I'm still getting to know the place. So forgive my ignorance. But are stories evolving here, on the fly, with chapters written and posted each week? as opposed to an already complete novel being posted gradually, for example?

I'm not sure about others, but I post my drafts here. Pretty much is an in progress work.
Currently is 2nd edition and will plan to make 3rd edition. So it is not in a quality that is "completed" but the 1st draft had completed.

I think most web series here are "on the fly" since I've seen some gathered the volume and make it into books on Amazon.
So it is not following the trad pub path. Kinda useful as a method to test some ideas. 
That's why a lot of stories are abandoned or in permanent hiatus.

I don't have any prewritten chapters. Whenever I finish a chapter, I post it. Even though it would be massively beneficial to do an entire book, post that and meanwhile work on the next one.

But no. I'm impatient and post as soon as it's done.

I write endless reams of monkey gibberish that scarcely even count as words, from which I glean a super duper piece of polished...

Well. You know. Whatever. 

Which I then post! Like, posthaste, even!

(you know what's coming next)





🍹

Yes and no. My writing is largely on demand, essentially first draft with some basic editing if I have time. (I go back to do full edits and release revisions later on.) But, one of the most important things about writing a web serial is having backlogged content, chapters written and scheduled but not yet released. This is so you have something to offer for Patreons, if you're looking to monetize your work. How far ahead you write is up to the writer; some people do in fact pre-write the entire story first. Most do not. Web serials are not really written like standard novels and are typically intended to go for, well, as long as possible. One web serial is basically an entire series of books all smushed together into one continuous mega story.

I am currently 3 chapters ahead on my second book within the serial and working hard to increase that gap. Some stories are 50+ chapters ahead of their free release schedule and pull previously completed volumes to send to Amazon in order to maximize revenue.

Yes. I wrote on the fly. I had to post daily to maintain my RS status.

I used to have a large backlog, but had a bit of a wobble when I started getting a ton of critisism, so I posted it all to show where gthe story was gloing. It stopped most of the critisism, but now i have no backlog, so yeah, write, edit then post as i go *smile*

It's more stressful, but i've been doing it for a while now, so you get used to it. 

it DOES lead to the occasional vilely bad chapter that needs a complete rewrite though, but hopefully your audience reactions will help you realise that. Mine did, luckily 

Nope.

I don't post as I write. If I do, I just end up with a crappy story. I want a nice story that I don't want to burn.

Yes and no.

Dungeon Inspector has an outline and a clear goal, and I've written enough to have a few weeks backlog.

100th Run, on the other hand, has a vague outline full of stuff like "beat up a car" and "be a villain" and is almost 100% pantsing/discovery writing of cool shit I can think of. I have a backlog of two chapters because I promised my readers an update on Mondays and Thursdays but if I write that third chapter in passing the next in line immediately.

So 50-50

Most of what I've posted here was finished before I started posting. However, the story I wrote for Writathon was on the fly. It was exhilarating and terrifying. I suspect in the future I'll only do it if I participate the Writathon again.

I'm generally 4 chapters ahead on my stories, and 20-30 ahead inside of my brain. :)

Even after a couple hundred chapters, I have no ide when the story ends, so I can't even conceive of just writing until it was finished. The community aspect of writing chapter by chapter and talking to readers is part of what keeps me going.

Massive backlog here. I'm actually afraid to part with it... LOL

I screwed up and posted my entire backlog. 

Honestly, I don't even know why I did it, but I've been playing catchup ever since.  Now it's tough maintaining my momentum and there's no time for anything else. 

I would recommend maintaining a big backlog or start posting when your story is complete. 

Good luck!

Posting on the fly leaves the work up to chance. However, reader and author alike get to experience the work with delightful sense of immediacy.

 Waiting until the work is complete means the reader gets the work as an artistic whole. A fully realised work of art. From the general plot to the smallest detail. 

Most authors recommend a backlog before you start posting. Thus getting the good of both worlds, but neither the worst or best parts. 

I know where I want my story to end, and at most I sketch out a good outline for each of the books to get there.

Other than that... I write and adjust on the fly every sunday. Sure, I review and think about it a few times over the course of the week, but that is about it. 

My early chapters certainly were quite a bit worse for wear, but considering I had never written a proper story then... I doubt reviewing it would have helped at the time lol

davimai Wrote: I'm still getting to know the place. So forgive my ignorance. But are stories evolving here, on the fly, with chapters written and posted each week? as opposed to an already complete novel being posted gradually, for example?

Yes i Do actually XD

I have literally no time for anything, so yes, you just see my raw draft episode to episode. It's checked for errors by my spouse, who is not a writer but has a much better command of English grammar than me. That said, I have a shape of the novel in my mind and the general ideas about worldbuilding, and I pre-write key scenes or dialogues that are then written into a chapter (usually with lots of changes).
When I'm writing a chapter, I don't do it in a linear way. I start with dialogues and then overlay them with descriptions. It's harder and time-consuming when the chapter has a lot of descriptions or needs research.

While I haven't started posting content here yet, my past experiences of trying to write and upload content on the fly to fit a schedule has lead to unmitigated disaster. So now I'm making sure to have a huge backlog I can always fall back on if I find myself unable to write. With my process I generally have an ending and a tentpole scene somewhere in the middle outlined before I start writing, and then pants the rest of it.

I have no intention of posting on the fly here. When I do, it will be as professional as possible, with a full completed book ready to go on Amazon, Patreon, etc. if people want to read ahead.

Writing on the fly here, not happy about it either. That's okay though a wise friend told me that it's okay to let a few more days pass before posting another chapter to have a chance to build up a back log. I'm surprised the latest chap. only took five days.  (That's fast for me xP) Am about 200 or so words into the next. They take me a while as I often stop to edit if the correction wiggles take over the page, or I reed to research. (If I shut them off I'll forget and post a REALLY bad chapter.) Sometimes, dialogue will evade me other times I have to fight the urge to describe everything that might be important and end up editing great chunks of nothing. xD then chop it down usually... to a sentience. 😫