Your experiences writing / reading a series

[Belegon]

I've used the "series" feature to link a couple sets of tales. most of them can stand entirely on their own. The stories in question share main characters and the events in stories that predate others will affect the following stories. But I have not posted anything on Lit that is effectively "chapters" in a longer, novel length story... just stand alones that tie together in settings and characters

 

[Djmac1031]

I do that all the time, with characters crossing over from their "world" into another story stream.

The key is to make sure each story stands on its own, but might be that little bit richer for faithful followers. Don't make the stories rely on each other, just refer to each other in an Easter egg kind of a way.

For example:

My Adam character in the Floating World meets Amanda. He's then in another story with Madelyn, who looks out the window of her office building and sees him down below in a key scene from the Amanda story, thus establishing two parallel time sequences.

The woman who inspired Madelyn stuck in my head, and there's another story where she's Madeline, reads the Madelyn story on Literotica, and gets in touch with the author, who is Adam, a writer.

Meanwhile, in another time-line entirely, Adam meets Ruby in one of his cafés, and there are three stories in that sequence, one of which gives a side character, Lizzie, a story of her own. Ruby then features in a Mickey Spillane tribute story, as herself, but in 1947.

Meanwhile, a real life friend said, "I'd love to get with Amanda," so I wrote the first of my Emma and Bobbie stories, where the friend becomes Bobbie, and Amanda merges into Emma. In that story, the male lead is David, who also turns up in a breast feeding fetish story with Rebecca. Totally separate world.

There are a few more Emma and Bobbie stories, then Bobbie meets Adam on a plane, thus joining up with the Floating World. Adam is then on assignment somewhere else, and meets a transgender version of Bobbie, which runs for four chapters.

And so it goes.

It's as easy as writing another story.

Ive done versions of this.

My character Jenna needed an account in one chapter. I had an account character in my other series, the dad from Caring For Carrie.

And so i decided Jenna knew him and his daughter Carrie because he was Jenna's dad's account and her and Carrie were childhood friends.

Readers of both stories would pick up on the connection, but new readers didn't have to have read the Carrie stories to follow along.

Much later, after I ended the Jenna series officially, I had her and Tom show up as supporting characters in a new story, Air E&V.

Again, for new readers they'd just be side characters in the story. But readers of the Jenna series would obviously recognize them.

 

[Areala-chan]

Yes, you encountered Readers Like Me.

I'm not a bit daunted by a 35k-word story, and will happily read it. The same story broken into little bits and given a chapter number is very unlikely to get my eyeballs.

Which shouldn't necessarily stop you! There are payoffs to series just as there are payoffs to non-series. But it's useful to know the potential drawbacks too, and that's what gives threads like this such value.

This.

Unless the author is on my favorites list, has made it clear how long the series is, and that they have finished and edited the entire thing prior to submitting the first chapter, then I'm not interested in reading them. I have no intention to write one, because I can't imagine a single scenario where me splitting a story up into multiple parts results in a better experience for my potential readers than allowing them to eat it all at once. I don't have paying subscribers, I'm not a streaming service: if I drop a 35k word story, I want my audience to stay up until past their bedtime because they can't stop. I don't want to tell them, "You liked that? Wait two more days and you can have more."

Screw that: finish off the whole carton of ice cream. You deserve it. And I worked hard to make it delicious.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

For those of us (SEVERAL!) who write in an interconnected universe, in which everything links in some way to everything else, I think we owe it to our readers to make absolutely sure each story really can stand on its own. I don't think that's a problem any of us have, but it bears remembering in case any newbs are reading into this stuff.

Many of my stories allude to things that happen in many others, but never in a way that drives the main plot. My stories that don't have numbered chapters can all be read in total isolation, if desired.

You raise the conundrum debated here about what constitutes a series versus writing serially.

For what it's worth, I agree with you that a series episode should be stand-alone; related to or associated with other stand-alone stories, but independent of them for purpose or plot continuity.

A serially written episode is a chapter piece of the whole. Each episode (chapter) maintains a dependency on others to tell the complete story.

 

[EmilyMiller]

if I drop a 35k word story, I want my audience to stay up until past their bedtime because they can't stop.

While I agree up to this level. I found the concept of publishing 90,000 words en masse daunting. Six parts of 15,000 words each made more sense to me, especially as each part was contained within a distinct location.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

On a slightly different note,

How would you handle a series of somewhat stand alone stories that use the same characters/situations? I have one I'm possibly thinking about putting into a series. It would be in Group Sex. The group has various get-togethers, but they aren't meant to be chained together in a tight chronological fashion. It would be best for readers to start at the first to get context on the characters, but might not be required.

