Why a Serial?
The Journey of Shadow was originally written as a novel, stayed in draft for a long while, and then – after a few weeks with the focus group – came out as a serial.
Why?
The aim was to get boys to read books – and girls, but girls almost always love to read, and boys seem to find it hard. I don’t know why.
What happened?
Two people I know have access to the right age group, so I asked about a focus group. It was set up to read one chapter at a time, and to discuss what they liked and didn’t like and why. Fun! Really! To listen to the way people absorb story. And it is different – so, so different – between the genders.
What works for boys? (16/17) Like a male character, but will tolerate a female character who has a non-gender specific name; like to have the picture painted, not too many descriptive elements that are dreamy or stagnant; like ‘tight’ associations between things (battle descriptions should enable them to play it out for real); conversations that are shorter and clear (clarity of meaning and words), with no (or almost no) funny bits (I knew what they meant – idiomatic speech stuff).
What works for girls? (19/20) Like a fully-rounded character, not too well described so they can be the character as they read; like a good description (of setting) through the eyes and actions of the character; like a good flow and direction in the story; like to share the story with friends.
So different. Girls like to ‘put the character on’ as they read; boys like to ‘act out’ the character (in the real world first, in their head second).
The Dilemma – how to get the best reaction to the Shadow story?
the names of the characters: Shadow, Pax, Gheis – only Pax can be defined as a gendered name (and only if you know which culture the name comes from). Of the 37 members of the focus group, 35 liked the names. Character names stayed as they were.
the journey: They wanted a map (there’s one here on the Shadow page now, and there will be one in the paperback version) because all fantasy ventures have a map. It’s an expectation (this is a ‘don’t disappoint the reader’ moment). Liked the difference ‘place’ – not cold to the north, not middle-earth, not Euro-words. They liked the words they knew and could look up associated places in their own backyard (Australian words).
the story: Why can’t a story be like a TV show? Where you get one episode a week? Of the 37 members of the group, 30 wanted a serial-type story. Is this a return to the ‘I’ll read you a chapter each night’ type of bed-time ritual?
The focus group has spoken. I put it out as a serial. Then I get blasted by requests to put them up quicker. I increased the pace of upload. More, more! It’s complete now (the Shadow Journey, that is – the epic continues next year), and the feedback is coming in.
Boys like action in their stories; main characters who don’t have girl names (they want to be able to ‘act out’ the char and the gender doesn’t matter if the name is neutral); movement and direction; subtlety (not TOO much of that, please). Etc. etc. etc.
Girls like to ‘put on’ the character, be the character as they read. They want to share the story with their friends, take on different roles and reach further than the original story (if they like the story, that is). Girls like continuity. If there’s another book in the series, the same characters should be there as major players.
And there it is – I’m not sure the story is ‘the best it can be’ but the focus group has taught me a lot about why and how young adults like to get their story. I’ll be doing my best to live up to their expectations. A big thank you to the ‘Bear, Ted – one for the use of’ group.
Good reading!
