Buffer vs Uploads Question

[LessThanSavory]

In your experience, what's a good number of chapters to have written in advance?

Also, I know greater upload frequency helps, so is there a point where it's better to just upload some of them instead of holding onto them?

I'm just starting out and I'm looking to try to find a good balance of writing and upload schedules, so I'd appreciate hearing what has worked for y'all.

 

[SailusGebel]

The more, the better. No.

 

[Zirrboy]

Depends.

You want readers to have the chance to get a grasp on what you write and find something worth investment.
Which can be 3 chapters or it can be 15. But more is better, having very little chapters usually dissuades me from reading, at most bookmark it if it sounds interesting enough, which adds little to the measurements that get you exposure.

Whether you should hold on to some is a question of writing process. Time between initial writing and upload gives time to look ahead in the story as well as give some distance on the thing itself. But at some point you'll have to accept imperfections and if that's the hard part for you, settling on one might save you time and worry.

 

[LessThanSavory]

The more, the better. No.

Lol, I appreciate the direct answer.

Do you just keep writing and hold onto more and more backlog, or is there a point where you just say "Well, I'm X chapters ahead, which is like a year of uploads, so maybe I'll take a break"?

Depends.

You want readers to have the chance to get a grasp on what you write and find something worth investment.
Which can be 3 chapters or it can be 15. But more is better, having very little chapters usually dissuades me from reading, at most bookmark it if it sounds interesting enough, which adds little to the measurements that get you exposure.

Whether you should hold on to some is a question of writing process. Time between initial writing and upload gives time to look ahead in the story as well as give some distance on the thing itself. But at some point you'll have to accept imperfections and if that's the hard part for you, settling on one might save you time and worry.

That makes a lot of sense, and is part of what I'm worried about here. I just started this week, so I only have five chapters up, but I have another ten chapters already written and was tempted to upload them just because, I know I tend to skip things with less than ten or twenty chapters.

With that said, I also feel like establishing a functional and sustainable schedule early and having enough backlog to not be pressured by trying to keep to it is pretty important, so I'm a little stuck on the best option here.

 

[Zirrboy]

Lol, I appreciate the direct answer.

Do you just keep writing and hold onto more and more backlog, or is there a point where you just say "Well, I'm X chapters ahead, which is like a year of uploads, so maybe I'll take a break"?


That makes a lot of sense, and is part of what I'm worried about here. I just started this week, so I only have five chapters up, but I have another ten chapters already written and was tempted to upload them just because, I know I tend to skip things with less than ten or twenty chapters.

With that said, I also feel like establishing a functional and sustainable schedule early and having enough backlog to not be pressured by trying to keep to it is pretty important, so I'm a little stuck on the best option here.

I'd say do five more now.

As for the schedule question: At some point you'll have to hold the same speed regardless. Not even backlog will spare you from that permanently. Keep some if your pace is inconsistent, but if forcing through is the issue the head start will dwindle on its own until the grindstone is up in your face

 

[SailusGebel]

Lol, I appreciate the direct answer.

Do you just keep writing and hold onto more and more backlog, or is there a point where you just say "Well, I'm X chapters ahead, which is like a year of uploads, so maybe I'll take a break"?

Backlog is something you keep in case you can't write anymore. That's why the more, the better. There is no way to know what will happen to you, right? For example, you can change your job and not have enough time to write, or you might catch an illness. Furthermore, you don't need to hoard all the chapters you wrote. You can write three chapters a week and release two, while the third one goes into the backlog.

Lastly, dumping all the chapters in one go is a bad idea. If you want your novel to at least have a chance at becoming popular, you shouldn't upload more than one chapter a day. You want to maximize your time on the latest updates and maximize the number of readers you catch. The best way to do so is to update three or four times a week.

 

[strayCat0]

It depends, honestly. If you love editing, and only want to release chapters in their most perfected form, then I believe you'll love the more chapter stock you have.

Other than that, it's mentallity. The fact that I have everything prepared to be released according to schedule is a good feeling. It helps when you don't want to be stressed on ensuring nothing wrong is going to happen with your chapters release. This also helps when your writing time is sporadic and you can't depend on them to have a consistent release schedule.

Also, if you're one of those people who can't help to share your things the minute you finish them (myself), you'll hate on hoarding chapters.

