I’m beginning to think that serial novels will take over the world… I can’t make up my mind if they take more work or less to make several stories from one set of characters. I mean, you create the characters, then outline the story, then break down that outline into smaller chunks and then start writing. The small chunks make these long stories easier to sell. But, are they easier to write? Do they sacrifice the story to have a longer story broken up into chunks that each have to have a beginning, middle, and end even as they serve as beginning, middle, and end?
Lately, I’ve been frustrated… Why don’t stories just END? Why must some of these series go on as if they are Days of Our Lives? What makes them so attractive to readers? Is it the fact that the stories are comfortable or that the characters become friends?
I keep thinking about this and how it applies. Some stories, like Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) you just don’t want to end, but others like Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) you ALMOST wish would have ended before it did. Think about this: What would Grapes of Wrath BE if we found out what happened AFTER that night in the barn? I’d hate to find out, for the reason it made me THINK about human nature as deeply as I did was the ending.
So, why such a pull to the serial novel? If you know, please let me know.