Never again! (Until next time.)

I've recently broken my own rule about reading WIPs. And really it's only served to remind me why I don't read WIPs. In writing I was never able to write WIPs - I tend to write backwards - but this is about reading, not about writing.

For one, I hate cliffhangers. Okay, I don't mind them at a chapter break and I'm only mildly annoyed when there's a week between shows, but anything more than that and I honestly do hate them. A lot of times they're used simply because of a break, and not because of anything that would normally happen. Like "I'm pregnant!" or "Character X is DEAD! (We totally swear! Okay, maybe not.)" UGH. CLIFFHANGERS. They rate up there with ridiculous plot devices thrown in to sustain never-ending UST on shows. Or...badly done sexual tension. Or jumping over sharks!

For another, and more specifically related to fanfic, oftentimes you have no bloody clue when you'll be seeing another part. Or even if you'll be seeing another part. Will it be a week? Two weeks? A month? HELL. Remind me why I didn't wait until it was complete again?

And it seems like the better the fic is, the more frustrating its WIPishness is! Don't update a mediocre fic? Eh. No big. Don't update a fabulous fic? OMG. SHOOT ME. WHY DO WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THIS GOES ON?

Now I know that writers don't owe anything to their readers. Being a writer of fic, I know nothing's worse than the pressures of writing at times, especially when the muse isn't around. But on the flip side I don't think that readers necessarily owe it to writers to follow an incomplete story from week to week (or month to month).

So the next time anyone hears me talking about wanting to read a WIP, slap me. HARD. AND THEN SLAP ME AGAIN.