Is that something that happens to you a lot? I tend to be the opposite, which, I guess, can be bad too.
Yes - I love my characters, but when I get to the end of a game, I’m happy to put them away for a bit. I think it’s because it feels like I’ve done what I want to do with them, so they’re for other people now. That’s why I wonder whether planning more in advance would feel different - that there’s more built-in potential for them beyond that ending.
2 Likes
Well it’s sword of Rhivenia and mage reborn experience for me, the story is somewhat leave on cliffhanger
1 Like
Cant believe i never saw this thread till NOW.
As a reader, and a writer ((Not IF’s, just writing)) I get this from both sides. Though, I’m not gonna lie; you came on pretty strong with your wording. Genuinely suprised this didn’t send some people into a tizzy.
Noticed, a lot of people share some of my thoughts on the wip series thing. Announcing that your project is gonna be a whopping X amount of books can make a writer very excited, and they probably have the general idea of what they want already in their head. Or maybe even a bunch of possible stuff written down.
One problem is, is after that intial “huzzah” the excitement in some can burn out kind of fast. Some may push through it, some may stop completely. Seen a bunch of cases of both, always happy to see it when they finish it, though. Think the general gripe is, if you’re gonna announce it as a long series you should probably make sure you’re gonna even be able to make it through one. If there’s one thing i learned, is its never a sprint to finish but a marathon.
Some of the “id rather get a shorter and complete than a huge partial” i get. Especially when i see the reason being “Im getting up there in years, and I’d like to be able to finish the series”. Im not quite to that point yet, but i FELT THAT. Hyuga hits me hard in that way, I’m honestly really biased to it and dont even mind that one or two feel like only intros to the next installment ((Dont know why, I just simp for the series way too hard)). But, i think i also joined in when it was on book one and didnt pay attention tjay it was gonna be a series till like book 3.
Romance is romance, i see it mainly as a bonus. Dont get me wrong, its a bonus i WANT. Dont see it as really needed, though. I’ll admit there some particular ones in some of the series that i WISH would speed it up a little, or even one or two that would slow down. But, then the writer switch flips and ill go “Well, i do want this to speed up. But the character I’m going fors personality wouldn’t mesh well if it did.”
Only thing that gets me riled up is the amount of WIPs that come out, maybe get an intro and chapter. And then just DIE, with no heads up or anything. I know things happen, passion can just go kapoot, but a shout out that the project is stopping ((especially if you’ve made a thread for it)) would be nice. 
7 Likes
I mean, I can get why authors just… stop, without leaving a note. First you just think you’re too tired right now, but that you’ll continue when you’ll feel better. Then before you know it, you’ve been dragging your feet for six months, and then you’re too embarrassed to say anything before you actually have something substantial, but you still tell yourself you’ll come back to it. It can be really really hard to admit to yourself you’ve burnt yourself out and the project is dead.
23 Likes
Absolutely. And it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as I said on this other thread:
21 Likes
I agree completely. I have a lot of players ask about future books so I planned out some macroplots, but they’re supposed to be largely separate stories about the same longlived MC. A first book should be a self-contained story with a definitive ending.
12 Likes
Absolutely. In my opinion, every book should do that. They can still be a series with an… forgot the word here, a continuous plot arc, You’ll just need to plot it propeely. (It doesn’t even need that much planning. It’s totally achievable as a pantser.)
11 Likes
I understand the sentiment being expressed, but feel this is as misplaced as demanding to know the status of a project.
If everyone followed “should dos”, then there would be very little innovation and there would be much more conformism.
5 Likes
Of course, it is in the end up to whatever the individual author wants to do. I will always advocate for authors’ right to do the design choices they want to do, even if I disagree with them (unless I’ve been asked for feedback on the design choices, of course 
).
2 Likes
Ten or fifteen years ago, when the big trend in publishing was YA dystopian trilogies, a lot of authors would carefully write the first volume with an ending. Not a tidy ending by any means, an ending meant to leave the reader wanting more, but still an ending: a defined narrative and character arc. Then, if that book sold and the author got a three-book contract, the second volume of the trilogy was likely to end on a cliffhanger!
I’ve heard (not sure how true it is, but it does seem plausible) that Joss Whedon wrote every season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to work as a series finale, just in case the show wasn’t renewed, while obviously hoping that it would be renewed. And the result is that every season ends on a satisfying note, but something in the process of taking down the Big Bad introduces a paradigm shift that opens new storytelling possibilities.
Cliffhangers may have their place, but I think they represent a level of trust an author has to earn. And the art of leaving the reader satisfied, yet still wanting more, is one too often overlooked.
30 Likes