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.
Thank you @hollyabrown and @simonkjones for the opportunity to share my serial journey. I was inspired to serialize my novel, The Summer We Said Goodbye, after finding @sarahfaywritersatwork Substack in July of 2023 (Simon’s, too! His intro to Substack videos are great). Sarah is an expert in serializing, having written about it in her PhD dissertation. Her collection of posts about not only the substance of writing serialized literature but also its rich history made me want to jump right in. So I created a new Substack specifically for my novel and began publishing the nine installments I already had. That gave me about two months, I figured, to stockpile some more. I did have a fair amount of trepidation going in since I am a polish-as-you-go kind of writer, who comes to this from a career in film and video editing. It’s nearly impossible for me not to edit in real time. I am constantly reading my stuff out loud in the same way I listen to my film work because it has to sound right before I can move on. While rewarding creatively, it can be slow going. Inevitably, I lost pace with my weekly posting schedule, which was okay since I only had just under 50 subscribers, many of whom I know, and hadn’t been actively pursuing new ones. There’s also no paid option. So I rationalized it all as some kind of grand experiment that would test my resolve, which ultimately did manifest in a crisis of commitment this past February when I wasn’t sure if this was how the universe wanted me to spend my time. While fiction, my novel comes from my teenage experiences and the writing had veered into aspects of my parents’ divorce I hadn’t planned on revisiting. So I took a step back for a few months to reevaluate. I am happy to say, I am stronger for it. There were a number of factors that contributed to my return, but the most satisfying and surprising were the unsolicited check-ins from subscribers inquiring about future installments. People evidently cared! So I ramped up writing again this past June solstice and haven’t looked back. I was convinced at the time that a major restructuring of the already published installments was in order and wasn’t sure how that would work. But my two go-to beta readers who are both filmmakers disagreed. While I’m still not convinced, I decided to write through whatever murkiness I was encountering, figuring that as long as each installment is heartfelt and moves the story forward, all would be forgiven. I did, however, revamp the last installment I had published, deleting the old and re-publishing the new with a note to my subscribers at the top heralding my return, which I then quickly removed once it was emailed so anyone discovering me via the app wouldn’t be confused. There’s a saying in the film world, films are never finished, only abandoned. I take that to heart and since I am in no way ready to abandon any part of my Substack, I have no problem going back into previously published installments and revising or word-smithing for the benefit of newcomers. It’s been an enriching journey so far. I’ve learned to trust my intuition and place very little stock in data. I still have under 50 subscribers, but that’s okay. As I continue to gain confidence in my progress, I find I’m venturing out beyond the walls of my own Substack and interacting with others in the growing Substack fiction community, like you and @ericadrayton whose Top in Fiction Substack recently featured one of my installments in its weekly roundup. Thrilling! All told, serializing my novel has provided me a platform to show up in a way that transcends the solitary nature of a writer’s life. Having actual readers, we’ll that’s just icing on the cake! @jackfitzgerald
I subscribed to Simon's series about serial fiction. I'm just starting out (writing short and steamy interracial novellas) and I'm a newbie to writing serial fiction as well as writing adult romance (even though I've been reading it for 30+ years). I started writing YA in 7th grade and back then I was a pantser; more often than not, all I had was an idea, character names, and the title. Writing adult romance has definitely been different and I feel that I'm a "plantser". LOL I paywall after the 4th chapter.
For another take on serializing, here’s @maryltrump from her Backstory Serial Substack where she was serializing a romance novel called The Italian Lesson with @ejeancarroll and @jentaub. Great perspective on the vagaries of serializing.
That's all very good advice indeed in terms of stuff to keep in mind - especially before one starts.
For my part, I would say the most important thing is to have a detailed outline, with plot points/timeline and suchlike, as well as a sufficient amount of detail about all the main characters. That's obviously something it shares with novel writing, at least for me. And it's just as fun as writing the thing.
The writing bit is then just filling in all the gaps.
I would definitely also give the piece of advice about having a large chunk of it already written before you start - that way you don't fall behind if you keep writing whilst posting your (pre-written) instalments. And thus avoid too much stress.
Having said that, I just got to a stage where I realised I had to introduce a new and important character and do a whole a load of editing. Still - if that kind of thing happens you can always tell people 'we're having an intermission now'. People need breathers once in a while after all - especially at this time of year.
Plus it gives new arrivals time to catch up from the beginning.
Anyway - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
I used to live in Norwich as it happens. Must be something in the water. Or on the Riverside, maybe.
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.
