Having written two serials now, in this new pseudo-eBook format, I have to say, I’m not sold on it. I’m not sure I want to go back to the shorter, daily updates that I was known for in the past, but I’m not sure these novellas are the way to go.
When TeachTheSky.com first went live back in 2002, the purpose of the serials was to ‘compete’ with webcomics. As I was just starting my convention-speaking career, I wanted a way to showcase my writing that was new and innovative. Coupled with my love and admiration of webcomics (the new kids on the artistic block), as well as my growing fascination and appreciation for American television (as opposed to anime or cartoons), I embraced a five-day-a-week updating schedule.
Of course, producing that much written work takes a lot of time. Time and energy. That’s something I seemed to have plenty of in my early twenties. Now, in my mid-thirties? I’m not so cavalier with my efforts. Of course, it wasn’t just the production time and energy that went into it. That sort of writing was almost free-form, leading to dangling plot holes, unresolved issues, and a host of other problems that only come from writing massive amounts on a daily basis and then trying to edit it yourself.
Still, I find myself considering going back to that format. Writing Red Moon Rising (the reimagined and newer version of the serial that was originally Teach the Sky), I am aware of how much I had to cut out of the story to shoehorn it into this newer method of novellas as opposed to bite-sized episodes. As I stare down rewriting and rereleasing other serials like Dead Man and APT Responders, I’m not sure I want to cut that much again. Sure, there was some fluff, but even the fluff provided real form and character to the story.
So I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know if I’ll stick with this current form, go back to the dailies, or find some new format. Webcomics aren’t the cultural and artistic powerhouses they were a decade ago, and television as I knew it growing up has almost ceased to exist (what with on-demand, streaming, and binge-watching). In other words, the two major influences on my serial writing aren’t influencing me anymore. Not sure if I should double-down or find a new outlet.
We’ll see. 🙂
Teach The Sky 