 

[RedHunter2296]

I have a problem with having chapters reserved for the future.

As soon as I finish a chapter I want to publish it right away to see what my readers think about it and what they think about that exciting moment that I believe will surprise them.

And then I die ignored as usual with 200 views, 10 likes and 0 comments.

 

[atgongumerki]

no less than 3
no more than "2 months worth"-ish, if you want to be able to react to feedback
if you don't give a damn about feedback you can just write the whole book to the end before publishing the first chapter

 

[K5Rakitan]

It depends on how complicated your story is. I find that writing ahead helps me to close plot holes during the editing process.

 

[K_Jira]

I like to finish my stories first before publishing them because there are many times that I write a story and didn't go through with it (There are around 50 unfinished drafts on my laptop). The first time I tried to publish online, I didn't manage to finish the story and felt bad, so now I always finish my stories first before publishing them.

 

[bafflinghaze]

That makes a lot of sense, and is part of what I'm worried about here. I just started this week, so I only have five chapters up, but I have another ten chapters already written and was tempted to upload them just because, I know I tend to skip things with less than ten or twenty chapters.

With that said, I also feel like establishing a functional and sustainable schedule early and having enough backlog to not be pressured by trying to keep to it is pretty important, so I'm a little stuck on the best option here.

This is why when I started posting my new story, I had a big enough backlog that I could do an initial fast release (reaching about 8 chapters) before slowing down to a pace that I could actually manage!

As for the schedule question: At some point you'll have to hold the same speed regardless. Not even backlog will spare you from that permanently. Keep some if your pace is inconsistent, but if forcing through is the issue the head start will dwindle on its own until the grindstone is up in your face

Agree with this! If I were you, I would figure out just how many chapters I can consistently write each week...and set the actual posting rate to this. For example, if you can write 3 chapters a week, then your maximum posting schedule should be 3 chapters a week.

It depends on how complicated your story is. I find that writing ahead helps me to close plot holes during the editing process.

Yes!!! Not to mention that sometimes I just randomly think up even better things to include in a past chapter. Having a bigger backlog also helps with fixing any foreshadowing or set up for future chapters (less important if you have a very detailed outline).

 

[Erys]

I like to finish my stories first before publishing them because there are many times that I write a story and didn't go through with it (There are around 50 unfinished drafts on my laptop). The first time I tried to publish online, I didn't manage to finish the story and felt bad, so now I always finish my stories first before publishing them.

Same. Once I finished the stories, I would schedule the chapters's release and let the system automatically post new chapters according to the schedule so that even if I die, nothing would happen to the story.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

And then I die ignored as usual with 200 views, 10 likes and 0 comments.

That many?
Braggart.

 

[HappyVainGlory]

In your experience, what's a good number of chapters to have written in advance?

Also, I know greater upload frequency helps, so is there a point where it's better to just upload some of them instead of holding onto them?

I'm just starting out and I'm looking to try to find a good balance of writing and upload schedules, so I'd appreciate hearing what has worked for y'all.

Five minute thoughts.

In my experience, at least one, no more than three. One so that you have a safety net if there's a day you can't write. No more than three because you'll be too far off from your reader then and it'll be hard to adjust if you get a good idea or see a critical flaw.

Of course, that's assuming you're incorporating feedback in your writing process. If not, as many as you want.

As to update frequency, do what's manageable as long as it's fairly consistent if you want regular readers. If you want growth, daily updates at an exact time so that people can put it in their routine. Failing that will instantly throw you off the algorithm game and lead to playing catch up.

 

[Shard]

Personally, I'd think five chapters is a good starting point for a story, but you should keep posting it on a set schedule. I've been failing at that part myself, unfortunately. Having a backlog can help a great deal with that. I'd recommend posting 1/2 to 2/3rds of what you write and keeping the rest as backlog, so if you consistently manage four chapters a week, post two or three per week, and add the leftover ones to your backlog. You can then schedule the backlog to post automatically so you can just slap in a bunch of chapters and ignore it for a week or three, then toss in a bunch more later.

That said, HappyVainGlory has a great point about difficulty adjusting from reader feedback if you have a large backlog. So in the end, it really depends on your style and how fluid you want things to be.