Infinite Jump

Serial Workshop: The Structure

Serial works still follow the vast majority of the rules that can be applied to almost all fiction works a person could write. They are as intimidating as they may sound. I mean, it’s not another genre or style but is actually a completely different format for writing and releasing a book! But that doesn’t make it impossible to figure out. Writing a work with no discernable ending sounds daunting, but it can really be broken down into three major types, or structures, for simplicity.

#1: The Grand Adventure

This type of serial work is the most common and it is typically defined for its large, overarching goal. It is the only style which has a general ending in mind. Perhaps your character is looking for the killer, or maybe it’s a treasure hunt, or they have to beat a demon king, or they want to get with the girl, or they have to win the baseball championship. All of these are a story about a globalized end-state of some sort, and that ending can have two forms: multi-stage endings and delayed endings.

 Multi-stage endings means that once the ending is reached, a new one is produced. Upon getting the girl, a third wheel appears that forces the hero to decide between the two. Once they find the treasure, they discover it unleashes a bunch of demons. These kind of endings create more endings, or large “arcs,” as they are commonly known.

 The delayed ending maintains the same single end, but it creates a larger gap between the present plot and the ending. So something like hunting for a treasure can have an infinite number of small adventure arcs placed in before reaching the ending. They can go on side-quests, get stranded on islands, fight new villains, and on and on with the same old end goal constantly pushed away. These stories also have arcs, though the arcs don’t involve the global ending and making a new one.

#2: The Multi-view

Some serial works can simply be a collection of different, smaller stories and points of view revolving around a single event or a single world. These types can involve the same few characters or continuously generate new ones in an effort to explore a world or theme. In this sense, they are more of a collection of short stories similarly bound together. In the end they can hold a particular revelation or set of revelations or even reveal a larger plot at work interwoven among the stories. This means a multi-view can become exceptionally complex and well-planned, or it can evolve from a group of stories. It is highly recommended to attempt one of these stories to overcome writer’s block or lack of ability to finish a story.

#3: The Repeat

The repeat combines the multi-view and the grand adventure together to create a repetitive scenario serial work. Often these are gag works that revolve around a frequent sketch set up with the same few characters. An example would be a romance comedy where the main character continually tries to seduce those of the opposite sex for some larger goal. This combines the large goal of the grand adventure with the multiple stories of the multi-view. Often these types of works can become repetitive and/or boring by their nature or so they often end up sliding into grand adventure stories to give them an end goal. However, a well done Repeat story can move towards an end goal through progressive sketches, similar to the slow evolution of sitcom characters on television.

Hopefully through these different types of serials, you have found inspiration or guidance in some sort. Serial works can seem quite large and intimidating but can often be easier to write than traditional novels because they do not have beginning/middle/end pressure and instead let the author create an infinite storyline without being concerned about when it has to end or even where it has to go. 

So get out there and start writing!