I think with some of the big stories they end up bigger than the original author thought they would. I know that with the Slowly Swapping series that I started I had no idea that it would end up this big. And at one point there was a period where no one added to it but then some people did and it just kind of grew to the point it is now.
I have noticed that there are some stories that have really long periods between chapters (even a year or more). I think sometimes you have to be patient and maybe a new user will discover this site and have similar interests and then decide to add to it. I was a reader for a while before I decided to take the plunge and start adding chapters.
As for the short stories. In my opinion at least. Sometimes someone can write a new chapter and while the new content is interesting the chapter is poorly written and sometimes that makes it had to understand the direction of the plot. Again that might just be me.
Also others might just post something which only very few people are interested in and that turns others away.