This is extremely common in traditional publishing. Consider the works of people such as Lee Child with his Jack Reacher series or Nelson DeMille with his John Corey series.

I have my "Before They Were Stars" series here, which currently has seven uniquely different stories following the same plot concept. Or my "Uncle Sugar Daddy" series where the same main character beds has three separate scenarios.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

While I agree up to this level. I found the concept of publishing 90,000 words en masse daunting. Six parts of 15,000 words each made more sense to me, especially as each part was contained within a distinct location.

I don't think that the criticism is necessarily about the stories being broken up into pieces so much as it is about the pieces not being made available in a reasonable timeframe for the readers to maintain a flow with the overall story.

In the end, once the entire story has been published for a while, this isn't an issue any longer.

An example of this is "Lady in Red", by Harddaysknight. It was published in three parts over 65 chapters, and took over six years to complete. Readers today get to enjoy the overall story by moving immediately from the first piece to the last at their own pace. Something that wasn't possible while it was in the process of being written.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't think that the criticism is necessarily about the stories being broken up into pieces so much as it is about the pieces not being made available in a reasonable timeframe for the readers to maintain a flow with the overall story.

Agreed. My novel was published over six days and had been finalized before the first part was published.

I’ve been guilty of leaving Bouncing Back hanging after three chapters. Have to resolve that some time this year.

 

[Voboy]

You raise the conundrum debated here about what constitutes a series versus writing serially.

For what it's worth, I agree with you that a series episode should be stand-alone; related to or associated with other stand-alone stories, but independent of them for purpose or plot continuity.

A serially written episode is a chapter piece of the whole. Each episode (chapter) maintains a dependency on others to tell the complete story.

Well, then we have a terminological dispute. I think a series IS "serial." I think that's in the name. For courtesy, such stories should be numbered or lettered when posted to a site like this.

I believe a stand-alone story is exactly that. If it links to alternate stories, that's no different from Madison quoting Locke: completely different, self-contained works that nevertheless have a passing relation to each other.

I regard my catalog here as being in a "universe." My 110-odd stories are not a "series," unless I've numbered them as such.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Well, then we have a terminological dispute. I think a series IS "serial." I think that's in the name. For courtesy, such stories should be numbered or lettered when posted to a site like this.

I believe a stand-alone story is exactly that. If it links to alternate stories, that's no different from Madison quoting Locke: completely different, self-contained works that nevertheless have a passing relation to each other.

I regard my catalog here as being in a "universe." My 110-odd stories are not a "series," unless I've numbered them as such.

Terminology is indeed the conundrum.

To further illustrate the terminology dispute, you could take a series such as those written by mystery writers like James Patterson. The Alex Cross books are definitely a series, but they are each also written serially, in chapters. If published on Literotica, he could either publish each series installment as a whole, or by individual chapter.

In my opinion, it boils down to meeting reader expectations. If a reader was to start with the third episode in my "Before They were Stars" series, they would find a complete story and miss absolutely nothing by not reading any of the other six episodes in the series. The same would not be the case if they started on chapter five of my novel "Justice".

Setting reader expectations when publishing, and then meeting them with the delivery of stories is the courteous thing for writers to do, regardless of how they want to classify their work.

 

[CalBishForNow]

Well, then we have a terminological dispute. I think a series IS "serial." I think that's in the name. For courtesy, such stories should be numbered or lettered when posted to a site like this.

I've screwed this up once or twice myself, but...

• Standalone: original work intended to be enjoyed independently or close enough. It may use characters or ideas from something else but the main plot doesn't depend on any other works and no other works are dependent on it. Stephen King's The Stand is standalone (even though Randall Flagg appears in other stories of his).
• Serial: one big work published in many smaller parts. Could be collected and republished as one big work with few edits and a reader would enjoy it as such just as much if not more. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series was basically one huge story published serially, as far as I know (I never finished it).
• Episodic: multiple works enjoyable independently with self-contained plots but a common cast or theme. Readers can generally skip episodes or even read them out of order and still basically get them, like sitcoms.

It's easy enough to break it down like that, but there are a lot of problems. For one thing, Lit has one "Series" tool for both serial and episodic works. For another, it's subjective where a given work falls between the two, and an author might intend any of the three and have it accidentally turn into the other two by the time they're done.

Personally I like the idea of doing something episodic, with established characters and their quirks and simple nonstop plot and action, but it's hard to wrap every single possible idea up in one plot as opposed to leaving some ongoing, which makes it more like a serial.

 

[SmilingLez]

As a reader (I have not written a series nor do I intend to), I will read a series when It is complete and published. I don't like reading a chapter or two and then having to wait (not knowing if the author wants to finish it). I like to finish a book in one sitting, if possible. YMMV

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I've screwed this up once or twice myself, but...

