|
ardeegee:
We're not so much trying to disagree with you, as get you to see that there is a HUGE gray area between what you define as a serial and what you define as not a serial.
Because if you're going to ban something, it's not about the worst things in the category, but about where you draw the line at the edges.
I'm going to mention one gray area thing and see if you understand why serial fans are upset: The TV shows CHUCK and BURN NOTICE. Yes, each episode has a plot that is resolved within the hour. However, the whole series also has a big story arc, and pretty much every episode ends with a cliffhanger on the overall plot. Very often it's an aggravating cliffhanger, about issues that are really important - like whether a certain character is really a secret assassin out to kill the others. The plot of each episode is forgettable. The overall series story is ongoing, and open ended, like a soap opera. Sure, it's planned - season to season - but nobody can predict whether the fans can keep the network from canceling it at any time.
Most mystery series these days are like this in a more mild form - the story of each book tends to outweigh the arc of the series a little more, but the series arc is what people are reading for. But there are many sf series that are more like CHUCK - where the story plots are supporting the series arc.
I personally plan to write a novella series like this (four novellas per "season" or book, each with their own story, but combining to a larger story) . Are you saying that these should be banned because some clown who never wrote anything before decided to publish a rambling book snippet by snippet?
Camille
|