Shining light on novel serialization: 1 Yr of thoughts no one asked me for
Aren't you lucky?
No one asked my thoughts on novel serialization, but lucky you, here they are, anyway! As with any advice, some will apply to you. Some won’t.
The good
Accountability. Serialization forces discipline on your schedule.
Immediate feedback. Gimme those post likes and shares! Gimme the comments!
It will make you a better writer (see below for more)
The bad
Accountability and immediate feedback
These are two-edged swords. Nobody likes bad feedback, lol. If you miss a week because life happens, your readers will let you know.
Format. No underline! What? No colored text? I dare you to indent your text! (Can’t do it). Emojis in notes? Heck no.
God forbid you want to do something fancy, like a set of text messages between people in a romance novel.
The format options available on Substack make 1980 text editors great again. It sucks. It’s designed for newsletters, not fiction.
If a post looks good, it feels good to the reader (i.e., smoother reading), so you may have to experiment with the format.
How will serialization make you a better writer?
I like the process. I like the accountability and immediate feedback. Practice makes perfect, but it’s more than that:
Serializing fiction forces you to think about your story chapter by chapter, each on its own merit. No fluff or hoopdedoodle that your readers will skip and move on.
Ask yourself:
Does your chapter advance the plot?
Does your chapter develop the character?
If not, why are we here? Are we world-building or just info-dumping?
Leave your readers wanting more chapters, or they will unsubscribe.
Hook and cliffhanger rules apply to each chapter:
Does your chapter have a hook? Pretend this is the first chapter of your book. Draw them in in the first sentence, even if its chapter 23.
How do you end? Leave them wanting more:
Raise a question.
Drop a bomb.
Leave unresolved emotion.
Have a time constraint.
Have an obstacle.
Writing efficiency and pacing
The optimal word count for a chapter is 1500-3500 words—in the neighborhood of a 15-20 minute read, give or take. Not too short, because “Omg, that’s disappointing!” But also not too long because it becomes difficult to scroll, plus you will lose your reader’s attention.
“But Wyatt, I want to write a 13,000-word chapter!” NO. You are competing for your reader’s time with the work, the dishes, the kids, video games, streaming, etc. Give them “bathroom reading” length.
Cut the fluff and get to the point. Yes, it was good for you, but was it good for them? If your chapter is more than 3000 words, consider breaking it in two. If your scene has a natural cliffhanger break, end your chapter there and split it.
This is not a comprehensive list. I will probably revise this post as I think of more. There are several excellent compilations from authors who have been serializing fiction for much longer than I have. Go find them.
As I mentioned above, I like the process because it forces some writing discipline. I think overall, it's much harder (because it forces writing discipline chapter by chapter, lol). Is it for you? There have definitely been times I was “What am I doing?” Those moments pass once you experience the immediate feedback.