Ditto
Thank you @hollyabrown and @simonkjones for the opportunity to share my serial journey. I was inspired to serialize my novel, The Summer We Said Goodbye, after finding @sarahfaywritersatwork Substack in July of 2023 (Simon’s, too! His intro to Substack videos are great). Sarah is an expert in serializing, having written about it in her PhD dissertation. Her collection of posts about not only the substance of writing serialized literature but also its rich history made me want to jump right in. So I created a new Substack specifically for my novel and began publishing the nine installments I already had. That gave me about two months, I figured, to stockpile some more. I did have a fair amount of trepidation going in since I am a polish-as-you-go kind of writer, who comes to this from a career in film and video editing. It’s nearly impossible for me not to edit in real time. I am constantly reading my stuff out loud in the same way I listen to my film work because it has to sound right before I can move on. While rewarding creatively, it can be slow going. Inevitably, I lost pace with my weekly posting schedule, which was okay since I only had just under 50 subscribers, many of whom I know, and hadn’t been actively pursuing new ones. There’s also no paid option. So I rationalized it all as some kind of grand experiment that would test my resolve, which ultimately did manifest in a crisis of commitment this past February when I wasn’t sure if this was how the universe wanted me to spend my time. While fiction, my novel comes from my teenage experiences and the writing had veered into aspects of my parents’ divorce I hadn’t planned on revisiting. So I took a step back for a few months to reevaluate. I am happy to say, I am stronger for it. There were a number of factors that contributed to my return, but the most satisfying and surprising were the unsolicited check-ins from subscribers inquiring about future installments. People evidently cared! So I ramped up writing again this past June solstice and haven’t looked back. I was convinced at the time that a major restructuring of the already published installments was in order and wasn’t sure how that would work. But my two go-to beta readers who are both filmmakers disagreed. While I’m still not convinced, I decided to write through whatever murkiness I was encountering, figuring that as long as each installment is heartfelt and moves the story forward, all would be forgiven. I did, however, revamp the last installment I had published, deleting the old and re-publishing the new with a note to my subscribers at the top heralding my return, which I then quickly removed once it was emailed so anyone discovering me via the app wouldn’t be confused. There’s a saying in the film world, films are never finished, only abandoned. I take that to heart and since I am in no way ready to abandon any part of my Substack, I have no problem going back into previously published installments and revising or word-smithing for the benefit of newcomers. It’s been an enriching journey so far. I’ve learned to trust my intuition and place very little stock in data. I still have under 50 subscribers, but that’s okay. As I continue to gain confidence in my progress, I find I’m venturing out beyond the walls of my own Substack and interacting with others in the growing Substack fiction community, like you and @ericadrayton whose Top in Fiction Substack recently featured one of my installments in its weekly roundup. Thrilling! All told, serializing my novel has provided me a platform to show up in a way that transcends the solitary nature of a writer’s life. Having actual readers, we’ll that’s just icing on the cake! @jackfitzgerald
This was really helpful! I’ve been planning my own serial but haven’t tried the format before. Love a lot of what was outlined here.
I subscribed to Simon's series about serial fiction. I'm just starting out (writing short and steamy interracial novellas) and I'm a newbie to writing serial fiction as well as writing adult romance (even though I've been reading it for 30+ years). I started writing YA in 7th grade and back then I was a pantser; more often than not, all I had was an idea, character names, and the title. Writing adult romance has definitely been different and I feel that I'm a "plantser". LOL I paywall after the 4th chapter.
Thank you for this. Serialized fiction is my new obsession.
For another take on serializing, here’s @maryltrump from her Backstory Serial Substack where she was serializing a romance novel called The Italian Lesson with @ejeancarroll and @jentaub. Great perspective on the vagaries of serializing.
https://www.backstoryserial.com/p/catching-and-getting-caught-up?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thank you for writing this. The insight about viewing paywalls as a patronage model has changed my perspective.
That's all very good advice indeed in terms of stuff to keep in mind - especially before one starts.
For my part, I would say the most important thing is to have a detailed outline, with plot points/timeline and suchlike, as well as a sufficient amount of detail about all the main characters. That's obviously something it shares with novel writing, at least for me. And it's just as fun as writing the thing.
The writing bit is then just filling in all the gaps.
I would definitely also give the piece of advice about having a large chunk of it already written before you start - that way you don't fall behind if you keep writing whilst posting your (pre-written) instalments. And thus avoid too much stress.
Having said that, I just got to a stage where I realised I had to introduce a new and important character and do a whole a load of editing. Still - if that kind of thing happens you can always tell people 'we're having an intermission now'. People need breathers once in a while after all - especially at this time of year.
Plus it gives new arrivals time to catch up from the beginning.
Anyway - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
I used to live in Norwich as it happens. Must be something in the water. Or on the Riverside, maybe.
So I'm so glad I stumbled across this, as it gave me the courage to start my serial in the new year! There's a story in me that's been bubbling up.
Thanks again for sharing and I'm glad I follow you, Simon!