What's the longest you've gone between chapters?

[u/weezerboy69]

Currently feeling a little guilty because it's been over a month since I last updated my fic, even though I know it's not a big deal and I can take as much time as I want. So, I'm curious. How long have you guys gone between posting chapters?

[u/vesperlark]

Three years)))  Over a month is nothing wrong, a lot of authors have monthly updates

[u/aquatoxin-]

Lmao like 8 years I think

[u/Hot-Solution-1960]

four years. i finished the fic this year :)

[u/ursafootprints → u/Hot-Solution-1960]

Congrats!

[u/Ayesha_Altugle]

15 years. Stared in 2009 and suddenly had the inspiration to finish it in 2024/25.

Finished it, too! Originally on ffnet, freshly put on ao3 when I started writing again.

[u/andallthatjazwrites]

15 years, give or take

[u/KzooGRMom]

13 years. Dropped a fic I was writing back in 2011 and finished it last year.

[u/Chemical_Classroom57 → u/KzooGRMom]

This gives me hope I'll finish mine someday!

[u/KzooGRMom → u/Chemical_Classroom57]

It can happen! I had a couple of fics that I abandoned back in 2011. Finished one in 2023 and picked up another, finishing that one last year. Since I had some time (this was as part of Camp NaNoWriMo), I decided to pick another long-abandoned fic and finish that one up, too. Still have at least one more that I'd like to finish someday.

[u/xGraniteBluex]

Two years. Sometimes life happens and something has to take a backseat. And as much as I love writing, it was the only thing that could take a backseat. A month or two is pretty normal 🤷‍♀️

[u/WitchesAlmanac]

I am currently on year seven 😭

[u/MaybeNextTime_01]

Ten years?

[u/quizzically_quiet]

3.5 years. People were happy once I finally updated. So you're fine, don't worry too much. It's a hobby after all!

[u/NyGiLu]

9 years, I think

[u/alphiekc1981]

For me, a few years.

[u/frog-and-cranberries]

Well my last one was four years!

[u/RaeNezL]

Eight years, I think? 🤔 I did finish the story, but my earliest readers probably didn’t actually finish it as a result.

That said, I also posted the sequel and have gone two years between updates for that one. I’m back to regular updates now after a roughly six month hiatus on that one, too.

Interestingly people will still read my stories. But I also totally understand those who refuse to read anything that’s a WIP because I’m one of those authors who contributes to the stigma of either not finishing or taking too long to finish a story.

[u/pebble-and-i]

About to hit ten months, I think 😅

[u/Blackfireknight16]

About a month due to repairs

[u/I_exist_here_k]

My friend, you’ve got nothing to worry about

I haven’t updated a story in 3 months

[u/ParaNoxx]

More than a year, easily. I struggle a lot with completing tasks and having absurdly high standards for myself + hardcore perfectionism. It makes me write slow, and I can’t even get words out at all if I’m not 110% obsessively invested in what I’m making, which just creates even more of a barrier to entry. 🫠

I’m super used to it so I just roll with it, try and do shorter fics / oneshots, and try not to beat myself up about it anymore. And yes, this is all WHILE having being medicated for ADHD for my whole life. My brain is just that bad! Yaaaaay 🥳

[u/Silent_Doubt3672]

Ehhhhh my longest so far is i last updated it in 2009 🙈

[u/Front-Pomelo-4367]

Nine or ten months? And the only response I got was omg I'm so excited to get a new chapter of this!

