Why good/long fics are rarely updated?

salt-of-the-ao3:

Every once in a while I get that question or see that question appear in review section of fics I read/comment. So, in case someone wonders I want to give just a few pointers.

• The first one is simple – the authors have real life that usually comes first (I say usually, because on rare occasion you neglect everything because it’s one of that days/nights when the story just flows and you need to write it asap, because otherwise you will miss the moment). When you have a full time job and some non-fandom usual RL stuff to take care of, you might just not have enough time to write – it has nothing to do with the lack of ideas. Currently I have at least a dozen or so ideas for new fics (they multiply) – and I simply have no time to write them (give me a Time-Turner of Flash’s speed then I’ll have it done in no time). Then again – the fact that most of us works in front of the computer screen causes that sometimes we have no wish to spend some more hours on typing; that usually leaves weekends for writing – not that much time.
• The betas also have real life and need to have time to check the story. Their work is pratically invisible (when done efficiently), but they greatly contribute to deliver the best product possible. I consider a fic to be a product of sorts – the fact that it’s “only fan fiction” doesn’t mean for me that it can be done poorly. So kudos for all betas! They also deserve some credit.
• Writing a long, multichapter fic (and by long I mean at least 50k words) is different than writing a ficlet – in needs careful planning and keeping hold on many threads – main plot, subplots, often multiple POVs. What’s more concious writing is not just writing whatever comes to your mind – it’s getting your characters to a specyfic place or/and putting them into a specyfic situation in a logical, believable way. Often it means correcting or fleshing out something that canon itself neglected – that’s why AUs and fix-it fics are so popular. The fact that the author doesn’t update a story every week doesn’t mean that they don’t think about it, don’t plan in their head what should happen next, don’t write bits that will take place far in the future… or even in the sequel! There might be a lot of blank spots to fill in, but the authors have the bigger picture in their head when they start to write a story.
• Reading 5k or even 10k words chapter doesn’t take long; writing a short comment takes a couple of minutes – but writing chapter of that length takes literally days.
• Posting comments consiting only of “update more” or “update soon” doesn’t help.
• Not posting any comments doesn’t help either.
• Active authors might have many stories opened at once – that’s why it’s worth to keep a track on their ff.net/AO3 profile.
• And who said that when it comes to fandom activities the authors are only writing? 😉 They might be also fanart artists or gifset makers. Or simply be also the readers who comment on the works of others – because they’re well aware how much time and effort it takes to write a story.