WIPs and Chaptered Stories vs Oneshots

[amorette.livejournal.com]

Crossposted from my journal as part of this month's writing series.

I think there used to be a lot more chaptered stories in fandom than there are now, where the landscape is primarily taken by the "one shot" which is just a story that is delivered all at once, whatever length. It makes me think about the nature of stories, what draws some writers to chaptered fics and some to one shots.

I have a theory that the more fests there are, the more oneshots there will be, just because of the nature of writing for a fest, and also writing multiple fests at once. But there are fandoms out there where there are much fewer fests than in HP fandom but still loads of oneshots. I ponder patterns such as these simply because it's fun to think about how different stories take form :D

1. As a writer, what do you mostly gravitate toward? Do you write in chapters, or do you write one-shots? (Personally, I gravitate toward writing one-shots, although I've just started dabbling with chaptered things... mostly because I just don't want to finish the whole thing before posting and because I enjoy getting feedback little by little)


2. If you write in chapters, how long do you usually make them? (Personally, I find that my chapters are very short, about 1-2k each)


3. What makes a chapter, and what makes a scene?


4. What is the nature of stories in chaptered and one-shot form? Are there similarities and differences?

I was going to comment on length, but I honestly don't think length plays a large role here. I've seen long oneshots and short chaptered fics, and vice versa.

Comments

[oakstone730.livejournal.com]

I write a lot more one-shots now than when I started three years ago. For me, it is because I have a 'smaller' concepts of stories and can usually resolve them within 30K. When I do write chaptered stories, the chapters are very long. My longest story - Twist of Fate - is 300K and is 29 chapters long - so an average of over 10K a chapter. The Firebond chapter I'm writing right now is 10K, or was until I loped off 3,000. For me the chapters are to get me from point A to point B - and however many words that takes, it is fine. Smoke and Mirrors is 25,000 but I posted it as three chapters because there were three distinct parts to the story and I wanted the reader to get a chance to absorb one before transitioning to the next.

[amorette.livejournal.com]

This is all so interesting, thank you for sharing your writing experience.

I think "conflict" is a good thing to keep in mind when considering length. What the conflict is, how complicated it is, and how easy it can be resolved. Thoughts?

[oakstone730.livejournal.com]

Yes, for me, chapters need to have a resolution to whatever plot-point/conflict was introduced. They can also serve to switch POVs -- although many writers use some type section break to do the same thing.

[celestlyn.livejournal.com]

1) I totally gravitate toward long, plotty, multi-chaptered fics. To me, if it's written well, it's like getting a new HP book with the opportunity to discover a new direction. I read lots of one-shots because that's what's mostly available, but I prefer the long fic with lots of chapters. It gives more time for events to play out, better character development and a slower build toward a relationship (although there's nothing wrong with a relationship happening hot and fast).

I don't really write much anymore. I suck at plotting, so I'm limited to writing very short 'moments in time' sort of things. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd really rather be writing other things.

2) I've only done a couple of chaptered things and the chapters were around 2-3K.

3) For me, a chapter has a definite intro or build-up, supporting material and a definite conclusion; a good stopping place for taking a chapter break. Scenes tend to be shorter and might begin and end abruptly with little or no supporting material. A chapter might include several scenes. I guess I've seen a few chapters with abrupt beginnings and endings, but that isn't really how I do it.

4) Like I already described above, chaptered stories are generally playing out a plot, developing a character and exploring the character depth, creating a slow build, while a one-shot is more condensed and focused. The truth of the matter is--like you said--I've seen super-long, one-shots, so it isn't like a one-shot doesn't have plot and character depth. However, I'm thinking that any longish fic (50K and up) could be divided into chapters. It used to be that people wrote wip (works in progress), but on LJ everyone writes for fests and those lend themselves to one-shots much easier. Maybe it's also the way we read fics; we read on devices rather than sitting at a computer or laptop, we read on the go, we like things we can read quickly while we are waiting, driving or taking a bath. Modern culture has a pretty big effect on how we read and write. Anyway, interesting things to consider.