Serial Overview: “Come And See”

~ beetleypete

My recent serial “Come And See” concluded on Sunday. As usual, I am publishing an overview of the process and results, for anyone interested.

In most cases, I start with the ending, and work backwards, and I did this with “Come And See”. Covering a time period from 1967-2019, I needed some research into disease outbreaks during that period, leading up to the Coronavirus pandemic beginning in China at the end of 2019. As this is easily available online, it was no hardship to get the factual elements correct.

As for Jimmy’s work at Porton Down, and the involvement of the British government in the deliberate spread of disease, this was mostly guesswork and invention. For his early experiences with his very religious mother, and his reading of the whole of The Bible, I did need some research into the order of the books of The Bible. It has been a very long time since I opened mine!

(I do have one, a very old one given to me as a child.)

Reader response for this series was immediately good, which was encouraging. Comments were regular and varied, and daily views stayed at around 115 for each episode, with no drop off noticed. This gave a total of 3,450 views for the thirty episodes, with more to come, allowing for time differences and ‘binge-readers’.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and satisfying writing experience for me, and I was happy to see it well-received. Once again, I thank everyone who also shared parts on Twitter, and other social media. The complete story, all thirty episodes in one post, will follow one day this week.

37 thoughts on “Serial Overview: “Come And See””

  1. I wasn’t sure what to think with the story beginning with a religious approach, it’s only when you mentioned about Jimmy taken a keen interest in virology and that God would not be pleased until Jimmy had ‘made a difference’ to hundreds of thousands of people, that’s when I connected the dots and was convinced this was going to be about the pandemic. Very satisfying for me to get an ending right (well, including Sylvia)! Very enjoyable Pete! 🙂

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    1. Glad you guessed the ending, though I didn’t really hide it in the story progression. It was mainly about the lead-up, and the conspiracy theory. Glad you enjoyed it, Ami. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I started them for the benefit of other bloggers who were considering writing serials.
      Since then, they have become something of a ‘tradition’ on my blog.
      Thanks Geoff.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I have reduced the episode length, Stevie. Glad to hear it’s working for you. Some of my ‘regulars’ prefer to read the whole thing in one sitting, like a novella. That’s why I always post the complete story once the episodes are finished.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I was curious if you’d see any change in following once the depth of his soul became clear…really well done once again Pete and glad to know that everyone stayed for the entire ride!

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  13. I’m sorry Pete, I haven’t read any of your serials. That’s a huge commitment from you.
    I feel that if I let myself read everything that comes across my blogging feed – I’d never get anything done.
    How often do you start a new serial and how do you come up with the idea?

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    1. Please don’t feel you have to read my serials, Trish. I understand that is a biig ask from anyone.
      The idea usually pops into my head when I am out walking my dog, Ollie. I normally have the ‘ending’ in mind, and then work backwards to get to it.
      I wrote the first one in 2018, and have published 22 more since. I tend to have one ‘on the go’ most of the year.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. The whole story is published here tomorrow, Jim. Not sure I can cope with ‘marketing and promotion’ as well as writing, dog-walking, and not forgetting building my Wizard’s Tower! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Ah well if you sign up for my $1000 a month marketing package you’ll get an incomprehensible document longer than you book, which seems to promise you the world but in the small print promises you absolutely nothing 😉

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