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The above quote is John Lennon.
According to Oscar Wilde, 'The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.' It appears my name has been bandied about on the message boards at the other place, suggesting that I'd effectively created a Bike virus and infected half the authors on BC which makes them write interminable serials like Bike.
I know the number of serials has increased since I started Bike, but that doesn't prove anything more than coincidence, and over the eight or nine years I've been writing Bike, I'm sure lots of things have changed - except the plot line in Bike, there isn't one - including lots of new people writing and posting here, one or two inspired by existing authors, including myself.
At the end of the day, I know that not everyone likes serials, especially new readers who feel intimidated by one with nearly three thousand parts, on the other hand there are some who love that sort of challenge knowing it will occupy them for days or weeks depending upon how quickly they read. I also have to accept that Bike is a bit different and having been a constant on this site for a long time, is something of a comfort blanket for a number of regular readers. I get frequent PMs from readers telling me they don't know what they'll do when I stop posting it, or begging me not to stop. So to some readers it is obviously important, perhaps most to one or two who've told me they found it helped them through some difficult times because it dealt with issues they were facing (not murder and kidnapping or Russian mafia) or just it was a constant in a world which was perhaps a little frightening or chaotic. If I've helped one or two in that sort of situation while entertaining a few more, it's been worth all the time and effort and I shall endeavour to keep going a bit longer despite what has been said elsewhere.
Comments
"It's a hard knock life."
To most transitioners, it is a very hard life to live, at least at first. This story provides stability, and believable life modeling.
Thank you.
Gwen
Bike is different than any other story here...
Like the comforting regularity of a daily soap opera on TV, Bike is the same here on BCTS. It is the longest running series with hopefully many thousand more episodes of all kinds of interesting peril or normal daily life we all have or long to have.
Will there be life after Bike? It's likely, but it will be unimaginable dull.
--
>> There is not one single truth out there. <<
I'm a non-linear type linear person
I think it is best to write in whatever style makes you most comfortable. My best writing is a stream of consciousness (often more like puddle of consciousness) format in which I write what comes to mind. I like the episodic feel of a serial, as that is the way Dickens wrote.
Be kind to those who are unkind, tolerant toward those who treat you with intolerance, loving to those who withhold their love, and always smile through the pains of life.
Thank you,Angharad,
But I just read Bike and BCTS ,no interest in the "other place" .
ALISON
< likes serials
I don't want to stop reading a story I like although bike isn't really my cup of tea /coffee/whatever so I'm happy that people write more of them. Heck, I prefer them over solo's ...
A Friend Drew My Attention To It
Normally I have a quick peep at that other place to see if there is anything which looks like it might be worth reading, and mostly there isn't anything to my taste because I'm not into kiddy-porn, FF or sado-masochism.
I hadn't looked at their chat stuff for years until a couple of days ago when I was told that there was a thread pillorying EAFOAB and in some posts being extremely insensitive and rude to Angharad personally. So I read the thread and was surprised that several of the antagonists are actually regular contributors here. My immediate thought was how cowardly it was of them to post their criticisms over there rather than here.
My second thought was that the whole thing was utterly pointless. If you don't like long serials, don't read them, but don't tar them all with the same brush. For instance, you might not like Bike, but you may like SEE or Frills (I'm not implying a personal preference here). Actually I don't see Bike as a serial but more as a soap. Ang also regularly asks her readers if she should carry on and the answer is always an overwhelming "YES" so if there's an audience and she's not fed up with her creation what's the problem?
I, for one, am glad that Ang posts here and not at that other site. Over there you cannot tell who reads what. There is no hit count, no way to express your likes (kudos) and the number of reviews/comments is usually pitiful. See how blessed we are.
So go and chew on your sour grapes and don't blame Angharad for the poor quality of your preferred site. We'll just continue to enjoy her presence here.
Amazing
I saw the comments and read a few, then decided to ignore the rest. What amazes me is that the moderators (and I'm sure everybody knows one in particular) haven't stepped in, or at least they haven't as of yesterday. Certainly the thread serves no purpose, as there is very little discussion of serials vs one-shot stories. It mostly serves to complain about the way certain authors choose to write and post their stories. I was also surprised and disappointed that the thread was started by an author that posts here with comments by other regulars. I can only think that these people know they would get shut down if they tried it here.
