Writing Focus: Episodic Novels

There are many ways of writing a novel. Some people like to slave away, creating long plots and harrowing action to fill up the pages, and others prefer to write small installments. For those of us who write in small bursts, episodic novels are the perfect way to get started!

What Is an Episodic Novel?

An episodic novel is almost as simple as the title suggests — a novel in episodes. Think of episodic novels as separate episodes of the one story, much like the separate episodes of a television series. The main aspect of an episodic novel is that it ties together with a central theme, but the individual ‘episodes’ — your chapters or stories — can be unrelated incidents, as long as everything ties in at the end to your main theme. Episodic novels often have one singular unifying factor, such as a character or a location that appears in every novel.

The basis behind episodic novels can also be seen in movies — think of Saving Private Ryan. The soldiers are sent on a mission to find Private Ryan, but the movie revolves around individual experiences that they encounter on the way and they only find Private Ryan towards the end of the movie. In this respect, the movie itself is episodic in nature. In a similar way, you could have a novel where the characters have an end-goal, but the novels themselves focus on the trials and tribulations up until that point. Many people consider the Lord of the Rings trilogy to be episodic — although the books focus largely on individual pieces of action, the end-game is for Frodo to destroy the Ring, not about the epic battle scenes.

Tips

You cannot write a series of episodic novels without having an overall question to answer — the whole point of these novels is to tie everything together with a central theme, and without a question to answer or a climax to build to, the linking factor between the episodes is not going to be as clear. Before you start writing, sit down and think about what the end goal is for this story. Do the characters finally find the place they have been searching for, or do they fall flat before the end? Once you have this set in stone, you can start to tailor everything together.

Another important thing to consider when choosing to write episodic novels is the “why” behind everything. Why does your character spend all of his waking time searching for the answers behind his parents’ deaths? Why does the girl want nothing more than to find the boy that went missing? This will give the stories more depth.

Prompts

Fancy trying your hand at episodic novel writing? Check out these prompts designed to help you along the way:

1. Your main character has lost a possession that is incredibly important to them in a foreign country. Detail their trip to get it back, including the difficulties they experience along the way.
2. Twin sisters find out that they were taken away from their original family when they were very little. As they journey into their past, write about the steps they take to find out exactly what happened to them all those years ago.

Although it can sometimes be very time-consuming, writing episodic novels is very good for budding writers who want to expand their catalogue of work. If you feel like you can put the time in, creating a series of episodic novels is a perfect way to expand your writing!

Special thanks to losing control. and silent hearts. for editing!