Despite the benefits of serialized publishing, the format came with a handful of disadvantages as well. Many criticisms of serial authors like Charles Dickens may actually be criticisms of the form itself, including:. For the majority of the book, we loved it with all its dramatic, cliffhanging hallmarks of serial fiction.
The end of the book, though, somehow felt both overly grand and very flat. Without giving too much away, Collins brought in an Illuminati-esque group to explain some key plot points, a move that seemed both unexpected and false. Even with their well-founded criticisms, we think serial novels are worth the read, both in their original serial formats and their revised final volumes.
And comparing the two versions is another fascinating story. Another interesting case of psuedo-serialization today is the publication of The Martian by Andy Weir. Weir originally wrote and published chapters of The Martian on his personal blog. He gained a following of fellow space enthusiasts who helped him correct scientific inaccuracies in his draft as he went along.
In the self-publishing of The Martian , Weir blended the serializing with the revising. Over the past few years, there has seemed to be a growing consensus that the serial novel is making — or is soon due to make — a comeback. Moreover, the growth of online literary magazines and sequential publishing platforms like Wattpad will almost certainly increase the interest in and availability of serial literature, whether self-published or not.
Want the top bookish content from across the internet? Serialization helps with both. First, because you can keep returning to the same book again and again, as it comes out over time. And second because the stakes are so much lower each time you start a book. I completely agree. That makes a lot of sense. What are you learning about how to serialize a novel at Plympton?
A month might as well be a decade as far as serial reading goes. But is weekly ideal? Release everything all at once and let the reader choose their pace? No surprise. We all have enough false starts to novels to know that.
If writers want to learn more about how to serialize their novels, where can they go? Actually looking at serialized novels is actually probably the best way to figure out how to do it. Thanks so much for chatting with us, Yael. This was fascinating. In television, the hook of Lost, is when the plane crashes on the mysterious island.
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In Great Expectations , Dickens used character tags, such as Jaggers biting his finger or Wemmick having a "post-office mouth.
The writing for serials had to be rapid because of tight deadlines. Often the author was still plotting action or figuring out the ending as he went along, and half the book had already been published. It was a shoot-from-the-hip method in many respects because it also took into account readers' reactions to the story. If something was not working and circulation dropped, the author could change a character's response or add another cliffhanger to beef up the audience's interest.
The action also had to be fast because every word counted. Space in the magazines was money. In contrast to a one-thousand-page novel, Great Expectations , done in serial form, was considered downright short. The Victorians wanted a lot for their money and they expected a sweeping story with lots of twists and turns.
Charles Dickens gave them exactly that and was very successful with his reading public. Previous Charles Dickens Biography.
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