This is an interesting question. I will freely admit that I have almost entirely stopped reading WIPs on shkinkmeme, at least in part due to how many I was reading that have been abandoned (or are on hiatus for the foreseeable future). Plus, a number of fics are updated only occasionally (like mine, haha), and I was having trouble remembering the multiple storylines of the many fics I was trying to follow. And if I'm reading fic, I can't be writing it. So my no-WIPs rule is as much about having time to write and being able to keep the fics straight as it is about avoiding the issue of WIPs that are never finished.
To avoid being one of the abandoned-WIP-writers (because, let's face it, I'm just as capable of that as anyone else -see my LotR fic that hasn't been updated for *years*), I don't start posting anything until I have written a significant portion of the fic or it's completely done. (Which is, largely, the result of my experience with that years-between-chapters fic.) Even then, updates on the unfinished fics depend on whether I've managed to write or not, since I don't like posting when I don't have more material already in reserve.
That said, I think unfinished WIPs are a normal hazard of fandom fic writing. Finding time and inspiration can be difficult even under the best of RL circumstances, and there are lots of people who don't have the best RL circumstances. Sure, as a reader it's very disappointing when a beloved fic is left hanging, but it helps to remember that life can suck and the muses can be fickle. Fanfic is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby; dragging yourself painfully through finishing a story just because you feel obligated to the demanding readers shouldn't have to be part of it.
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To avoid being one of the abandoned-WIP-writers (because, let's face it, I'm just as capable of that as anyone else -see my LotR fic that hasn't been updated for *years*), I don't start posting anything until I have written a significant portion of the fic or it's completely done. (Which is, largely, the result of my experience with that years-between-chapters fic.) Even then, updates on the unfinished fics depend on whether I've managed to write or not, since I don't like posting when I don't have more material already in reserve.
That said, I think unfinished WIPs are a normal hazard of fandom fic writing. Finding time and inspiration can be difficult even under the best of RL circumstances, and there are lots of people who don't have the best RL circumstances. Sure, as a reader it's very disappointing when a beloved fic is left hanging, but it helps to remember that life can suck and the muses can be fickle. Fanfic is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby; dragging yourself painfully through finishing a story just because you feel obligated to the demanding readers shouldn't have to be part of it.