Webserial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A webserial is a written work of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers. They are also sometimes referred to as 'webcomics without pictures'. Unlike an online novel or e-book, it is not compiled and published as a whole; instead, it is released on the Internet in chapters as they are finished, although published compilations and anthologies are not unknown. It compares to a novel the same way a webcomic compares to a published comic book.
Webserials and webcomics are often read by similar crowds, and may compete with each other for their attention. Webserials based on wholly original work are considerably less popular than similar webcomics; however, the webserial holds dominance in the category of fan fiction, probably because of the relative ease. While the term 'webserial' itself is somewhat rare with under 1,000 results as a Google Search Term at current, the kind of episodic writing it describes is not.
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[edit] The Medium
Webserials typically come in three main styles of plot cohesiveness. One is self-contained, a storytelling style which has no or little plot connections between installments. Stories are tied together by their 'universe', subject matter, atmosphere, or plot structure. Stories such as these are very often surrealist or vignettes, although some authors do use this format simply to gain the ability to switch characters on a regular basis.
The next is loose continuity. Loose continuity stories share the same 'universe' or 'world' by default, and tie into a grander story. However, while the plot arcs are designed to be read to their maximum benefit by those who are most familiar with the world, it is not so self-referential that it becomes impossible to follow for a new reader without aid. Loose continuity stories can simply be individual units, or can take a mini-series feel - they may run in tightly cohesive, short arcs that must be read from the beginning, but only a basic familiarization with the premise may be necessary to enjoy each specific story arc.
The last is tightly cohesive. As the name implies, webserials of this type very closely intertwine episodes or chapters with each other, and depend on the reader being familiar with as much of the story beforehand as possible. They are often meant to be read as one would read a book, though obviously accounting for better and more frequent natural breaks in the plot than a book would usually require.
[edit] Publication
Up-and-coming webserial authors enjoy a benefit webcomic artists do not - text is the accepted, dominant medium of the internet and images are not. It is much easier to publish a webserial with little resources at your disposal and make it look palatable. Online journal services such as LiveJournal and Xanga often play a role as an impromptu host for webserials. Those few who openly elect to use it in preference to other mediums favor the built-in RSS broadcasting, and often rely on stories that can stand alone fairly well, as neither service makes reading a full set of archives a particularly easy task.
Another popular format is use of the internet forum. Unlike the abovementioned services, forums and messageboards do allow for easy sequential viewing of stories, and have the added benefit of quick commenting as well as providing a social venue for the community. A free forum service such as ProBoards, Ezboard, or Invisionfree may be used to create a board for that webserial, or the webserial may be a feature of a larger board in order to benefit from its traffic.
Those who move away from true blogs often choose to keep a similar format to the blog when they establish their own website. A few, however, make use of the webcomic layout, citing its familiarity. Shorter stories are often typical of those who use a webcomic layout, though this is not universally true.
[edit] Business
Webserials are cheaper to run than webcomics for the most part, although the returns are not much better, if at all. Most authors must pay for the costs out of their own pockets, though the significantly lower bandwidth strain of text instead of pictures may make the expenses more bearable. Hosting and advertisement costs are still just as much a concern for webserial authors as webcomic artists.
Donations and 'tip jars' are the primary way of getting money for webserials, often using services such as PayPal. These are sometimes sufficient to cover the basic costs for hosting, and some of the more popular webserials can succeed with their entire budget made from donations of this type.
A few webserial authors have taken to collecting their work and releasing in a book format for easy consumption off-line. Self-publishing is key in this field, and services such as CafePress and Lulu.com are often used for distribution and sales of these anthologies.
In recent years, commercial publishers have also started up to email webserials to subscribers. One of the first sites to do this was Keep It Coming (KIC), which operated from October 2003 through November 2005. The success of this venture has lead to the creation of other portals such as Readers Retreat and Virtual Tales.
[edit] Fan Fiction
Although webserials are not very popular as a medium in their own right, they are employed extensively by the internet fan fiction culture, and are the primary format for longer works of fan fiction online. Many fan fiction archives (such as the popular Fanfiction.net archive) are set up to accommodate and encourage the publication of serial works.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Sleeping Sarah, one of the first and oldest webserials. Romance-genre with a little bit of science-fiction. Loose continuity.
- Agent Aeolus, a tightly-cohesive, modern day sci-fantasy webserial.
- Hitherby Dragons, a primarily self-contained, surrealist vignette webserial.
- Sainan no Kekka, a long and involved Gundam Wing fanfiction webserial. Tightly-cohesive.
- Arcanoides, a Brazilian webserial harry Potter-like.
