Work In Progress

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Synonyms: TBC
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In fandom a Work In Progress, often abbreviated to WIP, is a fanwork that is posted before it is complete. Any kind of fanwork can be posted as a WIP, but it is more common for works that can be serialized in parts, like fanfic or fancomics, than for works which WIP posts are revisions of the same text, art, or vid progressing towards a final version with input from the audience. The former is more like serialized fiction, the latter more like a public beta-ing process, though sometimes in-progress pieces may not be posted to get (critical) feedback on it, but because seeing the stages is of interest to the audience, for example to illustrate how an artist works, similar to how the progress stages may be posted along with the work after it is finished by others, e.g. screencast videos of digital drawings.

A WIP may end with TBC or "To Be Continued."

An abandoned WIP is a WIP that will likely never be completed by its creator. Some creators may declare a WIP officially abandoned, but many "abandoned WIPs" are serialized works that have not been updated in a long time.

Reception of WIPs in Fandom

Opinions on the practice of posting WIPs vary among fans.[1] Not all forums allow WIPs; some archives, mailing lists and LJ communities accept only finished fanworks to be posted. Some rec communities, e.g. Crack Van, have rules against reccing WIPs as well.

Due to its common occurrence in fandom, the WIP label has gained several connotations.

Warning
From a recipient's perspective, it may take the flavour of a warning: as long as a work has not been not completed, it is in danger of being abandoned; not an uncommon fate for a WIP. Irregular or unreliable updates of WIPs may also try the nerves and patience of the recipients. Many recipients prefer to avoid these potential pitfalls by waiting for the completion of the work before they engage with it.
Publishing choice
On the other hand, serializing a WIP, that is, publishing portions of the work regularly and reliably, with a clearly projected end point, is usually appreciated by recipients and likely to keep their attention. Whether creators choose to serialize a work or publish it only in its entirety depends on many factors, including the time frame of the project, potential audience reception (see also feedback) or artistic vision.
Theory
On a more analytical level, fandom itself has been described as a work in progress,
"still in the process of being written but not yet complete. This notion intersects with the intertextuality of fannish discourse, with the ultimate erasure of the single author as it combines to create a shared space, fandom, that we might also refer to as community."[2]
This community dissolves the creator/recipient dichotomy:
"However, when the story is finally complete and published, [...] the work in progress among the creators shifts to the work in progress among the readers, and a whole new level of discourse begins that provides engagement and both positive and negative feedback (comments, critiques, and letters of comments.)" Both create a shared and always evolving fantext, "the entirety of stories and critical commentary written in a fandom"[2] -- the ultimate WIP (see also fanon).

Reasons Why Writers Publish WIPs

  • Need the pressure of an audience to keep writing
  • Preference for a serial format, such as that found in pulp fiction or radio serials[3]
  • Interest in audience input for the direction of the story (e.g. with polls or questions for what should happen next after a cliffhanger)
  • Potential for more feedback
  • Possibly the chance for an increase in name recognition (especially for newer writers) who'll have a continuous regular presence when posting something long in parts over time, rather than posting an epic with a single announcement that may get noticed less
  • Readers can follow very long works in convenient chunks without committing the time for reading a novel
  • Denial (the author believes they will return to the published work)
  • Sadism

Zine Fic Posted in Deliberate Installments or Parts

Zine fic was posted in parts for a number or reasons. Sometimes, it was a stylistic choice. Sometimes, the story was too long for the issue. Often, the story was deliberately written in parts to help sell the next issue of the zine.

In zine fandom, few fans liked to read fiction in deliberate series. Zines took a long time to be published and waiting a year or more for the next installment caused fans to lose interest, go through the work of keeping track and locating the previous zine to reread, and purchase zines simply for an awaited story regardless of their desire to read the other content. The long wait between installments also meant there was a higher risk of the author abandoning the series.

A fan in 2003 wrote that she wasn't going to comment on a story in a zine review as "I don’t read “to be continueds” until I have the whole story. Burned too many times in the past by stories that never got finished. Now, I save myself that aggravation." [4]

Finishing Someone Else's WIP

There is debate about whether it is okay for a fan to complete another's WIP.

For more on a related topic, see Unauthorized Sequel.

1. i can't imagine wanting to 'finish' someone else's WiP. the whole point behind reading fanfiction for me is to a) see how other people interpret the characters, and bring to light various things that i can learn from and b) enjoy the continuing adventures of jim and blair. finishing someone else's fic for them negates reason a) - but i understand that not everyone feels that way.

[snipped]

3. otgh, i can understand where sometime fanfiction stories stir up as much passion as the original canon material. i've had this experience with saraid's panther tales, and the urge to write fanfiction of fanfiction.

4. if i *was* to write an 'ending' to an apparently abandoned WiP i would make every effort to contact the original author for permission to post it (remember i consider writing and publishing two separate acts). if s/he says no - that's the end of it, it languishes on my hard drive. if she says yes, so much the better. if i can't find her, then i would post with the following header -

disclaimer the first - jim, blair, x, y, and z belong to tptb, and i'm just borrowing them.

disclaimer the second - this story started life as so and so's WiP (link to original story). i was unable to contact her and so do not have her permission to post the following, but this is how *i* would have finished the story. if anyone knows how to get in contact with so and so, please ask her to email me regarding this story. if she tells me to take it down, down it goes.

and that's what i think...[5]

WIP Amnesty

WIP Amnesty is a concept within fandom which has existed at least since the 2000's, and appearing to originate from a Livejournal community.

For anyone who doesn't know, wip_amnesty is all about letting go of never-going-to-be-finished stories. In the words of comm mod Madelyn: "post snippets or fragments or whatever you have of those stories that are just never going to do anything or be finished on your harddrive--the things you just sigh at and say, okay, YOU WIN. ALSO I DON'T LIKE YOU ANYMORE SO THERE, and such."[6]

— Sinful Words (MontanaHarper)

The practice has continued in other locations, including on Tumblr and AO3 (see, for instance, the wip_amnesty community on AO3. Users will sometimes title relevant works on AO3 with "WIP Amnesty" along with the additional tag Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, add it to a series, or otherwise indicate that it is a WIP_amnesty fic. There are sometimes fandom-specific WIP Amnesty events.

Notable (i.e., Heartbreaking) Unfinished WIPs

Other notable works posted as WIPs

Meta/Further Reading

Other Links

Notes

  1. ^ Sandra McDonald. Why I Hate 1/??. Posted 23 November 1999. (Accessed 22 November 2008)
  2. ^ a b Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse "Introduction: Work In Progress." In: K. Hellekson, K. Busse (eds.) Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet. New Essays McFarland, 2006. p 6-7.
  3. ^ Spy vs Spy: Where Did This Story Come From? (author's notes)
  4. ^ from The K/S Press #84
  5. ^ comments at Prospect-L, quoted anonymously (September 30, 2003)
  6. ^ Excerpt from work WiP Amnesty: LotRiPS on AO3
  7. ^ TV Tropes Dead Fic
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