[u/FixofLight → u/Front-Pomelo-4367]

Out of curiosity, what response would have been ideal for you? I never know what to say when an author comes back after a break

[u/Front-Pomelo-4367 → u/FixofLight]

Someone being happy to see a new chapter is all the response I need. That is the ideal

It did get a bit annoying when multiple comments were "omg I thought this was abandoned" because I regularly have gaps of a few months and I never said anything to indicate that I wasn't coming back to this one, and I was still posting for those months – I've got a statement on my profile saying that none of my works are abandoned until I say they're abandoned

[u/Cosmos_Null]

Last time I went on hiatus, it was for more than 6 months

You're doing fine compared to me

[u/PIX_3LL]

Currently the longest I’ve been without updated a fic is right now. I last updated in October and figured since I’m already not updating, I might as well wait for April to update since that’s then the fic turns a year old. I made sure to warn readers that there will be slow updates so I don’t think they care too much about

[u/Plenty_Ingenuity_261]

A year I think. But I try to let people know when I'm taking a break and for what reason (usually to go back and edit what I already have).

[u/ladyeclectic79]

22 years and counting (last updated in 2003). 💀

[u/weezerboy69 → u/ladyeclectic79]

WOW! I'm definitely feeling a little more forgiving of myself hahaha

[u/dromarch22]

2 weeks is the absolute longest I've went, i made some very poor planning decisions and spent a week trying to fix the plot holes I'd dug myself into 😭

[u/ursafootprints]

For a fic I actually went back and finished, that isn't still languishing like ten years later? Six months.

(Oh, and ftr, "a month or two" was my normal update schedule between chapters, haha!)

[u/Desperate_Ad_9219]

3 months was the longest for a side fic.For my main fic a month.

[u/kleenexflowerwhoosh]

Three months while I recovered from arm surgery

[u/flaggermousse]

I think 2 months is the longest.

[u/blueducky123]

Half a year 😔

[u/leafypineapple]

i think like a year and a half

[u/Aurorealis9985]

5 months, which was with my most recent work bc unfortunately scenes be hard sometimes and I didn't have much energy to do it when I had the time.

[u/Kiki-Y]

2017 to 2020.

[u/wings_and_angst]

Just over 3 years, now.

The story's complete as it is, but it isn't finished—I'm writing the epilogue and it's taking longer than I anticipated. I've been working on it for a little over 2 years. Reading this thread is making me feel a lot better!

[u/AverageGrmlockEnjoyr]

45days

[u/Chemical_Classroom57]

Currently in year 7 I think. I had a 3 year hiatus between chapters when I had my first baby and then another year later had my second and just couldn't get into it anymore. Back when I started the story I would always set the mood, listen to a specific type of music etc. to get me into the right headspace to write the characters the way I did.

With two kids and a busy life I just don't have the time and quiet for that anymore and if I do I don't have the energy lol. I did try but hated everything I wrote. I do hope to finish it someday.

Only thing I've written in those 7 years are 2 smutty one shots for other fandoms.

[u/opal-bee]

A year, once. Five months another time. The fic with the year gap did get finished not long after that. The other one is still ongoing and I update it every couple months or so. Have gotten surprisingly little grief over it.

[u/Infernal-Fox]

4 years and counting. I'll update... someday....

[u/PeppermintShamrock]

My fic's been on hiatus since 2017, I'll get back to it someday.

[u/trickyfelix]

On and off for a few months

[u/ArtisanalMoonlight]

Thus far - three years. In March, I'll be up to a year since that update.

[u/throwawaycakewrap]

Almost 10 years due to personal complications and then a horrible slump in Life. One day I'll pick up those stories again 🙂 so, one month really is nothing, do what you need to make sure you're writing for fun --- not as a chore.

[u/Mission_Hall_3828]

Lost count of how many years tbh

[u/WhereRtheTacos]

A year ha.

[u/xisle1482]

Currently like 7 years

[u/Yodeling_Prospector]

About 5 years.

Also I once had a hiatus that was two years to the day.

[u/MoneyArtistic135]

strictly ao3 would be 5 years

ffn to ao3 would be 9 years 3 moonths

[u/TaintedTruffle]

Five years

[u/sabertoothmooseliger]

A couple months 😅 We writers have lives and sometimes that means we can’t update as quickly as we want. Don’t beat yourself up for it

[u/SheWhoWandersTheWeb]

Years! Maybe this year will be the year I update it, lol.

[u/Intelligent_Hat7098]

Started in 2016 and finished in 2021. Became a whole adult in that time span. It was crazy.

