Many great writers, including Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, began writing what came to be known as their great works in a serialized format. The story would thus unfold before the reader in episodes, rather than being available from start to finish, as with a published novel.
There must have been a certain thrill for the reader— given, of course that the story itself was compelling and its characters intriguing— to take part in the experience of being a witness to an evolving phenomenon, of seeing a work in progress, even as it was on the course of progressing towards its eventual conclusion.
As with the movie serials in days of yore, or shows on television (prior to streaming services making it possible to “binge watch” an entire series over the course of a day or so), the writers of serialized novels must have felt tempted to craft cliffhangers and spring shocking revelations on the reader in the final paragraph, gimmicky though such tactics may have been, in order to keep the reader hooked and breathless for more.
And speaking of the writers themselves, what must it have been like for them to write a novel in serialized form? That is, to write a section of the story, and then publish it, and register readers’ reactions to that section of the work before continuing the narrative? It must have made for an altogether unique dynamic between author and audience.
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I don’t have access to the same kind of readership as those who serialized their novels in magazines before publishing them as books in the past, but I’ve decided that I am going to post a novel that I am currently writing here. The first post in this serialized novel will be available to everyone; after that, only paid subscribers will be able to gain access to additional posts.
There will also, of course, be other posts unrelated to the novel, which will continue to be free to read. Stay tuned!