A Serial Reflection

~ beetleypete

My recent serial, ‘My Bundle Of Joy’ ended yesterday, after 44 episodes.

I usually look back over my fiction serials, and this one is no exception

It started well, with more than 110 views per episode. But then the theme of the story turned ‘dark’, and views and readers dropped away.

Some told me why, others just disappeared. Then it settled into just over 80 views per episode, some 3,600 in total.

It was a big challenge for me as the writer. I had to ‘become’ a reasonably successful 30-something woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Then I had to deal with the fact that her baby was brain-damaged, and she had little help or support.

I did this by drawing on my 22 years of experience as an EMT in London. You may well be surprised by how common it is, to find a single woman left to cope with such difficulties. But you have to take my word for the fact that it is true. I gave my character a lot of financial advantages that are in fact rare. I did this to make it easier to write the story, and make no apologies for that.

Comments were few, which is usual with my serials. But on this occasion, shares on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media were very low. That’s okay. It doesn’t matter. The main thing for me is the core of readers who stayed with it from the start.

I thank everyone who did that. It is always appreciated more than you know.

And I changed the potentially ‘gloomy’ ending. I left it for the readers to decide how they wanted it to end. That will not always be the case, but I think it suited this story.

Today, I will also publish all the parts in one complete story, for those of you that prefer to read it that way.

Thanks again, Pete.

43 thoughts on “A Serial Reflection”

  1. After a few episodes in, I genuinely thought this was going to be all happy and everything was perfect for Angela. I was gladly surprised when it took a different turn. I had a big smile on my face everytime Leah achieved something new. This serial wasn’t my favourite but i enjoyed it nonetheless 🙂 Always look forward to reading your serials Pete, am a big fan! 🙂

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    1. Thanks very much, Ami. I based this on many women I met when I was in the ambulance service, and a friend who has a severly autistic son. Despite all the positives, life for those women, especially those abandoned to cope, is rarely happy. And most of it is lived away from the public eye, behind closed doors.
      Best wishes as always, Pete.

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  4. I didn’t think it turned gloomy, just sad for Angela. I often thought throughout the serial how fortunate that was a financial backing for Angela. And, I know that your many years as an EMT put reality into the story. I enjoyed it all the way through. I’m sorry that others dropped out. The ending was just the right thing, too. Best to you, Pete.

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  6. I don’t mind sad stories. It’s more important to me that they’re true to life. On the other hand, this one was sad for so long that it was nice that you ended it open-ended with at least some minor chance of happiness.

    As I’ve mentioned before, it takes a commitment from your readers each day to stick with a serial. The key for me (I’m sure most writers know this already) is to get invested in the characters and the plot early. Stories that drag on without much happening early on are more likely to lose me.

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    1. I believe they are counted by people clicking on my blog itself, or by using The Reader. I cannot say for sure though, as the figures are supplied to me by WordPress. My own views do not count, but if someone reads half a post, then comes back later to finish it, I suspect that is ‘two views’. As far as I am concerned, I judge posts by comments, which matter far more to me than views. Email-only followers are listed separately on follower lists, but that is not broken down on post view numbers.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I haven’t had time (or rather time management skills) to read the instalments, but I am always admiring of your fiction and the life experience and imagination which inspire it. I know you have too much integrity as a writer to shrink from “unpopular” or “difficult” choices. I will read My Bundle of Joy at earliest opportunity – at which time you will no doubt be half way through writing another serial and putting us idler souls to shame. Have you prepared any screenplays/synopses for TV? Px

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    1. I haven’t prepared anything for publication, or consideration, Pippa. I get my pleasure from writing it, and the engagement with readers. Having to deal with editors, agents, marketing, and publicity, all that would just make it feel like ‘work’. 🙂
      Best wishes as always, Pete. xx

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  12. I enjoyed reading this serial Pete and appreciated the fact that you were writing from the viewpoint of a woman dealing with a huge crisis. I kept waiting for the happy ending and like the fact you left that to the readers to perhaps imagine how the story ends.

    Angie

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  13. I read it from start to finish Pete but I have to admit it was out of a sense of duty . . it was long and not much happened really. No really interesting characters meant that for me there was no-one to identify with, like or dislike. It’s a fine achievement to write your stories and I’m glad that you get satisfaction from it. Keep writing . .

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    1. Thanks Ro. Never feel you have to read out of a sense of duty, old friend.
      Sorry this serial didn’t grab you. Sometimes in life, not much does happen. 🙂
      Love to you both, Pete. x

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  14. I didn’t really ‘enjoy’ this one, which is fine as it is a grim subject, but thought you did really well with the birth and the characters. Yes you gave Ang a lot of financial help, but any more doom and gloom would have been too much, and in any case, not everyone who has a disabled kid is poor or comes from a poor family so it was definitely feasible. I liked the ambiguous ending for this story too, it worked well.
    Not sure WTH it says about me as I really enjoy your murder mysteries and serial killers more than this kind of story, and I loved your American History story. ANyway I will always read your stories and never give up half way through , you always make me want to know how it ends.

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