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[[Image:serial1.png|thumb|200px|right|A new serial begins on [[PPMB]].]]
A '''serial''' fanfic is a story told in successively published segments. The entire story is not revealed at once, and the tale usually is continued as each segment is completed by the author. Serial ''Daria'' tales usually appear on message boards such as [[PPMB]] or [[SFMB]], each segment filling a single message block. Most serials at present are not beta-read for the authors before publication online; when it comes to catching errors in the stories, whether grammatical, spelling, or plot-related, the authors often choose to wing it in order to maintain greater output and a steadier flow of writing. The drawbacks are obvious: an author can write himself into a hole with a serious continuity mistake that a proofreader might have caught, or the writer might get bored and not finish the story (which happens a lot).
It is a common practice for each segment of a serial to end with an action-packed or emotional cliffhanger (rather like the old Flash Gordon movie serials) to hook fans into reading the next segment as well and see how the suspenseful problem is resolved. Segments of a serial can be as short as
Serials can be extremely long and result in [[novel]]-length works with complex plots, wide-ranging settings, and frequent changes in point of view. To date, most serials have been given a definite conclusion, though some continue with no end in sight much like a TV soap opera. A very recent trend (2007) is the appearance of what could be termed ''volumes'': collections of serial chapters that complete major
Serial writing, also called episodic writing, has been known since Victorian times and was popularized by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens Charles Dickens] when he began writing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pickwick_Papers <i>The Pickwick Papers</i>] in 1836. Serials were rarely seen in ''Daria'' fanfiction until spring 2004, when [[TAG]] began writing "[[Fortunate One]]" without having it beta-read. Most of his stories before then had been beta-read. He believes he saw other serials appear before "Fortunate One," but is unable to name them. The practice caught on and spread rapidly until serials have become as commonplace as short stories on message boards, and beta-reading has (alas) become rare.
Well-known recent serials include [[Doggieboy]]'s "[[Apocalyptic Daria]]," [[jtranser]]'s "[[Stacy Rowe, Seeker]]," [[Roentgen]] and [[Brother Grimace]]'s "[[Legion of Lawndale Heroes]]," [[Dennis]]'s "[[Turnabout Confusion]]," [[The Sidhe]]'s "[[
A serial is not the same thing as a [[series]], as the basic units of a series are self-contained short stories. As a rule of thumb, consider that the individual parts of a serial cannot be nominated for a fanwork award (too short, can't stand alone), but the individual parts of a series can. The serial counts as a single work.
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==External Links==
* [http://www.thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19572&p=264185 "Serial Stories Conquer All! (film at 11)"], a thread on [[PPMB]] about serials and their origin.
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WebSerialNovel Web Serial Novel] from TVTropes.org
[[Category: Fanwork Conventions]]
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