Scribes, Storytellers, and Serials

A thoroughly exciting semantic exploration of writerly words...

Did you know that one of my concentrations in grad school was the history of text technology? The study of how writing — text as we know it — developed as a technology, from cuniform writing with reed styluses to the swipe-style keyboards of smart phones, it is a fascinating field. (If I could have remained an academic, I would have likely gotten a PhD in the topic…doors I regret having to close).

The result of my fascination is that I am hyper aware of the meanings and history of words we writers commonly use with the assumption we all know what we mean: book, novel, platform, distributor, story, ebook, print, hard copy, writing.

For instance, “writing” used to mean something very specific: the act of writing on an object (clay tablet, papyrus, vellum). Being a writer was exclusively about the action the task required, and was along the lines of what we mean by “scribe” or “transcriber.” It had nothing to do with being the person thinking the thoughts being written down.

This use of the word is why early typewriters were people: a writer who typed their writing using a machine. Writing was something only educated people could do, but they were not called “writers.” What they wrote reflected who and how they were known: philosophers, playwrights, religious leaders, poets. The original sense of it remains, sure, but in modern times has become peripheral to the whole of it, since to be “a writer” is synonymous with being a storyteller. The content has become supreme over the format.

Storyteller came first, let’s be clear; writers were not considered the same as storytellers until extremely recently (oh, a topic for another post appears!).

In fact, most people we call writers are not writing a lot anyway, they are typing (or talking) a lot. And no one cares but me, because that’s really threading the needle for no reason. However, it’s with this background that I sheepishly realized I have been unforgivably sloppy with my terminology, which is just aggravating, okay?

In May, with the support of the Subscriptions for Authors podcast host and Ream co-founder Michael Evans, I gave an impromptu presentation on using story beats for serials.

In it, I went back and forth between the terms “serial” and “serialized story” but as I work on my book on the topic, Become an Unstoppable Storyteller, I’ve realized they are related but not synonymous terms.

Why does it matter? Because if you are serializing a story, it helps with planning, writing, and marketing it to know if you are writing a serial or a novel.

Okay, fine! So what is the difference?

“Serializing” is a verb, a term of doing: the delivery of a story to a reading audience sequentially in parts (chapters or scenes). It can apply to many forms of storytelling, both fiction and non-fiction. Novels, anthologies, and epic poems can all be serialized!

Often when authors these days talk about serializing a story for their followers/patrons, they mean a novel that they will eventually publish as a stand-alone book.

However, a serialized novel is not what I mean when I say “serial.” Here are the definitions I’ve created for the glossary of Become and Unstoppable Storyteller:

• Serial: A type of story form, usually over 100,000 words of fictional prose, that is designed to be shared sequentially in parts (chapters or scenes) over a period of time and contains overlapping story arcs. A serial is a generative form of storytelling, and is one of the oldest forms of storytelling. Serials are most familiar to people today as television shows and long-running manga.

• Novel: A type of story form, usually comprising over 50,000 words of fictional prose depicting characters and action. A novel is a self-contained story and is most commonly found in the format of a book, but can also be published serially.

I’ve parsed out these two forms of storytelling because I think they are fundamentally very different, even if over the past few hundred years the novel has reigned supreme as one of the primary forms of storytelling.

But a serial is different, and I encourage you to start thinking of serials as their own unique art form.

I have a lot more to say about that, but I’ve got to get back to work on my book for now. Deadlines! Ack! Being out sick for a week has really cramped my style…