One Part Wonders
By Rebo Valence
What do two girls with boy troubles, a piece of a bread, a man cursed with immortality, and Sailor Moon have in common? They're ALL parts of multi-part series that were never continued! Yes, it is both the most annoying and most tragic side of Kamishibai. So far, I've counted SEVENTEEN inactive series, and out of those seventeen inactive series, twelve of them never even got beyond the first part. Admittedly, they have their excuses. Computer breakdowns, cancellation, writer's block...but only a few authors have bothered to announce to their readers that there will never be any more to the series.
It's gotten to a point where I almost gave up on Kamishibai forever due to the great number of stories that had the dreaded words "To be continued" in them, since there just weren't any more parts. Now, I'm not blasting the authors of the stories for never finishing. Like I said, they've got their reasons. Also, I'm not getting after the authors who have come out and said they've moved on, they've canceled, they had technical difficulties, writer's block, etc. I give them credit for telling their readers their series will not be continued. I'm going for the people who just write one chapter and then never write anything more. It seems that there is quite an abundance of these "One Part Wonders" floating around in the Stories Index. And yet, there's never been any signs that these stories will continue. The authors have never said anything about them being continued. They put up one chapter, then they suddenly disappear without a trace. It's very annoying to download a story, wait and wait and wait until so much time has passed and then you realize there will never be more to the story. In fact, it almost seems as though the author might have gotten too lazy to write more, so they just made one part and let it sit there without finishing. For all we know, some of them might have had that happen! Why is this tragic as well? Because several of these stories were actually starting out very nicely. They could have gone anywhere. But they never went anywhere. That's the tradegy-All that potential has gone to waste. How can this be avoided? Pre-writing doesn't hurt. But that is for another day, as I do believe someone else is writing that article. But make sure that you have time as well to continue your story. School and work are both factors that can keep a Shibai from being finished. So make sure, before you start, that you can find enoug time to write. Many authors of these "One-Part Wonders" may not have realized how difficult it is to write a Kamishibai story. It takes a lot of dedication, as you have to get your sounds and music, make your own pictures, and then, of course, write. If you don't have the patience to do that, then you may need to reconsider writing a series. Finally, don't dive into the story in which you have just one chapter to go off of, and then expect your readers to tell you what to do. You're the author! You're the one with the idea, and the readers are expecting to be entertained, not to have to entertain themselves. Otherwise, they'd be the Kamishibai authors. Thus, if you have no clue where to take your story, then don't release the first part anyway. Wait on it until you know what to do with the story so that you CAN continue. The one-part wonders are the sad tales of those who's stories will never be completed. Hopefully, those of you trying out Kamishibai will avoid letting YOUR story never have an ending.
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