Even though Bike is not my cuppa joe I have the greatest respect and admiration for Angharad. She is providing entertainment for a lot of people and her prodigious output in no way adversely affects the site or any other author. If anybody doesn't care for her story then they have many others to choose from.
I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.
ironically bad information from originator there
I wasn't going to jump into this because I started reading TG fiction through that other site and enjoy some of the stories posted to there but since two of my series were specifically mentioned by the complainer in a follow-up complaint I should jump in.
Irony about the initial complaint: the person says it's no longer necessary to complete a story. Truth of the matter? Only one serial has no ending, and it's the one that we all enjoy reading because of that fact! Funny thing is I have seen several serial stories wrapped up in the short time I have been here, each that were intended to end right from the start. That also does not include my own stories which were all written as individual stories taking place in a larger world and always contain "THE END" within them. The only reason I don't have them marked as "completed" is because until I actually feel I have completed writing my stories in my universe I don't feel it is right to click that option yet. I will do so when I complete "A Touch of Magic" when I do get around to finishing that one.
And one concern that seems to pop up is coming into a story late. I hate that, but I also try to set aside time to catch up especially if I think it will be a story I might enjoy. I have found some great works by authors here by doing that, and have found some earlier stories that turned out to be extremely amazing and captured my attention for hours on end. I know it can be daunting but for some stories it is worth the time and effort as you get a big payoff in many of them.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
I love serials...
In fact, I don't read solos. If I like a story and its characters, I don't want it to ever end! (Looking at you, Penny. SO NOT done with the adventures of a Connecticut Garia in Prince Keren's Court.)
My only complaint about Bike is that it's hard to figure out where to pick up reading if I don't keep up for a month or three.
Thanks Angharad for all the adventures, both domestic and outlandish.
Hugs!
On the other hand...
I rarely read serials these days. I have started far too many over they years only to be left in limbo when the writer stops posting.
And yet I have several multi-part works in progress.
How do I square the wheel?
Well, I will make sure that
1) It is finished before I post anything here and
2) that the first part tells the reader how many parts there are.
My longest work so far was a mere 18 episodes. Most of my work is single stories. I'm sure that some of my plots could make full 100+ page dead tree books but I find it hard to make the leap from a short work to Looooooonnnnnggg ones. Just me I suppose. Perhaps if I did then I might be able to read serials. Who knows eh?
Anyways, back on subject.
Bike is not for me. I did try it when I first started lurking at this site. That's me I suppose.
I do appreciate the hard work that Angharad has put into it and long may she continue to do so.
Samantha
Oh dear
The 'commentator' seems to have a short attention span. I am one of those 'guilty' of long serial postings, but I know where I am going and I simply take whatever time is necessary to get there. If there is a natural break, such as in between the two ;Ride; stories, I start a new book. If I want to look at a side character's story after the main story arc is finished, I will start a new book. What I DO use as a style or trick rather often is to make the story actually about a 'side' character. The 'Ride' books are about two children, for example. 'Cold Feet' is about Alice.
If anyone is put off by not seeing 'The End' when I am part way through, tough. They can always go and buy the complete book for Kindle later. I would also be curious to know if the original comment writer has ever actually created anything of their own.
I like Bike,
but I was very intimidated when I first saw it. Yet there it was, most day after day. I saw it for over a year before I started in. I knew from other stories I liked Ang's writing, I took over a year and a half to catch up. It was worth it. It can be bubble gum for the mind on some chapters, and chillingly deep on others. I like the variety, and the characters. When someone dies it touches me.
There was a hiatus where I stopped reading anything for 8 months or so. I do not count this duration. I think of it as a mental breakdown, that time I decided I wasn't going to kill myself and prepared to start transition. It was very traumatic at the time. When I picked up reading again (at a reduced rate) Bike was like a comfort food, easy to digest and always available.
Thank you Ang. I think I've made my vote clear.
Caught the bug
I don't know what it is... but I have this unrelenting desire to start posting a new serial, and new chapters to another. I feel inspired.
~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.
Bike Virus???
Now that's a new one - when I first discovered this site it took me over 6 months to catch up to you but it was well worth it.
