Have you 'discontinued a story and hated it'.  You really didn't want to, but were at a loss on how to articulate your story the way that you wanted?  If so, then I have some advice for you that just may help.  

In the last couple months, my updating schedule has decreased drastically and this is because I have become disastified with my work.  For more than one reason.  All of those reasons have to do with the fact that I don't take the time to 'take my time'.  I catch myself getting excited just to see a new chapter up and to see those 'Subscribe' numbers go up.  Plus, comments are always a plus, but usually end up leaving me disappointed.  

I get too caught up in the media/connect aspect and don't spend enough time on what's important and that's the story.

THE STORY IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT!  

*The Characters, The World They Are Living In, The Dynamic Between It All, The Rules Of This World (All That)!

I say:  Quality over Quantity, but I haven't been doing that.  (Well, wasn't.  Now, I am, which is why I haven't updated things in a good while.  I can't bare to see anymore disatisfying Comments or feel unfullfilled when I add to a story that I love.)  

Advice Tips That Will Ensure (That Unless You Just Wanna) That You Never Discontinue A Story Again

1)  Plan your story out (Even if it's just the initial thing that inspired you - the character, world, etc.,) - write it down.  

2)  Decide how long you want the story to be.  (If it's shorter, then you need to plan to put as much detail as possible without it being detail overload - Only add the information that is the most important and tells your readers what they need to know.  Longer stories allow more detail and you can slow things down more. You don't necessarily have to plan each chapter out yet.  It's best to get the 'Rough Draft' of the story done first.  

Which leads me to my next tip.

3)  Write a rough draft.  You may not have a clue where this story is going or know anything about anything.  That's ok.  That's the fun part of the rough draft.  During the rough draft, forget about the people that are going to read it.  

Forget about rather the story is going to be a hit.  Go crazy and just write.  Add whatever you want, because this phase is for your eyes only.  Write Write Write!  Getting it all out will help you know what you 'Do Want' in the story and what you 'Don't Want' and it will help you Later be able to edite accordingly.

4)  After you've finished the rough draft, don't worry about spelling errors or grammatical errors, because the rough draft isn't the final draft.  When you start editing later, the time you spend on correcting these errors will be a waste.  So after the rough draft, go back through it.  By now, you should understand more of what you want.  If you don't then you need to start going through your characters, which is Tip #5.

5)  Spend time with your characters.  Learn who they are and what will make them work for the world you put them in.  If you find that the info just won't come, then maybe you need to spend time learning about the world that you want them to live in.  Once the rules for the world have been figured out, then your characters need to be designed to fit with-in it.  This should help you immensely when it comes to developing them.  

6)  Once you figure out your characters and world, it's time to start on that second draft.  You should find that the writing process this time around is a little bit easier.  

7)  With all the other tips, you should have everything you need.  Just keep writing.  Don't give up on something.  Take your time.  If you give up, then all the time you spent on it will become a waste and I don't know about you, but I'd be sad to say goodbye to a story before I finished it.  I'd be disappointed with myself and I'd feel sad for my readers who didn't get to enjoy it the way they should have.  (So, why not set it up right from the very beginning?)

8)  Finish the whole story in it's entirety before you publish it.  That way it's done and you can focus on other things, while you can comfortable update the finished story as often (2 or 3 times a week or just 1X a week, which is fair) as you want.

***  Following these steps should save you a lot of stress from the very beginning.  I hope it helps.  ;)  Good Luck!