"I fell into serial fiction almost by accident"
Putting YOUR questions to a Substack serial expert
Serial storytelling has always appealed to me … Even if I managed to wangle a fancy deal with a big publisher, I don’t think I’d stop with the online serials: they’re in my blood.
When I put out a Note related to my newest historical fiction serial (linked HERE, if you’re interested), I didn’t expect it to blow up the way it did.
A whopping number of likes and comments convinced me to turn the Note into a post (or six…): colleagues on Substack clearly wanted to find out more about this genre/style of writing.
was quickly active in the comments, offering advice and developing conversation that drew on his abundance of experience with teaching and writing serial fiction. So when he offered to chat more, I wasn’t going to turn down the offer.With over 6,000 subscribers, Simon knows what he’s talking about. He’s published three novel-length serials and a paperback, has recently started his fourth serial project, and was recently featured on
’s wonderful podcast, .
Thanks for joining us, Simon! Your newsletter, , shares both how-to’s and your own serial, Tales from the Triverse. Why write serialised fiction, as opposed to something like short stories or simply publishing offline?
I fell into serial fiction almost by accident. Back in 2015 I thought I’d have a go at a serial, but it was very much intended as a one-off experiment. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve been doing it ever since.
The stories I like to tell tend to be longer and benefit from the ability to build in long-term references. Those are the stories I grew up loving: Asimov, Straczynski, Kim Stanley Robinson. Before that, comics and Star Wars.
Serial storytelling has always appealed to me.
Going the traditional publishing route absolutely appeals, but it’s a matter of time more than anything else. I love the immediacy of publishing online, reaching readers and getting feedback early in the process.
Even if I managed to wangle a fancy deal with a big publisher, I don’t think I’d stop with the online serials: they’re in my blood.
When I shared this series of interviews with serial experts on Notes earlier this year, I had a lot of questions about the nuts and bolts of serial writing. It seems that there are a lot of us out there trying to do the serial thing better but not really knowing where to start.
So, I have a few quick-fire (ish) questions for you…
Is there a sweetspot in terms of the length of instalments and the frequency with which they’re published?
I aim for about 1,200 words and a single new chapter each week. That works on both ends of the equation: it’s achievable for me as the writer and it’s also very easy for readers to keep up with. Any shorter and the chapters become a bit flimsy and throwaway. Any longer and a chapter starts to compete for time with the likes of Netflix, games, other books, and so on.
1,200 words can be read in a single sitting, over breakfast, or on the bus, and doesn’t require the reader to change their entire schedule.
How does structure and content change when writing a serial, as opposed to an offline novel?
This is something I’m still exploring. It depends a lot on how you approach it. You certainly can write a novel without making any concessions to the format or distribution method and simply serialise the novel chapter-by-chapter. That’s completely valid.
More interesting for me is trying to find the unique quirks of the serial storytelling. How does the chapter length, those 1,200 words, affect the pacing of the story? To what extent do you need to include a ‘hook’ at the start of each chapter and a ‘cliffhanger’ at the end? How does the temporal aspect of publishing slowly over a long period of time affect characters and themes and plot?
A lot of those questions intersect with promotional efforts. Cliffhanger endings might be artistically or narratively inappropriate for your story, even if they’re good for acquiring and keeping readers. Do you lean towards the artistic integrity of the story or the need for audience building? Everyone will have a different approach, but finding those different approaches is endlessly fascinating to me.
Should writers complete the book before serialising or write as they go?
This depends entirely on your writing style.
If you write in a non-linear fashion, compiling your story from lots of separate pieces, requiring lots of editing and rewriting, then you’ll likely need to complete the manuscript before you start publishing.
I tend to write in a linear style, from start to finish. That makes it possible to publish as I write.
It’s not the only consideration. You also need to think about stress levels and what suits your personality. I love writing and publishing at the same time, and find it exciting. Knowing that readers are coming on the journey with me at the same time helps to keep me coming back to the page. For a lot of people, it could end up being a nightmare, increasing stress and anxiety and risking burnout or writer’s block.
I’d suggest starting with a deliberately contained and very small serial. Maybe six chapters total. Use that to experiment with the process and find out what works, before committing to anything longer term.
Should writers plan in advance or go with the flow?
I’d advise doing at least some planning, especially if you’re publishing as you go. Without some planning, it’ll be impossible to foreshadow plot details or create compelling character arcs, because you won’t know what’s coming up later. If writing the manuscript up front, that doesn’t matter because you can go back and layer in references to what comes later.