• Standalone: original work intended to be enjoyed independently or close enough. It may use characters or ideas from something else but the main plot doesn't depend on any other works and no other works are dependent on it. Stephen King's The Stand is standalone (even though Randall Flagg appears in other stories of his).
• Serial: one big work published in many smaller parts. Could be collected and republished as one big work with few edits and a reader would enjoy it as such just as much if not more. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series was basically one huge story published serially, as far as I know (I never finished it).
• Episodic: multiple works enjoyable independently with self-contained plots but a common cast or theme. Readers can generally skip episodes or even read them out of order and still basically get them, like sitcoms.

It's easy enough to break it down like that, but there are a lot of problems. For one thing, Lit has one "Series" tool for both serial and episodic works. For another, it's subjective where a given work falls between the two, and an author might intend any of the three and have it accidentally turn into the other two by the time they're done.

Personally I like the idea of doing something episodic, with established characters and their quirks and simple nonstop plot and action, but it's hard to wrap every single possible idea up in one plot as opposed to leaving some ongoing, which makes it more like a serial.

To a large degree, it depends on whether you are using the terms as nouns our verbs.

In most cases, an "episode" is defined as an installment, and as such, in literature, it fits both a one-and-done story consisting of chapters as well as a series of inter-related stand-alone tales.

The example I often use for a series of episodes is the television program, M.A.S.H. Each episode shared the same premise, location, and most of the characters, but they were not dependent upon each other for purpose or continuity. In contrast, programs such as "Dallas" or "Game of Thrones", which were also series, their episodes ran serially, and were dependent on the others.

Both types of "episodes" work, but how they get present to their audience can make a huge difference in reader engagement and satisfaction.

 

[Writer61]

Mostly, I write stories with recurring characters, each an episode in a series. They can stand alone, but they probably make more sense when read in sequence.

As a reader, I prefer stories, chapterised or episodic, rather than a single long piece.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I posted this on another thread. Please note that the ratings for Part I and Part II are currently artificially low, pending the next personalized mini-sweep by the site.



I think this shows that it doesn’t have to be a dramatic fall off in views with new chapters. And yes all six parts were published en masse over six consecutive days.

 

[bi_cathy]

I've had 3 distinct experiences writing series.

1. With I'd Go Gay For You, the first story is a quick scene that came to me in a bout of inspiration. I wrote it in a couple of days, which is not how my obsessive re-reading and self-editing works for me usually, and published it without a second thought. I intended it to be a standalone, which is why it doesn't even have a Ch 1 in title. Then readers asked for more. I laughed it off because I never do continuations, but then the idea of Ch2 came to me in another bout of inspiration a year later. I thought what the heck, wrote it, published it, got a lot of love. Rinse and repeat for Ch3 a year later. I swore I wouldn't continue. But people wanted more. So I tried to force it. There's a draft for Ch4 that's been sitting in my docs for 10+ years now. I don't like it, so it's not getting published. I think it'll forever be a 3-parter, and I'm fine with that. It's still one of my most popular stories to this date, with readers going from 114K down to 56K over the 3 chapters. Not bad overall.

2. With 3 Crushes and a Wedding, the story started out as a one-parter in my head, but as I wrote, the characters chose to go in unexpected directions, and slowly, a clear separation between chapters in the journey was drawn. And it was supposed to be a full journey, i.e. chapters didn't really stand on their own. It took a few years to write the 70K words (I am a very slow writer), I had the entire series almost finished and decided to start publishing. Then real life happened. And I got stuck in limbo outside of Literotica for a long time. I left that series hanging midway multiple times. Readers reached out to see if I was fine. Then I made my way back. I published a couple more chapters, but still wasn't happy with the final scenes. So I stalled... And eventually made it to the finish line. The series was still loved and many readers made it to the end despite the 16-month gap, but I lost a lot more along the way (26K to 7K). The ratings are solid throughout, though, which is nice. I swore to never leave a series hanging this long after this, and to never start publishing if I don't have a clear idea of the ending. My slow writing would make that an impossible burden to follow through.

3. With A spectacular pair of tits, once again, the original premise was one story, but it was long enough that I decided to split it into two chapters. This time, though, I wrote the whole thing, edited the whole thing, got a beta-reader/editor to check it all, applied all the edits based on feedback, and then hit publish on Ch1. I told readers Ch 2 would come 7 days later, and it did. 35K to 24K is an acceptable loss, imo. Ratings are solid for both, and the second chapter has more comments than the first.

Lesson learned: If you're writing a long story and dividing in chapters, have a plan and try to condense publishing time as much as possible so you don't lose readers along the way. Explain the plan from the start in an Author's Note so they know what they're getting invested in, and stick to the plan. If you can, upload all the chapters to Literotica from the start and keep them as pending drafts; that way, even if real life interrupts, you might still find a moment to go online and hit Submit.

