Ongoing series are great.  You can do far more in ten chapters than you can
do in one, and you don't have to think of everything at once.

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Says who?  ^_^  Most (though not all) of the authors of long, ongoing fics that I've corresponded with have at least some kind of ending in mind before they begin.  Otherwise, you end up with a huge epic-proportion fic that swiftly goes absolutely nowhere.  
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However...

Let's face it, it's difficult for people to jump into a fic fifteen or so
chapters in, and some of us don't have the time to read every fic.

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Well, it seems to me that most authors of extremely long fics -- myself included -- don't *want* readers to start in the middle of the fic.  Especially if the fic is one long, cohesive story, rather than a series of stand-alone episodes.  A reader that starts in the middle of a fic will miss the initial conflict, character development and rising action of the opening chapters that are the building blocks of the later chapters.

Besides, if a writer has taken the time and effort to write a huge ongoing series, they probably don't have the time or desire to go back and do a quick recap for someone who doesn't want to put in the effort to read the fic from the beginning, beyond whatever blurb they may place at the start of a new chapter.  I know that I personally would rather focus my energy on writing Part 21 of "Hearts of Ice," rather than crank out a quick recap (even an innovative one) for those who don't want to put in the effort to read the previous chapters that are a result of nearly two years of hard work.

In other words, I would prefer someone to read my long fics from the beginning, or not read it at all.  ^_^  After all, if you don't have the time to read a long epic-length fic, there are a ton of great short fics out there for reader consumption.

Unfortunately for myself, that precludes me from readership since I haven't written any short fics...    ^_^; 

Ja ne,

Krista


=^..^=
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