I’m serializing my novel currently. I started in March of this year. Hearing you talk about years of serializing is very inspiring because it is such a commitment to craft!
It's immensely satisfying! Looking back on the work creates a real sense of achievement, and you sort of end up with a novel-sized thing at the end of it, almost by accident.
There is a temporal aspect to traditional books as well, but, yes, it's not the same as with a serial. To state the obvious, it's the difference between trickling out a chapter per week/month vs refining the entire thing for single release.
With a traditional book, of course, author growth during composition is subsumed during rewrites and editing, so the final volume has a unified voice...
But what about series?
Perhaps one of the best examples is JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. He worked in that world for decades, and, thanks to Christopher Tolkien publishing all his father's notes and rough drafts one can (and I did, back in the day) very clearly trace how Tolkien's style, views, and plots evolved over the decades.
Arthur C. Clarke published the long out-of-print "The Lost Worlds of 2001," which mixes non-fiction essays on how he and Kubrick developed and refined the plot and themes based on the evolving politics and social mores of the mid 1960's, along with incorporating new science. His author's notes for 2001, 2010, 2069, and 3001 all discuss how advances in science and sociology affected the themes of the series to the point where even Clarke didn't consider the later volumes linear sequels to the original. Also, by 3001, Clarke could ALMOST write compelling characters...
What? Clarke was brilliant at science, plot, theme, and "big ideas," but he was weak at character development.
Closer to home for me is Jasper Fforde's "Shades of Grey," and its sequel, "Red Side Story." I attended the Fforde Ffiesta in May, which was largely a celebration of the release of RSS (Jasper stayed at the event hotel after the event ended rather than return home, as the next day he flew out of Heathrow for his US tour, and Swindon is closer to London than his home in Wales). At the Ffiesta Jasper talked about the how the past decade affected writing RSS - both in the evolution of Jasper's views on the themes (Jasper has always preached acceptance and a progressive/inclusive philosophy, but, post-Brexit the themes are much more front and center rather than simmering behind story and jokes), and his writing style. He stated if he revisited SoG today he'd cut 20k words of "needless exposition." As a writer, Jasper's moved away from more overt detail and let things be implied. As an example, in "The Constant Rabbit," on character is in a wheelchair. There's one reference to a car accident at the beginning of the book, one reference a third of the way in to that character's bedroom being on the ground floor, and one reference over halfway through the book about having trouble getting her wheels over the threshold. From these three references the reader can infer there was a car accident which made that character paraplegic. One can also infer the accident killed her mother, since the mother is no longer with us. But there's no paragraph of, "Things hadn't been the same since the accident..." Jasper himself noted a decade ago there would have been an expository scene.
Point being, the temporal aspects of writing do apply to completed works - novels and movies - over serialized works - TV shows and, well, serials - but the effect is less apparent to the audience as the audience gets big chunks, not dribbles.
Hell, look at Dickens or Dumas. All their works were serialized. It's just now one can read all 4000+ pages of the D'artagnin cycle in one huge volume at speed rather than over decades!
Absolutely: I've found this with Triverse. My attitude towards AI has been constantly evolving during the writing of the story. It can enrich the story, but can also risk derailing the original plan if you get too distracted by news of the day.
I appreciate this, Simon. You know I'm knew to writing this way,... and I never considered the change of experience, OTHER than they don't have to wait for a full novel before they start reading...
I've been thinking about this issue for months, Simon--glad you've focused on it.
I write mysteries and carefully insert clues for attentive readers to assemble into predictions of the outcome. I'm seeing that a clue planted in episode 2 is easily forgotten unless it is replanted (in a slightly different form) in a later episode. It's a Big Ask for readers to keep clue-threads in mind over a long braid of episodes.
This is somewhat a genre thing (mysteries, crime fiction), so other serialists may not have to cope with it. I'm currently keeping the stories short (4-6 episodes), carefully replaying important clues, and continuing to think about narrative strategies to deal with this interesting challenge. Thanks again for bringing it up.
I've found the crime fiction aspects of Triverse really interesting to write for the same reasons.
I think these clues serve two purposes, aside from being ACTUAL clues:
1. If someone re-reads the work at some point in the future, it's immensely satisfying to discover that it was all there from the start.
2. The knowledge that the clues are there, even if you can't spot them, builds confidence in the author and storytelling. The knowledge that everything matters, and that it isn't just being made up on the spot. It's quite important for serial writers to acknowledge that there is foreshadowing, even if we keep the specifics secret.
Temporality is such an important facet of reading. And you're right, with a serial, new readers and "veterans" approach new section releases with such different perspectives. As I'm preparing my instalments, this is something to keep firmly in mind.
Recently, one of my readers shared with me that they read my chapter instalments in the same room and on the same recliner each week. So there can be a ritualistic and place-bound element to reading as well. Thank you, as always, Simon, for these gems!
This is so exciting. My serials are shorter in nature (I had a 5 parter to pre-relase a novel in the Winter, will have a four parter this Fall and then a year-long 12 parter in 2025). I'm excited to see if they resonate. Thanks for sharing your journey. It is an inspiration.
Well this wasn’t the nerdy detail that’s kept me up last night but is why when the current “season” is done, I’ll be encouraging binge reads so it’s fresh for the next round.
I’m serializing my novel currently. I started in March of this year. Hearing you talk about years of serializing is very inspiring because it is such a commitment to craft!
It's immensely satisfying! Looking back on the work creates a real sense of achievement, and you sort of end up with a novel-sized thing at the end of it, almost by accident.
