While I like the AO3 series feature and I've used it for other works, a series feels like an uncomfortable fit for this one specific project. I prefer the AO3 series for stories that belong together in the same universe but still feel okay as stand-alones. In this particular case, I'm writing a novel that is meant to be read from beginning to end once it is done. When I write scenes/chapters out of order, I want to reserve the right to edit them (sometimes ruthlessly) which may even break them into bits to radically reorder. That won't work on AO3 because I would have to delete a story and then repost the remixed bits in new chapters.
In the end, I've decided to create a tumblr side blog that will hold draft scenes plus character notes, character development meme responses, etc. As pieces ready themselves into fully-formed sequential chapters, I'll post to AO3. And, if for any reason I feel like deleting the original out-of-order drafts and notes, I can delete the tumblr blog (or make it private) without disrupting anything on AO3.
Related tangent -- I wish AO3 would implement a timeline feature or a scaled down way of showing a large number of series stories in an easy to scan manner. Your handcoded FFXII timeline on LJ/DW was very easy to navigate and provided an excellent overview and table of contents whereas an AO3 series that contain many works feel very cumbersome to navigate. Their webpages display too much metadata per story. I wrote to the AO3 folks a long time ago about this (back in early 2010?) and it took them the better part of a year to get back to me ... I got the impression that although the idea interested them it was out of scope for their programming time/budget.
So, I like AO3 for many of the things that it does well but I look at it as a final destination archive rather than a place for posting works in progress.
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In the end, I've decided to create a tumblr side blog that will hold draft scenes plus character notes, character development meme responses, etc. As pieces ready themselves into fully-formed sequential chapters, I'll post to AO3. And, if for any reason I feel like deleting the original out-of-order drafts and notes, I can delete the tumblr blog (or make it private) without disrupting anything on AO3.
Related tangent -- I wish AO3 would implement a timeline feature or a scaled down way of showing a large number of series stories in an easy to scan manner. Your handcoded FFXII timeline on LJ/DW was very easy to navigate and provided an excellent overview and table of contents whereas an AO3 series that contain many works feel very cumbersome to navigate. Their webpages display too much metadata per story. I wrote to the AO3 folks a long time ago about this (back in early 2010?) and it took them the better part of a year to get back to me ... I got the impression that although the idea interested them it was out of scope for their programming time/budget.
So, I like AO3 for many of the things that it does well but I look at it as a final destination archive rather than a place for posting works in progress.