Nervous about writing fiction? Serial fiction may be a good option for you because serials are written as part-works: in episodes. You’re not faced with writing 60,000 words straight… You can write five or ten thousand words and it’s done.
OK, at this stage you’re wondering… What if there’s zero reaction to your first episode. Oddly enough, not only is that OK, it can be a good thing.
Here’s why.
Serial fiction is experimental: you can turn failure into success
If there’s no response, experiment. Perhaps you can turn a potential failure into a success. You could:
- Assess. Do you have confidence in the story? If you’re still excited about it, keep going. Write a second episode and a third. Some readers will buy a first episode if there are additional episodes available.
- Unpublish. Turn your episode into a short story, or a novel. Or leave it to add to a story collection later.
- Can you see a way to make the episode more exciting? Revise and edit. Approach the story from a different character’s point of view, or make the stakes higher.
If you’re intrigued, let’s look at some reasons writing serial fiction may work for you.
1. Serials can build your readership quickly
New author? Your aim is to build your readership. Unfortunately if you’re writing novels, this can take a long time. A friend wrote several novels in different genres before she found her readership — it was in an unexpected genre. She got an idea, thought, “this sounds as if it might be good,” and wrote the novel on a whim. She told me that if she’d considered a serial, it could well have been more effective than writing another novel.
What if you’re an established author? One of my writing students was fed up with writing novels which sold minimally. I suggested a genre to her. She studied it, decided that she could write those books and her first novel in the genre made a splash.
If she’d asked me today, I would have suggested she try writing a serial in the genre first.
2. There’s less stress in writing short material
Because episodes are short, there’s much less stress. Even after all these years of writing, I still wince when I write Chapter One, Scene 1. There might well be some pain in my future because every book is different.
A novella-writing student took to writing serial fiction immediately. She said: “I love the idea that you’re not committed to anything when you publish your first episode. By the time I publish Episode One, I’ve usually completed the first draft of three additional episodes. I can choose to continue to publish as a serial, or I can choose to publish as a novella instead.”
This attitude has been useful because she recently moved interstate to be closer to her elderly parents. Both have health challenges. She says that when she’s writing serials, she doesn’t panic if something interrupts her publication schedule; she’s always got episodes ready to go, so she takes interruptions in her stride.
3. You receive reader feedback to build your motivation
Reader feedback is magical — even negative feedback is a gift. When writing novels, we can write for months without reaction to a project. To have readers who respond can help you to fix a problem before it turns into a major issue which might wreck the entire project.
For example, I’m a ghostwriter and last year I wrote a domestic thriller serial for a client. She’s a cozy mystery author, with two novel series that sell. However, her readership isn’t growing. She thought that a serial might help her to win new readers. “Domestic thrillers sell,” she said. “I know there’s crossover readership. Some serial readers might like my cozies.”
By the time serial publication was well underway with six live episodes, she began to get negative reviews about one of the characters. I could see that the reviewers had a point, so I fixed the problem by killing off the character. Then I went back to the previously published episodes and made several small edits foreshadowing the death.
If you’re thinking that that’s a drastic reaction to a few negative reviews, you’re right. But in this case, not only did I agree with the reviewers, but I saw a quick fix.
The negative reviews/ fix situation worked out for my author too. She got to send out a mailing to her list and talked about the fix on a podcast, which was excellent PR.
Writing serials can be fun: why not try?
Writing fiction is fun; I adore it and adore serials most of all. In today’s fast-paced environment, with fewer readers and shortening attention spans, they may work for you. Have fun. 🙂
Writing Success Secrets: How To Conquer Self Doubt, And Achieve Your Writing Goals, Starting Today
Whatever success means to you, there's only one way to be successful, and that's to write, and achieve your writing goals.
Today, the opportunities for writers have never been greater. Back in the day a writer who was making six-figures a year seemed a creature of myth. These days, highly successful writers are making six figures a month.
Can you achieve writing success?
Today, the opportunities for writers have never been greater. Back in the day a writer who was making six-figures a year seemed a creature of myth. These days, highly successful writers are making six figures a month. Success isn’t only about money of course. Success to you might mean taking on writing projects as a side hustle, and making enough to repay your mortgage and car loan every month. Or perhaps to you, success means becoming a full-time writer.Whatever success means to you, there’s only one way to be successful, and that’s to write, and achieve your writing goals
Sadly, many writers who’d love to be successful get in their own way. They give up on projects — and on themselves — because they struggle with self-doubt. They rarely set goals, and if they do, they forget about them quickly, because they’re not working toward achieving those goals. Do you stare out of the window when you should be writing? What if you could write faster, while improving your writing? How many more projects could you complete? Perhaps you’re a procrastinator. I used to be the Queen of Procrastination. Finally, I found strategies which overcame that tendency, and now you can use those strategies too. In this book, you’ll discover: * Four simple strategies to help you to overcome your doubts about your writing; * How to write more, sell more, and get more clients. If you’re writing a book, you’ll discover fresh enthusiasm and inspiration; * Ways in which to get more from your writing. You’ll know you’re doing the right things when your life becomes fun. Obstacles will vanish; your life will flow; * How to work less than you’re working now, while achieving more.