As someone who used to write serial stories I can explain my reasons for doing so. Firstly it's quite rare that I will read a story on over 4000 words in one sitting so I try to keep the stories I used to write to below that length but once I get into writing a story I find that the simple story then turns into a serial quite by accident.
Still you can relax as I am having trouble stringing more than a few sentences together so no more stories from me until I get over this block.
As for Angharad putting the brakes on the bike (sorry I couldn't resist) please don't think about it as it comments on daily life and news events which spark discussion from your devoted readers.
Christina
I haven't kept up with bike in some time...
having dropped off around '11 and just never gotten around to re-starting, but at the same time it's one of those stories I look for every day, and when I don't see a new chapter, I worry about what could have possibly happened in my friend Angharad's life to interrupt it.
Bike is attractive to a lot of people for the same reason soap operas are: the continued experience of living the characters' lives with them, the comfort that bit of regularity provides, and so on. Bike does have one major advantage though, in that new readers aren't left wondering what happened with X or who Y is or when did such and such occur, because every episode is always available to read. It's a monumental task, to be sure, but it's there, and I feel will always be one of the cornerstones of the site. Heck, when you DO stop writing it -- stop, because I feel it will never be truly finished -- I wouldn't be surprised if the next day one of the admins began re-posting the story as a Retro Classic, every day for the next, what, eight years? Maybe twelve or fifteen by then? Maybe more?
Bike isn't what defines you, Ang, but I would say it has been your most defining work, if that makes any sense.
Now, where's your entry in my Crush competition?
Melanie E.
A Bike virus would greatly
A Bike virus would greatly improve the quality of most other sites. I like serials, I like solos, I like well written stories. I get lots of those here on BCTS.
I do think that someday an English Literature Professor will be teaching a course on Bike!
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Immune
Some of the writers on this site cut our TG fiction teeth reading Crystal's lengthy serials.
I never caught Bike-itis, perhaps that's because I had a bad case of Crystal-itis and consequently wrote a serial for my first posting. It was extremely trying, even though I had the entire novel written before I posted anything.
I fully recovered and but for a few minor relapses have been delivering healthy standalone stories.
There are a few writers on BC who write serials who have proven over the years that they will stay on task and finish what they start. I do read their stories.
Angharad can't be blamed for people wanting to be like her. She's the Michael Jordan of BC writers.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Serials
I've shied away lately from serializing my stories mostly because of all my unfinished serialized stories. It only took me 11 years to finish Office Bet. I say that and I'm working on a serialized story right now. Hopefully only three parts. I don't consider a sequel to be a serial. All my stories start with a beginning and an end in mind. And then some fuzzy stuff in the middle.
Melanie
Interminable cereals
Interminable cereals? I like never ending breakfasts! ;)
Martina
Serials are like LGBTQ
Every story cannot be everything to everybody. This is a TG friendly place. Do we really want a one-size-fits-all story policy?
Write what you feel like writing.
Read what you feel like reading.
Give positive comments and kudos to the ones you like.
Stop reading the ones you don't like.
PLEASE do not try to discourage anyone from expressing themselves through their work.
Just my two pence.
Be kind to those who are unkind, tolerant toward those who treat you with intolerance, loving to those who withhold their love, and always smile through the pains of life.
Your greatest example Angharad
is of what can be achieved by day-to-day persistence. I am not writing a series and my opportunities to concentrate enough to write are intermittent but that 1,000 - 1,800 words a day example does help. That I also enjoy Cathy's adventures is a bonus.
Rhona McCloud
Just who is "elsewhere"
A politician friend used to say, "Call me a bastard, but mention my name."
KEEP IT GOING AS LONG AS YOU WANT.
There is a story by a new author called "Gene's story, or how I gained a cousin" by Karen Lockhart.
I'd be interested in what you think. I'll let Karen know.
Kevin
Some rambling thoughts...
Some rambling thoughts...
I think a serial episode has to offer something, to leave you enriched after reading it, to move the story line forward.
I don't think of Bike as a series, but a soap and with such a high publication frequency* that any empty, reflective episode is soon replaced by another episode adding meat to the story line. Just like real life.
There are other series where infrequent publication of episodes that don't actually do anything to enhance the story line just leave me wondering "what's the point". I've kind of stopped reading authors who do this.
So while I think that the post on FM has some merit, it should not have been directed at Angharad or Bike.
*even East Enders only comes out three times a week.