(no subject)

[sekritomg]

Now I guess the question is, should I split this thing in two, or publish a 39,000-word chapter of insane AU porn?

Comments

[julads.livejournal.com]

What thing

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

A chapter of my fan fiction!

[julads.livejournal.com]

I'm confused because if it's RIAT I thought the chapters were supposed to be ~40k.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Well, it is, but isn't that way too long? Basically I'm insecure.

[julads.livejournal.com]

Does it feel like one single chapter to you? Like, do you see a reason for the narrative to be split?

[formerdinosaur.livejournal.com]

I think the people who are already invested enough to read the new chapter now won't mind reading 40k in one go, whereas if people are just now finding the story (when it shows up on the front page of FFN or via Tumblr or whatever) they won't encounter that chapter for a while yet, so post it all. If that makes sense.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

But there was just this thread on FFA about how chapters are only supposed to be 3000 words or something and it made me very upset.

[formerdinosaur.livejournal.com]

Oh god those people on that meme are so spoiled. They make the craziest demands of fic writers, and they're super weird to artists, too. To me, 3k is sometimes a satisfying chapter, depending on the story, but I usually want more if I'm really settling in to something and getting invested. My chapters lengths vary wildly even within the same story - I think LtP has like, an 8k chapter and a 30k a chapter, why not.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Ughhhh, I'm just so fucking insecure, in part because a) surely some of people's fondness for this fic (such as it is) is rooted in massive anticipation, which means the actual fic is going to end up coming across as somewhat disappointing, possibly because it is, and b) there are so many scenes that could be cut out of this! Like I could get it down to 30k, easy, and lose very little.

But at the same time it took me so long to write I don't even want to cut anything.

[formerdinosaur.livejournal.com]

It's a fic that sort of thrives on detailed world building, though! Or little asides about what Kyle got for the dinner party, or whatever. Every time I see cava I think of this story/that scene and get upset about poor dying Kyle.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Okay okay okay. When Kyle is on his deathbed, he is going to be grateful he spent all that time worrying about cava. This chapter features like 1000 words on a nightgown he buys? I just, what.

[formerdinosaur.livejournal.com]

lol well it's representative of how much thought and significance Kyle would give to a nightgown purchase, I'd say. It fits him.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't how him deliberating on whether to buy it. But like, this is stuff that I can see from an editorial perspective really shouldn't be in this story.

[brimbelle.livejournal.com]

You should definitely publish the whole chapter! (but that's my personal preference, I love long chapters)

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Okay, okay. It seems like that's what I'll do.