Serialized versus Episodic

This chapter is about telling a story in multiple parts. (Such as a book series or multiple episodes for a TV show.) You might think this doesn’t apply to you and skip this chapter. Even then, I’d recommend trying this challenge.

Being able to split a story into smaller chunks (that could stand on their own) is a very useful skill to have. It helps tackle a story by reducing the workload. It helps keep the story streamlined, as you just can’t allow the story to get bloated over time.

There are two ways to tell multi-part stories: Serialized and Episodic

Serialized

In a serialized story, you have to read the parts in order. In a sense, you have a contract with the viewer: “Trust me, this is all leading somewhere. These parts are building towards a satisfying climax.”

The important thing here is change. For progress to exist, there must be change.

When writing serialized stories, each part needs to see characters change. Not only that, they are changing towards a clear destination.

This type is ideal for following one true hero on their journey to becoming a different person or building a better world.

A common mistake

Beginning writers are often quite good at imagining great characters. They, however, invent that character as one static entity: “my character is brave and honest!”

But … serialized stories are about change. So which version of the character is this? Before the change? After the change? Halfway the change?

You need to place the characters you invented on the timeline of your serialized story. At which part will the character be as I imagined them?

Maybe your character is “brave and honest” near the end of the story. What does this mean? That they should not have those traits at the start of the story. Otherwise, there’s no change.

So yes, even though it hurts, you have to “ruin” your character and give them flaws and handicaps at the start of the story. When readers first meet them, they are not (yet) brave and honest. In fact, that first chapter should Promise the reader (subtly) that this story will be about overcoming those flaws.

If you write serialized stories, a better way to view characters is as a “dynamic entity”. Don’t write down what they “are”, write down how they “change” (start and finish).

Episodic

In an episodic story, each part stands on its own. You can watch them in any order. Your contract with the viewer is: “Trust me, I will use these characters in faithful and interesting ways, and you are going to like following their adventures”

You can make the characters change. But it’s smaller change that doesn’t lead anywhere. And it’s not necessary—in fact, it often works against you when trying to tell an episodic story.

This type is ideal if you have a group of fun characters, a world filled with fun places, and the audience just likes being there. They don’t need a big journey, a great evil to defeat, a major change. In fact, the audience likes being in the world as it is now, so changing it will probably damage their enjoyment!

How to use this?

Most stories are serialized. In fact, many writers forget that episodic storytelling even exists.

But any long-running TV show or book series will be episodic (think of Adventure Time or the Discworld books). These stories often have hundreds of parts, all of which are very short and self-contained stories. They end due to some external reason (no motivation anymore, the show is cancelled, whatever), not because the story is done. Because the story is never “done”: in episodic storytelling, you’re not going anywhere, so how could you ever arrive at a finish line?

It’s important to pick which one you’re executing before starting that big multipart project.

• Serialized? Plan ahead. Estimate how many parts you’ll roughly need, and how each part will change the characters and lead closer to some ultimate climax. You need a strong hero that is interesting enough to carry this whole story on their back. Once over, it’s over.
• Episodic? Focus on creating the best possible group of characters and setting. They should be so fun and diverse, that people can enjoy endless stories within them, and you can write endless stories within them.

Why is this important?

I actually struggled a lot with this. That’s probably why I wanted to include this chapter, even though this is a decision many writers don’t have to make.

Once, I had two similar ideas I considered “very strong”. The ideas allowed me to write short books (mostly for children), as often as I wanted. In other words, I had created a structure that allowed me to break the story into many parts. As long as I stayed motivated, I could always add another book to the series.

Yes, I had invented ideas for episodic storytelling. But I didn’t know it at the time! I approached the ideas as if they were serialized, as that’s the only thing I knew.

Needless to say, this caused trouble. I didn’t want limit how many parts I could write … but I did want a character arc and progression throughout the whole series. Each idea started with a big mystery, the kind that spans the whole story and is only resolved when the story ends. But if I never knew if the current part was the final one, how could I ever pick the right moment to resolve that mystery!?

This ideas, although strong, were put on the backburner for years because I couldn’t figure it out. Until, finally, I realized I needed to make a choice. Was it serialized or episodic?

• I decided one of the ideas was episodic. I had no planned arc, but rather an interesting world in which adventures could take place.
• I decided the other idea was serialized. That one was focused on one clear hero and their journey. The best parts of the idea came from big mysteries or major arcs. Even though I’m an improviser, I had to create a (rough) plan for all the parts ahead of time. I needed to know how many parts I had, so I could clearly lead the reader towards a climax.

In the process, I did discover a trick to bridge the gap between serialized and episodic.

The trick: divide and conquer

I “subdivided” this idea of mine into smaller series.

It’s similar to how a TV show is subdivided into seasons and then episodes. Usually, a season has its own arc, with its own climax around the final episodes. If the show were to be canceled once the season was over, it would be fine. There was still a resolution and a (mostly) finished story.

I learned that you can apply the same thing to books. I don’t know if this idea of mine can sustain 5 stories, or 25. But if I group them 5 at a time, it doesn’t matter. I only need to plan the next 5 parts and make sure they have a satisfying ending. Once that’s done, I simply start over for the next chunk of stories.

I’m sorry I cannot give a more detailed example. When this course is published, the first book(s) for this idea won’t be public yet. If you want more details, send me an email and I’ll update this example (once those books are out)!

Now write!

Write a multipart story. (To keep the challenge doable, make this a sequence of 3–5 short stories.)

Try one that is serialized, and another one that is episodic. Lean into the strengths of each type. Come up with an idea that allows splitting it into chunks.

See how much you need to plan ahead of time to make the serialized story work. Make sure it leads somewhere and follows an interesting hero who changes.

Also experience the freedom of episodic storytelling. See if you can craft standalone stories (still within the same universe or connected), that don’t necessarily lead somewhere but are still fun.