Long-term Relationships: Web serials and love (guest blog by Cecilia Tan!)
Today we have a guest post from Cecilia Tan, fellow webserial writer (Daron's Guitar Chronicles) and the person behind Circlet Press, my occasional publisher. Take it away, Cecilia!
A reader of mine once told me why she had switched from reading erotica (which is mostly short stories) to romance novels. "I'm tired of the one-night stand," she said. "I want more of a relationship from my fiction." And it's true. While the erotic short story often delivers a panty-soaking fantasy--at least when I write them--the novel gives the reader a chance to get to know the characters and become emotionally engaged with them. More importantly, readers can become emotionally invested.
But a novel can still be over in a night, if you read fast. Where does a reader turn for a real "long-term relationship" in fiction? One choice is the multi-book series. Was it a blessing or a curse to get hooked on the Harry Potter series and wait between volumes to find out what would happen? Or what about George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire which has been going on since 1996 and has had gaps of three to six years between books? That might be a long-term relationship, but it's also like a long-distance relationship where you only see each other once in a blue moon.
This is one reason I think many readers have fallen in love with the web serial as a form. One gets to enjoy the long-term emotional engagement with the characters while at the same time receiving regular updates on the story.