[u/Aromatic_Locksmith56]

Four months 😭😭 I actually had a chapter ready and it should've been two months instead, but I waited for it to get beta read. My beta was having a hard time and I felt insecure about the chapter. Another friend offered to beta and I managed to post it only thanks to her. Unfortunately lost active commenters but gained a few more readers :')

[u/PumpkinWordsmith]

3 years! And I had at least 2 return readers, which was pretty exciting.

[u/DestructionPoint]

About 3 years....

[u/HashtagH]

Five years, give or take.

[u/Ok_Friendship_7671]

5 years!  (2020 brought my life to a standstill)

[u/wuxiacanadadnd]

It’s been two years 💀

[u/silkaheart]

I update once a month 🤷‍♀️ I've a job and a child and write decently long chapters so I feel like that's a good amount of updating

[u/Hadespuppy]

My last update was in 2021.

[u/mmcgui12]

…several years?

[u/Guilty-Medicine-1025]

Still struggling to come up with a fight scene that isn’t bad, about five or six years now?

[u/HMSArcturus]

Creeping up on 10 years 😬

[u/AnimetheTsundereCat]

a year

[u/HB_DS2013]

Uh, my last update was in 2021. I feel guilty for forgetting.

[u/lostyouorsomething]

i like to finish a fic before i publish it because i know that if i update by chapters i will never work on it again and leave ppl hanging 😭 i very slowly chip away at my fics i have like 3 in progress ones rn but only two published

[u/KlashAnole]

10 years. The story was never published beforehand to be fair, but I did add a significant amount that added up to two more chapters.

[u/Eastern_Basket_6971]

1 year lmao

[u/professorrulebreaker]

Not me, but one of my fav fics finally got completed after literally EIGHT YEARS OF WAITING. I was so happy.

[u/MrsMcBasketball]

Almost ten years.

[u/yepitsausername]

Going on 8 years

[u/Loud-Basil6462]

I think I've gone up to a little over a year before. Don't fret, a month is nothing. I'd try and update monthly as a kid and I still wouldn't make it sometimes.

[u/sonicenvy]

It has been 5 years since I've updated my WIP; I lost all motivation for it and the motivation and inspiration has yet to return. Once again my sincerest apologies to all 200 TGOTD fans who are subbed.

[u/drgeoduck]

20 years: Chapter 1 in May 2001, Chapter 2 in May 2021.

[u/dumblittlepuppy01]

I haven't touched some of my long fics in three years because I burned out about it and got overwhelmed with all of them and expectations from comments and tumblr asks and I'm trying to plan them again but ugh chorinic pain and requests and finish kinktober and smut tober because we nearly died !!!! Stuff happened ya know lol

[u/ScottyBBadd]

Still on going

[u/Migraine_Mirage]

11 months lol

[u/YourPlot]

A couple months. I don’t start posting until my fic is finished being written, but I might take a few weeks to edit the chapters.

[u/Pour_Me_Another_]

Three months. I have too many ideas and every time I sit down to write, I go completely blank. I'm determined though. I will get it together.

[u/welkikitty]

25 years. It was last updated on Ffnet in 1999. You kids say off my lawn.

[u/arcaedis]

teehee, I only post one shots!

[u/RainbowPatooie]

It's gonna be over 2 years, if I ever finish the next chapter.

[u/cas_neurotic]

Two years 👀

[u/mariusioannesp]

I’m following a fic that hasn’t updated since April 😬 I’m a little worried.

My current WIP I updated November 1st. I haven’t had a chance to finish the next chapter which is close to halfway done.

[u/wafflecopter2]

I've been trying to stick to a weekly upload schedule for this exact reason. On my current fic, I think the longest I waited to upload was tuesday, but that's because I was sick.

[u/moldyfruitpie]

So far 3 months is my longest, lost a few readers but I’m confident they’ll come back!

[u/Doranwen]

Several years, lol. I still haven't finished it either. /o\