Is There More than One Kind Of Serial Fiction?

a "Behind the Curtain" article

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Simon K Jones

sparked today’s piece about all the different kinds of serials. He spoke of two kinds¹, specifically the novel that is serialised and then the entity that is, well, a serial.

But if you’ve been around media of any sort, you know that there are more than two different kinds of serial. I’m counting six seven, although one of those could be considered a stretch. Bear with.

For ease of writing about this, let’s start with some definitions.

First serial is fiction that is shared in instalments. It doesn’t matter what media: online text (like here on Substack), TV, streaming, comics, or thick chunky books. I’ll talk more about reader expectations of serials below, but obviously some genres fit the serial structure better than others.

For ease of talking about serials, I am assuming the instalments come out weekly, but know that instalments could come out daily, twice a week, or monthly. Or if you are George R.R. Martin, potentially decades?? (I know, that was low hanging fruit.)

Let’s start with the one that Simon mentioned. (We’ll pick up the second a little later.)

1. The Novel

Simon calls it the novel that you write and then serialise. It’s your novel, of any genre, that can run for a year or two (posting once a week). It’s written, edited and polished before the first instalment is released.

Instalments are broken into chapters, just like in regular books. Chapters will often end when the scene ends, with the occasional ramping of tension that makes you want to turn to the next page.

I’d argue that the novelist, like the serialist, wants you to keep turning pages. So all that is said about serials in that they have hooks and cliffhangers, to some extent holds true for novels as well. Those page turners we can’t put down until the sun comes up are great serial reading … except with weekly instalments we writers keep the reader waiting.

EXCEPT! There is a difference in that certain kinds of novels ignore this hook-cliffhanger structure. Literary novels as opaque as James Joyce or memoir-ish lyrical slices of life where the story question might be existential, but not deadly. In fact, there would be something lovely about reading a slice of life chapter once a week, gently dropped into your inbox like a bouquet of flowers. It’s still a serial BUT your reader expectations are different — we’re here for the lyrical writing, not the nail biting dash to find the grail.

Novel, novel, novel, novel, could all be serials…

2. The Novel-Sized Serial

The novel-sized serial takes the serial structure into account. Instead of leaving the novel in its approximately 20 manuscript pages a chapter format, the end of the instalment ends with those story questions and cliffhangers and the beginning of the next instalment reminds the reader what happened last time and situates the characters within their scene/locale even if that would be weird to do in the middle of a scene.

The instalments of a novel-sized serial are geared to being released in a way that keeps the reader reading. Consider editing your already existing novel in such a way that the reader will want to read the next instalment.

A Grail for Eidothea was initially written as a novel (actually it’s a long novella). When I prepped it for publication, I went through it to find strong stopping points that held either a cliffhanger or a story question that would make the reader want to tune in next time (same bat time, same bat channel). I often break mid-scene as cliffhangers do not need to be huge, but at least offer up an intriguing question.

I also try to keep the instalments at about the same length. Lately I’ve gone from around 1,800 words an instalment to 2,500. I think there is no cut and dried number — again, it’s all about reader expectations.

In the Asian drama world, particularly in China, a series can be 50+ episodes — longer than a Peter Jackson director’s cut — and just as beautiful to watch. I don’t know if it’s how Viki edits them for release, but they always end midscene or with a cliffhanger.

3. The Episodic Serial

That may sound oxymoronic but Simon describes it well:

“Structurally, the overall narrative is looser. It is designed to make it easier for readers to hop on board at any point, rather than always reading from the beginning as with a novel.”
- Simon K Jones

Examples of these are sitcoms and cop/detective/mystery shows. Even family dramas like The Big Valley have episodes that you can watch out of order and pretty much figure out who’s who and what’s what. Enjoying the ride and the short storyness of each episode. Everything is resolved within the 30 minutes or the hour.

These can run for a number of years. Simon’s Triverse is up to three years, for example. (Am I caught up? Not even close.) But the longer the serial runs, the more likely it becomes a:

4. Through Arc Serial

Many TV series today have moved from this “adventure a week” theme and have a through arc. The arc is a longer story told over a series of episodes. It might be a slow burn romance or investigating a longer case while solving shorter ones.

As a reader, you can still drop in and read any episode and get most of what was going on but maybe wonder why that one character is angsting about something over in the corner.