I tend to work out several key waypoints along the story. Critical points that I know I’m going to hit at some point. That helps me figure out the trajectory of characters, and seed events, or themes, or world building details that I know will be useful six months down the line. That gives me a lot of freedom week-to-week, so I can still experiment and explore unexpected tangents, but I’ll always have a destination in mind.
Should we paywall chapters/instalments or keep them free?
Writers should definitely get paid for their writing. But practically, it’s more complicated than that.
As an unknown writer, if I’d put my fiction up behind a paywall, I wouldn’t have had any readers. Nobody is going to subscribe to read an unknown indie writer who is publishing in a weird way on the internet – not when there’s so much great stuff to read by writers you’ve already heard of.
If you’re not an established name, it’s difficult to convince people to make that jump. I experimented with early access and with paywalling only after, say, chapter 10, but the same problems show up. Paywalling the chapters makes it hard to promote them, and kills the potential to grow a readership.
Since making almost all my stuff free to read, I’ve had more people become paid subscribers. Which sounds counter-intuitive, but I think it’s about shifting the perception of what is actually on offer. If I think of my serial as a ‘product’, like a book on a shelf, then I’m expecting people to pay for access to that product. That’s when all those problems I’ve mentioned show up.
But there’s another way of looking at it, where it’s less about ‘the product’ and much more about me as a writer. Those paying subscribers are not paying to access a specific thing, or to get behind a paywall. They’re subscribing to say ‘thanks’, and to support my ongoing efforts. Maybe they find my fiction entertaining, or my newsletter informative, and they want to ensure its continuation.
In other words, it’s a patronage model. Supporting the artist, rather than the specific end product. Once I started thinking in that context, the model made more sense. And because it’s all free, it means I’m also growing my general readership at a much faster rate. It’s a long, slow game, but long-term it opens up other options: at some point I’ll have enough subscribers to consider myself no longer an ‘unknown writer’, so maybe at some point in the future I could make a fiction project available specifically to the paying audience.
That’s where I’m at with it at the moment. Definitely still learning – ask me again in a year and I’ll likely have a different answer.
And now down to the TLDR section of the interview…
What are your 3 top tips for writing a serial?
First, be consistent. If you’re doing a weekly serial, stick to that schedule. Inconsistency in delivery will erode trust with your readers. Consistency also makes it easier to be noticed by new readers.
Related to that, be realistic about what you can produce. Don’t commit to a daily serial unless you know you can pull it off! If you commit to a schedule you can’t keep, you’ll be stressed and burn out. Find a comfortable pace.
Third tip is to make it easy for readers to jump on board. That might mean including a small ‘Previously…’ blurb at the top of each chapter, or adding navigation buttons so readers can navigate chapters easily, or crafting an index and welcome post. Reading online can be a complicated space, so do everything you can to make it effortless for readers.
And what should we not do when writing a serial?
Don’t think that you’re in competition with other writers. The writing community is an opportunity, not a threat. Connecting with other writers expands your network and will help you to find new readers. There’s no need to be combative: it’s not like we’re fighting over the same half dozen readers.
Social media has trained us to be more antagonistic than is natural. We’re emerging out the other side of that, but we have to all learn how to relate to one another. The online serial scene, and the newsletter scene, is collaborative, if you’re willing.
Are you a pantser or a planner? Write the whole book first or write as you go? Paywaller or non-paywaller?
We’d love to chat further in the comments about your experience with writing (or reading!) serial fiction, as well as any questions you have about serialisation.
The next stop is our final destination. All change.
Tomorrow, the wonderful
will be sharing her experience as an author writing serially on Substack and publishing offline. A ‘how I put all this into practice’, as it were. Make sure to subscribe so that you receive her words straight to your email or Substack inbox.Vicky’s post will mark the end of this month-long series on serialisation and signal the return of
to its true roots. We’re heading back to the world of medieval history (rather than how-to’s on writing medieval history) with a list of last-minute books for your Christmas list, including five written by Substackers themselves. You won’t want to miss this! | A guest post by
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My first serial, "A Broken Woman's True Desire," wasn't planned and suffered from certain drawbacks, including continuity. I've since taken that story and the second, "The Reeve's Tale," and almost rewrote them so they make sense to me.
If you can extemporize, that's great. However, I've discovered that I must complete at least half of a traditional book before posting it on Substack. That way, I'll have the parts that work published and can work on the rest.
My chapters tend to be closer to the 2500-word limit, so I post them in sections.
Excellent. Top advice. Honest. Well put. Bravo.