So many stories, so little time

[schneefink]

I think I'm subscribed to too many things on AO3. I get so many update notifications each day that it's getting hard to find time to read other things, and I increasingly feel stressed trying to keep up with them which really isn't what I want. But there's so much good stuff! I keep the notifications for the stories I still want to comment on but don't have the time for right now, and that list regularly takes me quite a while to work through too. I'm getting better at not reading things I'm not particularly interested in, like when an author I like posts something in a fandom I don't know and without interesting tags, but not good enough. And this upcoming week my classes start so I'll have even less time, I really need to be more careful what I use it for. I need to remember that I can't read all the good stuff, not without time travel which isn't currently available. Bäh.

Comments

[out_there]

As me times it helps me to simply move those notifications into a separate folder as a read later thing. There might not be time bow to read everything, but AO3 isn't going anywhere. There'll be time later to read it all.

[schneefink]

I do that sometimes, but I already have SO MANY stories bookmarked as "to read later", I know I will never get around to reading most of them.

[amalthia]

I have over 1k IN-PROGRESS stories in Calibre, when the story is complete I move it to my e-ink reader and read it. There are exceptions, when I see a story hasn't been updated in over a year I mark it abandoned and read it so I can clear it off my list. It's hard reading stories that are in-progress because some don't update for months and by then I no longer remember what happened in the story.

[schneefink]

Yes, there are some excellent 70k WIPs and when a new chapter comes out after several months: "ok I remember this story being good but was it so good that I want to reread the entire thing now to remember what happened." (And then there are some where even after a few months I remember exactly what happened and am overjoyed to finally see more.)

[amalthia]

I hear you....and I've been there. :)

[sheron]

This is relatable. I have a 'toread' and a 'maybe' tag in AO3 bookmarks to sort through stories, and I just keep adding them ^_^;

[schneefink]

There's just so much! A "maybe" tag is not a bad idea, I just add stories to the "mark for later" list and it's not ordered at all.

[duskpeterson]

I *wish* I had this problem. For decades now, I've been so persnickety that it takes me forever to find a story I like. For a long time, I just kept reading the same stories, over and over. Fortunately, what with interlibrary loan and e-libraries and (when I can afford them) cheap used books online, I can now look at my home library, say, "Oo, here's a book published in 1967 that I like - I wonder what else that author wrote?" and lo and behold, chances are good that I'll be able to read the author's other books.

My pre-Internet self would be green with envy if they could see me now.

[schneefink]

I have the advantage of being less picky :) But yeah, finding specific things can be hard, at least there's the internet.

[duskpeterson]

I will add that I've had better luck with fanfic/originalfic than published fiction. I think it's because it's generally so well tagged.

[schneefink]

Tags are a wonderful thing :)

[darjeeling]

I tend to binge fanfic exactly like I binge all other media, in that I consume it fast and then am always left wanting more. I have the same problem as you mentioned above with getting a new chapter of something I'm subscribed to but then not remembering what the rest of the story was about.

[schneefink]

My flatmate only reads completed stories, which has its advantages, but the feelings of getting a new chapter of a WIP I'm eagerly following is wonderful, and I enjoy wondering and speculating what will happen next.

[darjeeling]

That approach is definitely a pros/cons one. I definitely have come to appreciate when shows drop on Netflix etc and I can watch a whole season at a time. It's on of the reasons I rarely watch network shows as they're airing anymore.