![\"Howell.Quantum](\"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Howell.Quantum-Deadline.png\")
<\/a>This is what I\u2019ve found creating Quantum Deadline<\/a>, a sci-fi crime romp that comically explores the death of newspapers through the foggy lens of a reporter tripping through the multiverse. Like many authors, my project found its first iteration as a National Novel Writing Month<\/a> novel \u2014 one November, I arranged 50,000+ English words in a manner that produced the general effect of a novel. Despite the fact that the result was an unholy (if occasionally inspired) mess, I remained committed to seeing it through the bitter end of a Kindle download.<\/p>\nI put it in the proverbial drawer through the winter to cool and found when I exhumed it the following spring, I was ready to rewrite it. That said, there is no \u201cNational Rewriting Your Novel Month\u201d and I loathed the notion of working alone sans the esprit de corps I\u2019d experienced with NaNoWriMo.<\/p>\n
I tried. I failed. I had no sense of accountability or \u201cticking clock\u201d to compel me back to the work. Not that I was enthralled with the prospects I perceived in the book, it\u2019s just that, as a career-long newspaper columnist, I\u2019d grown accustomed to a weekly deadline. And someone to enforce it. With a speculative, self-generated project like Quantum Deadline, there was neither a deadline nor an irate editor to make me deliver. That\u2019s when I began to contemplate serialization. I needed to feel accountable and I needed a schedule \u2014 two aspects of serialization that I theretofore hadn\u2019t realized were possibilities.<\/p>\n
Moreover, I suspected serialization would allow me to \u201ccourse correct\u201d if I found that my readers were losing interest or recognize possibilities in the work that I hadn\u2019t. I think of it as akin to The Lean Startup concept of creating a \u201cminimum viable product\u201d that allows for pivots between plot points.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere,\u201d writes Eric Reis, The Lean Startup\u2019s main advocate and author of a popular business tome of the same name.<\/p>\n
If we replace the term \u201cstartup\u201d with the word \u201cwriting,\u201d the path to serialization becomes self-evident. Instead of hunkering down, alone in the back of a Starbucks, the premise of releasing iterations of your work while refining it allows you the opportunity to grow and create community around it in the meantime.<\/strong><\/p>\n The trick is to be responsive to the concerns of your readership rather than defensive. You\u2019re creating a feedback loop, not a combat zone. You don\u2019t need to completely alter the vision of your paranormal YA romance when your readership is flagging, nagging or otherwise bagging on your work. However, you do have the opportunity to make adjustments in the next installment (and retroactively as well \u2014 serial readers are very forgiving, I find, so long as you point to relevant changes that improve their enjoyment of the work).<\/p>\n Likewise, authors are advised to read Austin Kleon\u2019s excellent book Show Your Work!<\/a>, which extols the virtues of sharing your creative process as a means of cultivating an audience. Much in the same way film studios invite entertainment reporters on set to drum up interest in a film prior to its release, Kleon suggests sharing your process and inspirations as you create. This notion also dovetails nicely with \u201crewriting in public\u201d through serialization.<\/p>\n Writing a serial not only creates both context and momentum for one\u2019s creative output, it cultivates community with your work as its rallying point. Chapter by chapter, week by week, you steer us deeper into your creative world \u2014 a world we may not have seen were it not for the revolutionary resurgence of the serial. As Gil Scott-Heron said, \u201cThe revolution will put you in the driver seat.\u201d<\/p>\n Note from Marlene:<\/em> The “Now What”<\/a> feature of National Novel Writing Month supports\u00a0 “the revision and publishing process. It\u2019s an extension of our anything-goes, wombat-infused noveling philosophy, with the added aim of helping you fulfill your novel\u2019s potential: from first draft to final.”<\/p>\n Daedalus will be the April 21 Writers Forum<\/a> presenter, talking about, “Write Who You Know: How to Use Your Personal Life in Your Fiction And Memoir Writing Without Ruining Your Relationships.”<\/p>\n