The serial narrative is not the salvation of the
news business. It’s nothing more than another tool that helps the writer tell a
certain kind of story. As a distinctive literary form, the serial does offer
special advantages and opportunities.
1.) It helps
convert Sunday to daily readership.
Most newspapers have more Sunday than
daily readers. Sunday circulation has grown in some places, even as daily circulation
has dropped. When you begin a dramatic story on a Sunday, ending the first
chapter with a cliffhanger, you invite the reader to buy the Monday paper to follow along. I
have received many messages from Florida tourists who picked
up one of my series and found ways to follow the story when they returned to
their home states or foreign countries. This process is much easier now that chapters
can be stored for readers on Web sites.
So consider serialization as a way to get older readers to try out your Web site.
2.)
It helps build readership.
Many factors and variables determine newspaper
circulation, so it is difficult to gauge the effect of any one story or serial.
But the The (Baltimore) Sun insists its
circulation rose by four percent during the 17 days of a serial titled
“God’s Other Plan,” about the premature death of a young mother.
Readers of Tom French’s work have been known to meet the circulation trucks to follow a
series. Many readers have told me that they read every word of “Three
Little Words,” even though they were disinclined to read most standard
newspaper series. Readers of The Oregonian
in Portland have sent
messages in gratitude for the serials of Tom Hallman by the thousands and
thousands.
3.)
It reconciles the benefits of short and long writing.
Since the
creation of USA Today, story length
has been the bone of contention in American newsrooms, and continues to be with
the development of online news sites. Back in the day, the kind of journalist
you were depended upon whether you favored the news “nuggets” of USA Today or the “megaturd”
sagas of The Philadelphia Inquirer. In the late 1990s, the serial narrative
offered a path toward compromise and reconciliation. “Three Little
Words” contained almost 30,000 words on a serious, complicated topic, but was divided over 29 days. Writers can report in depth and over time, aspiring to
their best and most enterprising work. Time-starved readers can experience the
story in shorter chapters and in a way that does not encourage them to ignore
the rest of the paper.
4.)
The serial is compatible with new forms of media, such as the Internet.
“Three
Little Words” was the first series published on the St. Petersburg Times Web site. Publication there (as well as in the
daily paper) had many advantages:
- Readers who missed a chapter in the newspaper could
find it on the Web site. - Readers could stack up the chapters on the Web site and
read the story all at once. - Readers all over the world could follow the story.
- Students from the St.
Petersburg area, who attended college out of
town, could
follow the story. - Hundreds of readers could leave messages while the
story was in
progress. - Some of these readers became potential sources for the
story. - The Minneapolis Star Tribune Web site included these
features with
“Sadie’s Ring“: my reading two chapters aloud, my 90-minute conversation with staffers about
the series, and my reading a summary of each chapter. (Think, now, of the podcast as another vehicle for publication.)
It turns out that Web sites crave return traffic,
and the serial offers online readers the narrative invitation to return each
day to follow the story.
5.) The serial
puts the community in conversation with itself.
Because of its dimensions, the serial
magnifies all story effects, good and bad. If the story is sensational, it will
appear more sensational as a serial. If it is sensitive, it will appear more
sensitive. Because it extends over days and weeks, it inspires a special kind
of community conversation. Readers “live in the story” during its run and often
make emotional connections with the characters. A sign of the power of the
serial: Many readers will become curious about what happens to the characters
after the story ends.
TIP: Updates and sequels are at times appropriate.
Tomorrow: Chapter Four —
Kick-Starting the Story
