To Write a Mini-Serial

My analysis of writing Ascent. and the lessons I learned.

When I sat down to write Ascent. I had a good idea of what I wanted. Ascent. is the prequel to my Vindicators novels, currently three books published on Amazon. It covers an event that I first described way back in chapter one of book one. So, I’d been thinking about it a long time and I finally decided to put it in writing. I had my three main characters in the best friends Colonels Adrian, Tarly, and Molitor. I knew the event, the duel that would tear them apart so they would be arch-rivals at the start of Vindicators.

The hard part was telling the story between their friendship and the duel at the end. So, writing the actual story. I decided on six parts. Most would end in cliffhangers to keep the tension up. Each part would be Adrian taking a step deeper from the power climbing, but loyal friend and soldier, to the truly ruthless schemer he is by the star of the Vindicators novels.

Here’s how it happened.

Part 1: The Easy:

Planning was minimal. I decided on a six-party story. It was long enough to world build for Vindicators and build up all three of my characters and their fated friendship. Characters are the focus of my writing. I’ve spent a long time studying and practicing with characters and their interactions.

Writing them, therefore, was a fun exercise in foundation building. Since all three characters were in the book series, and quite hostile to each other, I got to show the original friendship they had. After writing them as enemies who matched up, I was showing the friendship that made them counter each other so well when they fought each other during Vindicators.

The world building was also one of the fun, easy things. I like to world build from exclusively the protagonist’s view. Meaning when Adrian stands at the bottom of the world and looks up, the reader sees only what he sees. As he moves through the world, the reader sees more.

Writing those big obvious world structures is simple. The complex, but ot hard part was the little connective tissues between them. I like to show that through how people in the setting interact with the big world structures. For instance, Ascent. is set on the massive Tollyon space station, with modules so large each is an entire city on its own. On a balcony overlooking an artificial canyon, Adrian meets an old gay couple custom making robot friends in a little stand, like artists at a fair stall. They give him a discount because he’s in uniform.

Little people moments amidst the big structures.

Part 2: The Hard

The journey matters more than the destination as dozens of poets and philosophers have said throughout history. I knew where everyone was going and the setting they were in. None of that mattered if I couldn’t get them there in a coherent, entertaining story.

I realized early on that while Adrian was the main character, this was a story about four characters: Adrian, Molitor, Tarly, and the corrupt Admiralty as a whole. Each of the three supporting characters needed their own development in equal quantities.

I also decided each chapter needed to have a separate, distinct theme. Each cliffhanger would mark the abrupt transition from one theme, into the next. Thing of it as a six-layer pyramid, with the climax at the top. With the journey sorted out, I began.

Part 3: Episode Roadmap

Part One: I introduced Adrian, Tarly, and Molitor. I gave them little friendship cues, moments of connection between them that show that they have been together long enough to know each other’s habits and histories and understand each other. These are the little details, the day-to-day interactions. I also introduce the world and get to some worldbuilding.

Part Two: This was about giving Adrian a convincing reason to betray Tarlay. This chapter was about showing off Adrian’s little bits of humanity beneath his uniform. His love for teaching, and his desire to add something good to the world. In short, I was showing what he’d lose if he chose Tarly over his career.

Part Three: This was the most straightforward.  Adrian has a fight; the reader gets to see Adrian be an absolute monster of hand-to-hand combat. He gets hurt anyways, then has a bit of a mental breakdown. Strength and vulnerability all in one.

Part Four: I had to show the highs of their three-person friendship, in their combined scheme to cut through the military bureaucracy and plead their case directly to the highest authority in the Admiralty. Also, I had to show the lows, as Adrian and Tarly are already at arms’ length and scheming.

Part Five: In the penultimate chapter, my only goal was tightening the tension as much as possible. According to my definition, tension is the implications, and anticipation, the invisible piano about to fall on everyone’s heads. By definition, describing tension directly reduces it by removing the suspense. So I had to figure out how to build it indirectly. I had two parallel plots for this one; the first was Tarly fighting each of her three siblings and utterly murdering them. The second is Adrian struggling to prepare. While she’s a whirlwind with a blade, he’s so tired he’s resting his shoulder on some who is a direct threat, just because she shows a bit of sympathy, and he needs that.

Part Six: I knew this duel was coming from the start, and I knew how it would end. To make up for that certainty, I needed spectacle. I had to make this the best fight scene I’d ever written. I focused on two ways I could tighten the tension until it did explode. First, my technical description, making the fight as thematic as possible. Second, the emotional description. This is a character-driven fight. These are two friends, and the fight starts slowly, with them aiming for each other’s extremities, unwilling to truly commit. As I escalate, I write them more and more brutal. They start tearing each other apart as all barriers of friendship go out the window.

Part 4: The results

Am I happy with my story? I think Ascent. came out amazing. It’s both perfect on its own, and perfect as a piece of the larger Vindicators series. I loved writing it, and I loved the result of my six part story.

I also learned a lot about writing a serial. I learned how to keep the excitement going through each part, and how to spread the details out, so there’s never a dull moment and each chapter offers a new dramatic high point.

But I do post these stories on substack for the sake of having an audience. So, what do the numbers say?

Viewership averaged about 40 views per chapter the entire way, which was very high by my standards. The consistency was also great, as it mean people who read the first chapter were enthralled the whole way. I gained 2 subscribers with the first episode and 4 more with the final, which means that, accounting for my 50 preexisting subscribers, a not insignificant chunk of readers enjoyed enough to subscribe for all my future stories. Thank you.

Part 5: Lessons Learned

As the story grew, I learned new lessons writing, and gained a greater understanding of what works on substack.

First, it’s better to write as much of the story in advance as I could. Even if I’m dividing it into chapters, it’s good to have the entire plan out and done. That means if I change something, I can change it in every part.

Second, cliffhangers are useful. I used to think cliffhanger endings were just cheesy. I’ve learned that they’re useful when doing a serial to keep readers coming back over and over

Third, 3500-5000 words remains the sweet spot for my chapters. Enough to spin a good story with lots of detail, but not too long it starts dragging.

Part Six: What comes next?

I have a substack, I have 56 subscribers *blows kiss to loyal subs* and I have some lessons learned. I’m going to continue posting every Wednesday. After doing a serial, I’m excited to write some brand-new original stories where I’m just creating a new world for one story and throwing it away after, like the old final fantasy games.

I’ve also decided, while I’m unemployed and applying to every job that says ‘retail management’ in the title, I have time to write something special for all of you subscribers. The first issue of my Sunday shorts comes out next Sunday. This will be semi-regular, not for lack of time but because flash fiction is something new to me. Doing a story in 4000 words is fine. Doing it in under 1500 is a completely different death star to blow up

And slay that death star, I will do. And I thank all of you for your support and appreciation of my writing.

That’s all.

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