Starting with enthusiasm and a spreadsheet of optimism, you start a serial novel. Youve got a backlog so first few chapters flow easy. And then it hits you: Reality. Life happens. One sick day become one missed deadline. Your buffer dissapears. Your readers see this. That’s what trips up most serial fiction author. Their plans […]

You might start out thinking: “I’m only three chapters behind schedule.” That’s discouraging! It might happen in college; you’re supposed to keep up with your reading list. Or it might happen when you join a book club and realize you are behind schedual. But time isn’t usually the issue. The issue is that you believe […]

There’s a certain kind of anxiety that comes from knowing exactly how much you need to get done and having no cushion left over. You walk into a seminar room or gather around book-club table with your friends; and you’re about to open the chapter that you’ve never read before today. There’s not a single […]

And maybe you’re on the fourth scene of a serial episode, and you’ve already written half of what you planned to write. The editor want 5,000 words. The character wants to be quiet. The plot demands another turn. The story doesn’t feel finished yet. As you type the next sentence, you slide into red-ink land, […]