S23 Bonus - Episodic and Serial Stories

Serial stories have started to make a comeback in the writing format recently. While it's always been there in the form of comic books and fiction magazines, the internet has helped this unique structure gain popularity and strength.

Many authors have created episodic and serial stories over the centuries. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the Sherlock Holmes detective stories as serials originally, creating a massive following that has continued to today. Television was a natural adaptation for this type of story. Comic books and other graphic novels also benefit greatly from being able to publish small pieces of a larger story over time. Fanfiction authors embraced the serial style as they crafted new tales for known characters and worlds. Websites such as Royal Road and Wattpad helped open this structure to authors original fiction. That interest is only growing stronger with Amazon's recently released Vella, their own platform for serial stories.

Writing a good story in this format, though, takes more than just breaking up a story into chapters. There are a few tips and tricks that can help you stand out in the crowd. Leigh and Ley discuss framing devices, the difference between episodic and serial, and break down Vella and it's uses in this episode.

First aired August 28, 2021.

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