There is a temporal aspect to traditional books as well, but, yes, it's not the same as with a serial. To state the obvious, it's the difference between trickling out a chapter per week/month vs refining the entire thing for single release.
With a traditional book, of course, author growth during composition is subsumed during rewrites and editing, so the final volume has a unified voice...
But what about series?
Perhaps one of the best examples is JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. He worked in that world for decades, and, thanks to Christopher Tolkien publishing all his father's notes and rough drafts one can (and I did, back in the day) very clearly trace how Tolkien's style, views, and plots evolved over the decades.
Arthur C. Clarke published the long out-of-print "The Lost Worlds of 2001," which mixes non-fiction essays on how he and Kubrick developed and refined the plot and themes based on the evolving politics and social mores of the mid 1960's, along with incorporating new science. His author's notes for 2001, 2010, 2069, and 3001 all discuss how advances in science and sociology affected the themes of the series to the point where even Clarke didn't consider the later volumes linear sequels to the original. Also, by 3001, Clarke could ALMOST write compelling characters...
What? Clarke was brilliant at science, plot, theme, and "big ideas," but he was weak at character development.
Closer to home for me is Jasper Fforde's "Shades of Grey," and its sequel, "Red Side Story." I attended the Fforde Ffiesta in May, which was largely a celebration of the release of RSS (Jasper stayed at the event hotel after the event ended rather than return home, as the next day he flew out of Heathrow for his US tour, and Swindon is closer to London than his home in Wales). At the Ffiesta Jasper talked about the how the past decade affected writing RSS - both in the evolution of Jasper's views on the themes (Jasper has always preached acceptance and a progressive/inclusive philosophy, but, post-Brexit the themes are much more front and center rather than simmering behind story and jokes), and his writing style. He stated if he revisited SoG today he'd cut 20k words of "needless exposition." As a writer, Jasper's moved away from more overt detail and let things be implied. As an example, in "The Constant Rabbit," on character is in a wheelchair. There's one reference to a car accident at the beginning of the book, one reference a third of the way in to that character's bedroom being on the ground floor, and one reference over halfway through the book about having trouble getting her wheels over the threshold. From these three references the reader can infer there was a car accident which made that character paraplegic. One can also infer the accident killed her mother, since the mother is no longer with us. But there's no paragraph of, "Things hadn't been the same since the accident..." Jasper himself noted a decade ago there would have been an expository scene.
Point being, the temporal aspects of writing do apply to completed works - novels and movies - over serialized works - TV shows and, well, serials - but the effect is less apparent to the audience as the audience gets big chunks, not dribbles.
Hell, look at Dickens or Dumas. All their works were serialized. It's just now one can read all 4000+ pages of the D'artagnin cycle in one huge volume at speed rather than over decades!
Absolutely: I've found this with Triverse. My attitude towards AI has been constantly evolving during the writing of the story. It can enrich the story, but can also risk derailing the original plan if you get too distracted by news of the day.
I appreciate this, Simon. You know I'm knew to writing this way,... and I never considered the change of experience, OTHER than they don't have to wait for a full novel before they start reading...
When you've been doing this sort of thing for a decade, this is the kind of nerdy detail that keeps you up at night.
HAHAHA, but it's a good thing, right?
I don't know. That detail got me all excited about crafting something new for people -- and it really has me motivated. Experiences are so important!
I've been thinking about this issue for months, Simon--glad you've focused on it.
I write mysteries and carefully insert clues for attentive readers to assemble into predictions of the outcome. I'm seeing that a clue planted in episode 2 is easily forgotten unless it is replanted (in a slightly different form) in a later episode. It's a Big Ask for readers to keep clue-threads in mind over a long braid of episodes.
This is somewhat a genre thing (mysteries, crime fiction), so other serialists may not have to cope with it. I'm currently keeping the stories short (4-6 episodes), carefully replaying important clues, and continuing to think about narrative strategies to deal with this interesting challenge. Thanks again for bringing it up.
I've found the crime fiction aspects of Triverse really interesting to write for the same reasons.
I think these clues serve two purposes, aside from being ACTUAL clues:
1. If someone re-reads the work at some point in the future, it's immensely satisfying to discover that it was all there from the start.
2. The knowledge that the clues are there, even if you can't spot them, builds confidence in the author and storytelling. The knowledge that everything matters, and that it isn't just being made up on the spot. It's quite important for serial writers to acknowledge that there is foreshadowing, even if we keep the specifics secret.
Temporality is such an important facet of reading. And you're right, with a serial, new readers and "veterans" approach new section releases with such different perspectives. As I'm preparing my instalments, this is something to keep firmly in mind.
Recently, one of my readers shared with me that they read my chapter instalments in the same room and on the same recliner each week. So there can be a ritualistic and place-bound element to reading as well. Thank you, as always, Simon, for these gems!
Thanks Simon! I'm getting ready to begin a serial, and I'm hanging on your every word these days. Sure appreciate all the pro-tips.
Ah, thanks Timothy! Happy to help. Good luck with the project!
This is so exciting. My serials are shorter in nature (I had a 5 parter to pre-relase a novel in the Winter, will have a four parter this Fall and then a year-long 12 parter in 2025). I'm excited to see if they resonate. Thanks for sharing your journey. It is an inspiration.
Well this wasn’t the nerdy detail that’s kept me up last night but is why when the current “season” is done, I’ll be encouraging binge reads so it’s fresh for the next round.