Series like MacLeod’s Daughters have an ongoing “make the farm organic” story, plus the will-they-or-won’t-they romances while peppered with shorter stories that can take a single or multiple episodes.

I have experimented with the episodic sitcom/serial form by writing Hiraeth as a monthly series. However much I wanted each episode to be self-contained, I included a through arc of a slow burn possible romance and one story ran to two episodes. Maybe when it comes back from hiatus, it’ll be more like the old pre-Eccleston Doctor Who serials of three-four parts (like Simon’s Triverse series) along with a slow burn romance through arc because every one knows it’s all over when the leads finally get together. (Unless it’s a KDrama at which point you’re at episode 13 and the external plot and/or childhood trauma is going to hit the fan.)

5 Limited Edition Serial

Then there are the (usually) perfectly paced serials that are Romantic KDramas, or the limited edition serials that you see on Substack by

S.E. Reid

and

Bridget Riley

. They are a set number of episodes (around 10-12 instalments). Both of these authors write them week to week (which frankly astonishes me) but you could easily take the novelist approach with these and write the whole thing before you start to release instalments.

Too important for a footnote:

How you write a serial does not define the work as a serial. What’s important is that you write it and put it out there. Whether you write it in novel-sized chunks or a season at a time, write week to week, or some other way. How you structure the work is key to what makes it a serial.

I’ve been writing my main serial a novel at a time, releasing one novel while I write the next one. As it takes about 9-12 months to release a novel-sized serial in instalments, I have plenty of time (theoretically) to write and polish the next novel.

For example, I’m currently in the last third of releasing book 2. Book 3 is in edits, and book 4 has bits written but the rest is all handwavey.

Romantic KDramas are usually 16 episodes long (although 12 episodes is becoming more common). They have their own structure, but are meant to be watched from beginning to end on a weekly basis.

However, they are still a serial which means each instalment usually always end in a story question or promise. In KDramas, this often means that people stop what they’re doing when someone says or does something huge and stare at each other, cue music and montage.

An example of the larger story structure in romantic KDramas, is that the lead couple (almost) always kiss for the first time in episode 8, the promise being you get to relive that kiss at the start of episode 9.²

Watch enough romantic KDramas and you can be thrilled when they break one of the tropes and kiss as early as episode 3. Ahem.

My upcoming Obsidian and Flame is a Limited Edition serial. It was meant to be 6 parts but it’s ballooned to um, 18.

But wait there’s more.

6 The Soap Serial

Remember I talked about longer running episodic serials that have through arcs? Now take those through arcs and weave them together between multiple families and you have a soap. A new subplot starts while another plot is still ongoing.

Sure, you can walk away from Days of Our Lives and come back after 10 years and still find the staple characters, but you’ll also spend several episodes trying to identify the newer characters, how they are related to the older characters, and what the hell I thought Roman really died last time?! (No, that was just me?)

These are the serials that last for decades, written by a team of writers with multi-season long story arcs. They are basically an episodic serial, but with no end in sight.

It would, actually, be kind of fun to do something like this. I mean, I did coordinate a season 5 of Lois & Clark in the past, so I know it is no easy task and those were stand-alone episodes, not interlinked. Imagine trying to weave in scenes and then have the characters interact cross-story. Mind blown.

I don’t know of a Substack example of this. Is there one? Let me know in the comments.

Last one, I promise:

7. Universes

Marvel movies. The Star Wars franchise. My Môrdreigiau Chronicles.

S.E. Reid

’s Ferris Island.

Eric Falden

’s Cethanwald (he just named it!),

Kummer Wolfe

’s Windtracer Tales, to name just a few.

Basically, why be restricted to one kind of serial when you can do all of them within the same universe?

In Substack fiction land, whether they are short stories, long or short serials, or even sharing lore, they all exist in the same world. The variety enables the reader to taste the writing in a shorter work before committing to something that might take years to read.

Outro

There you have it! The seven kinds of serials — and I’m sure it’s not comprehensive, so feel free to drop a comment on that and share how it’s different to the ones I’ve listed.

If you’re a reader, what kinds of serials do you prefer to read?

If you’re a writers, what kinds of serials do you write?

Share in the comments below!

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1. The Novel vs The Serial: exploring the structural differences

2. Want to know more? Check out:

How to Write a Kdrama Romantic Comedy