you tempted by any of my links? *eg*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Lol, yeah, and I would have been more so if I hadn't already read some of them. Nell's and PFL's had been posted with warnings but I love their work so much I couldn't resist. So far I've managed to not click on those other links.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh I can't help myself - it's new Pros, I have to read it... I'm still heartbroken that there's no end in sight to Cold Spring, am now endlessly curious about In The Ghetto and have just realised that I set aside PFL's wip for later and didn't get back to it - wheee! See, even though I know it's unfinished, I have to read it now that I know it's there! So thanks for the reminder...

But those are wips that were sort of retro-posted, with the warning that they were wips. Picture Perfect is a bit different - that was posted as it was being written, with promises that it would be finished, and it just never was, which rather makes me cross, cos I don't suppose it ever will be. I think if there were alot of this sort of wip in Pros I'd feel differently about them (I gather this is more common in other fandoms?). Lucky me for falling in with Pros fandom, I reckon!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

But those are wips that were sort of retro-posted, with the warning that they were wips.
Yes, that does make a difference, along with the business of authors being honest about their intentions. I can take a sorta complete idea and spin it out in my head as well...

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

My thoughts are pretty much the same as byslantedlight's. If I know it's a WIP that will never be finished before I start it I can handle it even though there is a sense of sadness and unrealized potential that it was never finished. I am doubly sad about Picture Perfect because it is brilliant and there was a promise that it would be finished. However, I know what it's like to lose interest in a fandom, so I don't blame the author too much. With really good unfinished works such as these I think I'd rather read and enjoy what we have than not to have read them at all.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I was really enjoying Picture Perfect as well. I think the problem was initially a computer crash, then the author moving out of Pros fandom :-(

With really good unfinished works such as these I think I'd rather read and enjoy what we have than not to have read them at all.
Yup. Word.

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never actually saw mine as a wip...more...abandoned first effort.... Heck. I suppose it is a wip. Well! Now I feel guilty. *g* Maybe I could work on it for a...for a challenge in discoveredinalj! Surely there's a International Confrontation-on-behalf-of-your-mate Day? Right? Right?

Personally, um, I do avoid all WIPs. Hence the guilt. *g*

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Guilt is good. Doyle has guilt, now you do too.

So, you going to do something about it, hey?

*rubs hand Bodiesquely (is that a word) and runs away cackling evilly*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I usually avoid WIPs unless I know the writer well enough to nag ...
I even hesitate to buy the first parts of published trilogies etc. in case the author unaccountably dies, disappears or simply stops writing.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

*late reply, sorry*
One of the other posters posited that her attitude depended on whether there was an intent to write more of a posted story, which fell by the wayside, or whether the writer simply unlocked her closet and let us see what was hiding inside. I can relate to that distinction.

But Wow - I've never met anyone who's avoided published fiction for that reason!
(I struggle to think of an example that I can relate to and the only one I can think of is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, although I gave up reading those books ago because the books became so over-stuffed, repetitive and bloody boring!).

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I've stayed with Robert Jordan despite all of what you say - I keep vaguely hoping things will improve and the next book is supposed to be the last!! But a number of fantasy writers/publishers have taken their cue from him and although I am following a couple of series (George R.R.Martin and Janny Wurts)I won't start any others!
I don't mind if each book is complete in itself and simply has a sequel, but I don't like being left with a 'cliffhanger'! At least with a T.V. series you know the entire season has been filmed!!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

eah! I've stayed with Robert Jordan despite all of what you say - I keep vaguely hoping things will improve and the next book is supposed to be the last!!

Oh, dear - this was a bit prophetic!

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was - and so was my daughter's refusal to read the series in case he died before finishing it! But I believe his wife and son have the full plot and most of the last book (on audio tape) and have promised to finish it.

I will certainly think twice before starting to read any more WIPs!

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

I just read M. Fae's A Call of Nature and the Zoe Rayne unfinished sequel for the first time. Too bad she never finished it. She's a good writer. Thanks for the link.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

*late reply, sorry*

She only has 2 stories on the circuit. Both were OK (the crossover I didn't care for so much because I wasn't interested in the second fandom). But the unfinished one could have been a great story *nods*.