My stupid pride

I hate the term "WIP". Not as a concept, but when it's applied to my stuff. Epiphany is not a "WIP". It's an ongoing series, there's a difference. Do you consider Angel the show a WIP? Then you shouldn't consider Epiphany as such either.

It just frustrates me. I mean I get people who don't want to read open-ended arcs on the odd chance I get hit by a bus tomorrow and they don't get closure, which is why I try to avoid "to be continued" whenever possible and don't post obviously up in the air arcs unless I've actually written them all out. This is also why I broke down my fic page into the various arcs that are finished so people can read those and know when to stop before they get into up in the air land again.

But it's not WIP. WIP to me means those stories that get posted as "Part 12 of ???" because some kidlet couldn't figure out where their one story ends yet and has decided to post the beginning stuff in spite of that.

That's not Epiphany. Again, obvious TBC moments aside, each story can stand on its own, and I can promise you now the series itself isn't going to end with every single plot point being tidied up in a neat little bow, because that's stupid and unrealistic. So yeah, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow you won't know what happens to Angel and Wes on their road trip. But when I actually end the series on purpose you're not going to know what happens next either. Kind of the point.

Cat and Mouse, arguably, is more WIP than Epiphany is. Again I try to write it so that if I get hit by a bus you're not left with huge cliffhangers, but OTOH I know my definite goals for that series and they're not as long-term or far-reaching as Epiphany was, so to me each installment does feel a smidge more like chapters of a single tale. I don't know how much of that gets conveyed to the audience, but that's how it feels to me so if somebody wanted to call C&M a WIP I wouldn't be as bothered by it.

But not Epiphany. Each story is a story, set in a specific universe. It's not one story that I've rambled on about for 40+ chapters now because I don't know how to be pithy or figure out how to stop.

Just ranting about this because I get so tired when people find out I've written A/W (since there's such a dearth of it out there these days), find out that Epiphany is a series, and then dismiss it with a cavalier tone and a "Oh, a WIP. Well let me know when it's finished."

ARGH! I'm not some stupid kidlet who can't make up her mind about an ending. Hate my stuff if you want to, but at least hate it for the right reasons, not because you don't understand that the word "series" does not equal "WIP".

Epiphany: Behind the Fanfic. By the Way and Returning

Okay, if nothing else this is for wesleysgirl who loves hearing about how people write. For those who are interested in what came before, you can read the behind the scenes of Everybody Fell and Liberty Rules. Or you could ( read about By the Way and Returning )