The Serial Novel
At least half of what I write now is considered “serial novel”. I have literally a half dozen in the works, either actively being written and published or being written to be published later or simply just a concept with some of the basics already worked out. I find it to be a fun way to tell a story, and I didn’t realize that serialized novels were such a thing now.
The article below about serial novels making a comeback was written in 2014, and now there are entire sites dedicated to serial novels. Who knew? I didn’t until I got on AO3, Medium and Wattpad.
I had no idea that serial novels were such a big thing now, nor did I realize serial novels were such a big thing long ago. Classic literature is full of novels that were originally serials, and according to the linked article above, one of my all-time favorite novels, The Count of Monte Cristo, was originally a serial novel. And why not? Aren’t serial installments or parts or episodes just another “chapter”? And Le Comte is very long, wonderfully long, and in the end — if you’ve read it — you know, not long enough.
To date, my biggest serial (and only complete) novel — with the help of four other authors — is 138 episodes long and took two years to write . We did it from 2010 to 2012, which included a six month break in the middle. It was quite the ordeal to write and manage, but it was a great time.
Imagine giving four other writers a character to play in a setting and then just unleashing them to their own interpretation, then having to weave it all together over time into a cohesive story that works and is tied up with a bow in the end! I think it ended remarkably well, and I loved ultimately writing about six different characters myself, including Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West’s name in Wicked), Glinda the Good Witch, and ultimately Dot, Dorothy Gale’s granddaughter, who is the star of the show.
I’m republishing it here on Substack, and episode one is already out: Dorothy: Locked & Loaded.
Now, back to present day serial novels, which I’ve said has become a thing for me. Why? I dunno. I just like running with a story and not having to have a plan or have it all written out ahead of time. In this episode this happens, and in the next episode, well, who the hell knows? As long as I keep up with the details as things move forward, we’re all good. And as long as I’m writing something compelling and entertaining to keep you reading.
The hard part, if anything, is making it easy for people to read the episodes, and Medium doesn’t really have the format for that. Wattpad’s interface feels to linear for that, too, and I haven’t even looked at AO3. For now, I’m here, but maybe it’ll work well on Substack; we’ll see. At least you can find the stuff you want to read fast because of the way their site is formatted.
In the meantime, over the next few posts I’ll run down the serial novels I have going on, planned, or in some stage of becoming a reality.