(To an extent, this is the plan I intend to stick with for my 4th upcoming series, Strings Attached. But I'm on a tighter schedule here for a specific reason, so maybe I'll start publishing before I have Ch6 done. I do have the ending, though, this time, so I should be able to iron the rest out in time.)

I don't have any experience with series with free-standing chapters, though. That's probably a whole other ballgame.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't have any experience with series with free-standing chapters, though.

Can you please clarify the term, "free-standing chapters"?

Are these stand-alone episodes of a series or something different?"

 

[ElectricBlue]

I posted this on another thread. Please note that the ratings for Part I and Part II are currently artificially low, pending the next personalized mini-sweep by the site.

I think this shows that it doesn’t have to be a dramatic fall off in views with new chapters. And yes all six parts were published en masse over six consecutive days.

That's the number of votes, not views - although in my experience, there's always a rough correlation.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's the number of votes, not views - although in my experience, there's always a rough correlation.

I think votes are a more robust metric.

 

[bi_cathy]

Can you please clarify the term, "free-standing chapters"?

Are these stand-alone episodes of a series or something different?"

I meant series where that depict the journey of one or multiple characters but that can be read on their own without going back to the start (even if that is always better). Sometimes it's one main character and it's their journey with multiple partners. Sometimes it's a group of characters with each one going through different experiences. I've seen a lot of these on Lit. It's a bit like procedurals or comedy shows on TV, where you can drop off and pick up without missing too much.

The difference is vs series that are genuinely one long story divided into chapters (which is what I've written so far).

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think votes are a more robust metric.

Agree, but you did refer to Views.

I look at the ratio of Votes per View, as an indicator of reader response. 1:100 is typical across my content; better than that (my best is 1:10, but it's non-erotic) means the story really hit a chord. Even then, rarely have I seen more than a 2% Vote rate. Lit is a feedback lite place.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I meant series where that depict the journey of one or multiple characters but that can be read on their own without going back to the start (even if that is always better). Sometimes it's one main character and it's their journey with multiple partners. Sometimes it's a group of characters with each one going through different experiences. I've seen a lot of these on Lit. It's a bit like procedurals or comedy shows on TV, where you can drop off and pick up without missing too much.

The difference is vs series that are genuinely one long story divided into chapters (which is what I've written so far).

Got it.

To me, you are describing what I consider a series. Episodes that stand on their own but have characters, settings, or plot elements that are associated (shared) with other episodes. Nancy Drew Mysteries are an example that most people might recognize. I have two series published on Literotica.

This is different that writing serially, where a whole story is broken into chapters or parts which rely upon each other for purpose and clarity. A chaptered story is an example of this. The whole story can be published in a series of recurring submissions, but that doesn't change what it is; a chapter story and not a series.

Writing a series (noun) is not same as publishing in series (verb).

 

[EmilyMiller]

Agree, but you did refer to Views.

I look at the ratio of Votes per View, as an indicator of reader response. 1:100 is typical across my content; better than that (my best is 1:10, but it's non-erotic) means the story really hit a chord. Even then, rarely have I seen more than a 2% Vote rate. Lit is a feedback lite place.

The vote to view ratio for the stories I cite in the chart is about that. The first part has 4k views, then 1.5k, then 1.1 - 1.2k for the rest. You’d expect the 4 - 1.5k drop off between part one and two, my point was that views and votes then remained pretty much constant for parts three through six. People seem to often mention much more of a decay than that. My story plateaued.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The vote to view ratio for the stories I cite in the chart is about that. The first part has 4k views, then 1.5k, then 1.1 - 1.2k for the rest. You’d expect the 4 - 1.5k drop off between part one and two, my point was that views and votes then remained pretty much constant for parts three through six. People seem to often mention much more of a decay than that. My story plateaued.

When I went back to review stats from three years ago when I had chapters published, I saw similar leveling off on all of mine. Significant drop from the first chapter and then views and votes remained pretty consistent through the rest of the chapters, sometimes as many as 30 of them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The vote to view ratio for the stories I cite in the chart is about that. The first part has 4k views, then 1.5k, then 1.1 - 1.2k for the rest. You’d expect the 4 - 1.5k drop off between part one and two, my point was that views and votes then remained pretty much constant for parts three through six. People seem to often mention much more of a decay than that. My story plateaued.

Yep, plateau from chapter three onwards is behaviour I've often seen in my chaptered stories (maybe a further 10% drop-out to the final chapter, depending how long it is).

That's the premise of my metric that maybe one in five people who open Chapter One will go on and finish the whole thing.