Long story or serial

stevenr
I personally enjoy the serial approach, except for when the author loses interest or stops adding episodes abruptly and doesn't finish story lines.

My learning curve with posting a serial is to have the whole thing fully plotted out before you start submitting episodes. I did a series piecemeal and somewhere around part 8 a couple of readers pointed out logical flaws and contradictions from the first few episodes. I wound up having to play three card monte with the plot in the last few parts to try to reconcile everything, so the whole thing wound up disjointed. If I'd at least outlined the whole thing in advance instead of trying to make it up as I was going along it would have been a much better effort. I've since written a 5 part series but it's just sitting for now before I reread it and try to find the flaws. Perhaps the other writers you mentioned wrote themselves into corners and just decided "oh screw it!"

That's why I hate posting something (either as a long story or a series) until it is done. There have been too many times when I'm getting near the end of a story when I suddenly have to go back to near the start to insert an element for me to post without having the story finished.

I suspect the preference should be for serialized vs. long stories. With a book, you can bookmark where you are and continue at your leisure. Electronically, at least in the library, it is harder to do.