Draft v Finished Product?
 

For the purposes of this board, do the readers (i.e., everyone who didn't write a particular piece) encourage drafts of a product or the finished product. I think there are cases to be made for both.

I was working on Thunder Empire last night, and I realized that I needed to update some of the material I have posted to fit with (what I hope is) the growing sophistication of my model of Arizona and the American Southwest in general in 1998 and later. In effect, this means that at least some of what I have posted already is, is effect, a draft.

For instance, as I have developed the story of the Shogun in Nevada, I have come to realize that he can't be used the way I had in mind when I originally conceived him and his army of motorized marauders. Instead, I'm rewriting the 2000 portion of the timeline to reflect one last final major effort by Sonora Army (see Mexican OB) to capture SAMAD before the complete dissolution of the Mexican Army into rival camps in the Second Mexican Civil War. The Nationalists are trying to win public support and forestall a spiralling fragmentation of the Army and Mexican society by pulling a victory out of the hat. (Whether this would have worked or not is an open question.) In the event, Sonora Army is decisively defeated in the early months of 2000, yielding more-or-less the configuration of forces for the region shown in the Mexican OB.

All of this means updating things I have already posted, which brings me back to my original question: would we rather see unpolished material or a finished product from authors? Obviously, no one is bound by the feedback; feedback simply offers a sense of the climate of readership.

Webstral

Arizona Rangers
 

I hope you put in some Arizona Rangers in the story!

Honestly, I love to read it all. I wish we had a way we could store all your (and everyone else's, say the DC group's) documents in an easy to read/find location. Google Docs maybe? That way you could have revision control, etc.

I like reading works in progress, as you get to see the thought process and development of the plotlines, etc.

Absolutely! I'm thinking of starting the Rangers as an adjunct to the various municipal and county law enforcement departments in SAMAD, then having them evolve. If a few of the key players are horsemen and experienced outdoorsmen, they can offer the forces that be in southeastern Arizona some expertise on tracking and riding in the unique conditions of the area. Once the law enforcement situation comes under control, the Arizona Rangers might cooperate with the surviving Border Patrol agents to teach the light infantry and new cavalry units of 111th Brigade to wage a low-intensity war of infiltration and small unit actions along the Mexican border. The Rangers thus might become mounted trackers and combatants who in turn help give rise to a proper cavalry formation within the 111th. I'm still pondering the pros and cons of developing the local Rangers in different directions. I'm quite fond of the idea of local volunteers with the requisite skills teaching the Army the skills needed to wage the particular type of warfare that has come to southern Arizona.

After the conclusion of the high-intensity fighting of mid-1998 in Arizona, Sonora Army gets a new commander who is under orders to keep the pressure on the Americans in preparation for a renewed offensive sometime in early 1999. The new commander doesn't have the resources to launch a new offensive, given the correlation of forces and the need to maintain order in Sonora. However, he initiates a campaign of infiltration, raids, sabotage, placement of booby traps, murder, etc. to inflict a steady stream of casualties on the Americans and chip away at American morale. In this setting, the American infantry needs to develop a different skillset than large formation fighting in setpiece battles. The rudiments of small unit tactics are there because the MI troops have been engaged in security missions throughout southern Arizona since the Exchange. Nevertheless, refinement and mastery are required. I'm thinking of using the Rangers as a sort of central collection point for at least some of these skills by combining the pre-war local Rangers with the Border Patrol, post-Exchange volunteers, the ceremonial cavalry unit of Fort Huachuca, and selected others who will be able to help put horsemanship, tracking, marksmanship, and related skills into a package. Admittedly, the law enforcement aspect of the Rangers fades into the background if I go this route.

On the other hand, I could keep the local Arizona Rangers as an adjunct to local law enforcement. But that doesn't seem very exciting, does it? Shouldn't Rangers evoke exciting images, given that we are in a fictional realm?

Webstral

I think it depends on the author's intentions. If the author wants feedback or intends to revise his work, then post a draft.

If, however, the author doesn't want feedback or doesn't plan on revising the piece, then hold off and post the final draft.

Web,
I recommend you write your story the way you see fit. Don't ask for input or it will never get written. ;)

Grae

I agree with Rae. If you want to delay the final product so that others can effectively edit it for you, go ahead and post the draft (I'm sure we'll all like to see what's been done, no matter how much more polishing it needs).

If you wish to put out a final product with the vast majority of it uninfluenced by others, wait.

There's good arguements for both approaches, so it really comes down to personal preference.

I like to see drafts if the author cares to post them, as it's interesting to see how an author develops things.

Its great to see rough drafts because it then acts as inspiration for us soon to be snowbound wanna-be authors to try our hand at some writing. Keep up the good work.

Everything I have posted until summer 2009 has been draft. What I'm posting now can also be considered draft as if it's good for me (I have to end somewhere or it becomes the never ending story) it can't do more than inspire others.

This is especially true as, from the beginning, T2K is "their" work not mine. In an ideal world I would have love to see the original T2K team go much further but... we are not living in an ideal world.;)

As a personnal opinion, this is like walking from Paris to Saint Jacques de Compostelle (or from New York to Berlin if you prefer). You know where you start, you know where your goal is but you don't know what you"ll find on the way and how much time you'll have to walk (you're not even sure to survive the trip).:D