Welcome to my first post about Writing and Preparing a Serial for Publication! The most frequent question I received about serials goes something like this: How do you draft a cohesive, unified story when you know it will be published in pieces?⁣⁣
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So, that’s the topic of this first post! Keep in mind that I’m writing about what worked *for me.* Your mileage may vary with this process, so please take what I say with a grain of salt! And, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to it!⁣⁣
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In my writing process, I draft in three main phases.⁣⁣
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In my first phase, I write what a Zero Draft.⁣⁣
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This is an extremely detailed summary of the entire novel, written quickly and in extremely casual English. Writing quickly forces me to keep the pace of the story moving, so that each scene pushes the story constantly forward.⁣⁣
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Once I’m done, I’ve got a very slim draft, which I’ll develop later. For example, the Zero Draft for #ProjectBrokenMoon came in at only 23,179 words. This may seem like a low word count, but remember that this a summary. I may capture some lines of description and dialog, but the goal *IS NOT* to write perfect prose.⁣⁣
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The goal is to craft what I hope is a cohesive and unified story and to see the entire serial at a glance. This way, I can ensure that every scene has a purpose, that every character has an arc, and that each of the story’s four acts has a clear beginning, middle, and end.⁣⁣
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Those acts – Act 1, Act 2A, Act 2B, and Act 3 – will become the four episodes of my serial.⁣⁣
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Once I finish my Zero Draft, I send it to beta readers. Some are professional editors (which is also what I do at my day job!). Others are experienced writers and readers. All have an in-depth understanding of story structure, character, and are clear on my goals for my book. I trust them to catch any plot holes, moments where the tension falls out of the story, and scenes where my characters behave inconsistently or where their motives are unclear.⁣⁣
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When I get beta feedback, I incorporate it into my notes and start my First Draft!