The Beauty of Incomplete Stories

HiroXV

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When I see an incomplete story, I feel a strange emotion.
I wouldn’t know how to describe it exactly; it’s a peculiar mixture. Partly bitter, partly sweet—it mingles on my tongue.
When I see an incomplete story, it’s like looking at ruins before me. Sometimes I come across stories that were never finished, maybe with only the prologue and a couple of chapters written. I like reading those stories, finishing them even though they’re unfinished. I like when characters, plot twists, and events are introduced, even if they are destined to fade with the story’s fate.

It stirs a peculiar melancholy, but in a way, it also evokes a sense of sacredness. When I read an unfinished story, I imagine its possibilities, the worlds that could have been.

Partly, I think it’s also because of my love for regret as a feeling. Regret is something so complex, a continuous melancholy that digs into your heart. At the same time, those unfinished stories evoke the same sensation in me: regret for what could have been.

It’s like looking at an unfinished temple, surrounded by plants and creeping vines. It’s something distant, but a flame once burned within it. Long ago, someone hoped to complete that work. I think that’s the part that strikes me the most.
 

georgelee5786

I'll never let you down when you're riding with me
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Me personally I get annoyed because I wasted all that time and got nothing in return
 

JHarp

Cognitohazard in a Cat Disguise
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I actually have a reading list which I think I even keep public on my profile for scribble hub (Main site not here, same username though), which I literally called 'Graveyard of potential'. Which is where I take the hundreds of novels which were deleted off the site, but were in my reading list and almost archive their memory.

It's a strange feeling when something I had hope for disappears over time, only to silently be deleted. It's my way of keeping some of those memories, even for books that had one chapter but were somewhat interesting enough to keep an eye on at the time.
 

ACertainPassingUser

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Its like reading adventure notes of someone left in the past.

After the story is over and left incomplete, even tho they could be continued, i would presume them as dead somewhere as the author's blessing and gudiance is gone.
 

aToTeT

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Some stories are best left incomplete — because an incomplete story
 

CarburetorThompson

Fuel Atomization Enjoyer
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Ngl, I often only read ongoing stories. There’s something I like about not know the ending, I’ve been burned so many times by stories that drop the ball right at the end.

I’ve said this before on the forums, but if I read a story that writes a good conclusion, even if it’s not the end of the story, I’ll sometimes just drop it there.
 

fcures

I find solace in confusion.
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When I see an incomplete story, I feel a strange emotion.
I wouldn’t know how to describe it exactly; it’s a peculiar mixture. Partly bitter, partly sweet—it mingles on my tongue.
When I see an incomplete story, it’s like looking at ruins before me. Sometimes I come across stories that were never finished, maybe with only the prologue and a couple of chapters written. I like reading those stories, finishing them even though they’re unfinished. I like when characters, plot twists, and events are introduced, even if they are destined to fade with the story’s fate.

It stirs a peculiar melancholy, but in a way, it also evokes a sense of sacredness. When I read an unfinished story, I imagine its possibilities, the worlds that could have been.

Partly, I think it’s also because of my love for regret as a feeling. Regret is something so complex, a continuous melancholy that digs into your heart. At the same time, those unfinished stories evoke the same sensation in me: regret for what could have been.

It’s like looking at an unfinished temple, surrounded by plants and creeping vines. It’s something distant, but a flame once burned within it. Long ago, someone hoped to complete that work. I think that’s the part that strikes me the most.
At least now I know someone doesn't complain about me procrastinating on the next charpter where I went a little off the rails and have no clue how to begin the next chapter.
 

lambenttyto

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Interesting post.


Technically short fiction is incomplete. But I see it more as the story living on. Yes, it's unfinished, assuming it got started in the first place, and it lives on in your mind, all the possibilities, etc.
 

BigBadBoi

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Once read a story in Royal Road which is basically peak kino shounen in novel form and the author disappeared without a trace and stopped uploading at a chapter titled Waiting for 2000 Years. It's been like two years bro come back...
 

Cipiteca396

Monarch of Despair 🐉🌺🪽🌊🪶🌑🐦‍🔥🌈
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When I see an incomplete story, I feel a strange emotion.
I wouldn’t know how to describe it exactly; it’s a peculiar mixture. Partly bitter, partly sweet—it mingles on my tongue.
When I see an incomplete story, it’s like looking at ruins before me. Sometimes I come across stories that were never finished, maybe with only the prologue and a couple of chapters written. I like reading those stories, finishing them even though they’re unfinished. I like when characters, plot twists, and events are introduced, even if they are destined to fade with the story’s fate.

It stirs a peculiar melancholy, but in a way, it also evokes a sense of sacredness. When I read an unfinished story, I imagine its possibilities, the worlds that could have been.

Partly, I think it’s also because of my love for regret as a feeling. Regret is something so complex, a continuous melancholy that digs into your heart. At the same time, those unfinished stories evoke the same sensation in me: regret for what could have been.

It’s like looking at an unfinished temple, surrounded by plants and creeping vines. It’s something distant, but a flame once burned within it. Long ago, someone hoped to complete that work. I think that’s the part that strikes me the most.
I have something you'll like.
stopped uploading at a chapter titled Waiting for 2000 Years. It's been like two years bro come back...
So impatient. You only have 1998 years to go.
 

Paul__Michaels

Just a below average author.
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Feb 9, 2023
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Free labor, in a few years you can force them to ghost write and double your output.
Free lador? That's some bullshyt. Mine kid is a net negative and I doubt I'll get any free lador from them until they are teenagers. And even that is questionable.
He'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
You should be okay for a while. Their hands are weak while they are young.
 
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