The age old question. Is it better to publish one chapter a week that has been re-written five times or five chapters per week, each of which is a first draft?

Also, what is the minimum publication rate for stories here on Royal Road that holds your interest?

What about the minimum level of quality?

Where is the ideal balance between the two?

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Quality level is hard to define, but I think this is partially a question of writing style. Some people write on momentum and like to publish quickly and get reader feedback. Others are perfectionists who can't bring themselves to show their work until it's been proofread dozens of times. Personally, I'm more of the latter.

I don't have any minimum publication rate for stories that I read. I'm the worst kind of reader for a site like this. I'll hold off on reading a story for a month or more, so that I can binge on it all at once. Because of that, I don't really care how often my favorite stories release.

If you want the best of both worlds (quality and speed), then you could write your entire story beforehand and then publish it in weekly/daily installments. But it's harder to stay motivated without feedback.

Quality over quantity.

Quantity is good and all, but if the story itself is bad then no one's gonna read em.

I agree with most of what was said above, but I do want to make a point about how this is different if we talk about it w.r.t. doing well on rrl. Most users will say they prefer quality, but quantity will put off more people, and 'quality' will be loosely defined as 'whatever i find entertaining' in which case it's essentially pointless. I mean, I like reading trashy xianxia with no character development or plot or conflict, as much as the next person, but I recognize that it's a trashy story I'm reading because it's fun. And that's what most people here seem to be looking for, regardless of what they say about quality. Less chapters, slow update rate, those things keep away more readers than low ratings, obviously bad grammar in the synopsis, or like, anything else.

Yeah what he said. If you're just writing for yourself - who cares? If you want to maximize your chances at e-fame and recognition probably best to have a fairly quick and consistent upload schedule. I think the proper balance is whatever you can write where you can upload regularly and still be personally happy with your output. Wherever that sweet spot might be for you.

I'd never reduce quality for speed.. but hey, I never finished anything yet :D

As a reader, I prefer quality over quantity anytime. But as a writer, I choose the middle ground. I post 2-3 chapters every week. Those chapters are usually the second or third draft.

I'm a bit torn on this because if you do spend that much time rewriting the chapter over and over again, you probably aren't gonna have the motivation to keep writing the story to it's conclusion. It is DRAINING to have a fiction being rewritten every day because you aren't happy with it. And believe me, you will NEVER be happy with it.

I would actually rather people learned the basics of story writing. Practice a bit with some short stories. Then start writing. Give a chapter a once over to make sure things make sense, then hand it to a proof reader.

Yep that puts it perfectly. You will legit never be completely 100% "This is my perfect work" when you hit the publish button as a writer. And God help you if you go back to re-read your old work. For a writer I think the desire to go back and edit everything forever until it's "perfect" is probably one of the most compelling ones and overpowering that urge is important if you want any sort of timely release schedule.

As a reader though of course I prefer stories that are better written and more well thought out - even if it comes at the expense of release speed. Some of my favorite web-fiction releases *really* slowly - but since they're always good they're my favorite.

That said if you release *too* slowly then I will probably lose interest unless I think your story is the best thing since sliced bread, it's a fine balance to strike.

Of course quality over quantity, but not so much you delve into the deep meaning into EVERY SINGLE WORD for a week before publishing 2k words.

Maybe, I would say write a chapter in a few days, then spend the rest of the days reading it over and making sure things line up, then you publish it. Doesn't have to be perfect, just decent quality.

i would say, upload some a week and let your audience decide if it needs a rewrite.

No point in rewriting a story 5 times and your audience hating it

I want the baseline quality to be acceptable, but if you want me to actually follow your story and not read it once up to what's released and then return in an indefinitie timeframe a reasonable release schedule is needed. A longer chapter each week is fine, if it's slower I might not keep it among my bookmarks.

Also, acceptable quality is not top-of-the-line print level. Anything I read in here I accept is not at a standard that's ready for publishing. That said, you are probably better off being closer in quality to "The Wandering Inn" than "Fantasial Apocalypse".

Unlike most others, I'd say "speed over quality". the reason is that quality is subjective, and for most people, there is always some way to make it better. this often (but not always) leads into nothing ever being completed.

If you go the "speed" route, you always have the option to review and revise your completed draft.

Are we talking writing professionally or as a hobby here?

If it's a hobby, then do what you enjoy doing, if that is building the perfect story, then so be it.
Don't get too hung up on what the readers think, your vision is your vision. Some will agree with you. Some will not.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't improve or ignore feedback, you absolutely should, most certainly, but focusing too much on popularity will water down your story to the point of mediocrity. You can't make everyone happy.

"Quantity has a quality all its own."

I can write 3k+ words in an hour, intentionally letting it be absolutely dire so that I know I'll go back through with a laser drill. But I'd never upload it. There may be 1k decent words at the end, but the point is to actually have a story TO edit and publish.

11/20/2017 2:05:00 AMYuli Ban Wrote: [ -> ]I can write 3k+ words in an hour, intentionally letting it be absolutely dire so that I know I'll go back through with a laser drill. But I'd never upload it. There may be 1k decent words at the end, but the point is to actually have a story TO edit and publish.

I can't write that fast, but I do make storyboards fast. 
I think I have 3 or 4 chapters worth of storyboard hanging off the end of my drafted chapters right now. And 1 chapter is being polished for scheduling, while 3 are in progressively more refined states between the storyboard and polished.
I also have a chapter in the release que already, but I'm not releasing it for a couple of days still. I haven't decided between a 2 or 3 chapters/Week schedule yet. each chapter are between 1k-2k words. with some of the early ones closer to 1k than 2k.

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I've gotta go with the momentum or I'll stop writing the story :P  Quantity first!