The Serial Hour Podcast Re-Introduction

A note from the hosts

In Erica’s Words

It dawned on us that we never really made an official “Here we are” kind of post about ourselves and while this might be the first time we’re doing just that, it is serving a bit of double duty as we need to RE-introduce ourselves as well. Let us try to explain…

When I approached Natalie about my idea for a podcast, my initial idea was that we would discuss our own individual serials. We could share pitfalls, our planning process, writing concerns, etc. After three episodes, it became clear to me that something was missing.

In truth, the issue (as I saw it) was that she and I are both well in the weeds already of our serial. Sure, we could try to rehash how we felt and the processes we took to get to where we are today, but the authenticity and truth of the feelings wouldn’t ring as true.

All the while, behind the scenes, Natalie came up with a kernel of an idea for a story we could collaborate on. A serial written by two people! It was a no-brainer for me to realize this is what has been missing from our podcast. A sense of intentionality with the purpose and concept:

We need to write a serial from scratch, in real-time, for all of you to see!

And that is exactly what we aim to do. We have an idea but we are missing some basic foundational fundamentals before we can even begin writing the first episode! That means for season one, you’ll get to find out first-hand how we come up with characters, and outlines, build the world, come up with a title, sketch a map, etc.

In Natalie’s Words

Erica is a powerhouse of ideas, and one of the reasons I agreed to participate in Serial Hour is how we bounce off each other’s energy. However, there is a limit to how we can do that with separate stories. By building a world with her from scratch, we can create something richer and more complex than we could do on our own. We’ve got the added bonus of drawing on two different cultures as well as two minds since Erica is from the USA and I am from the UK.

This leads me to the co-author relationship, which isn’t discussed much on Substack. I can’t recall seeing another serial fiction blog written in real-time by two people. Co-authoring is common in traditional publishing, but all the messy disagreements over the drafts and editing are smoothed away when the book appears in public.

So, by doing this publicly with Erica, we want to show the reality of working with another writer. You are not on your own anymore. That’s a comfort: you are not just a crazy person talking out loud to your computer screen. It’s also a challenge: we have deadlines to meet in order to keep this newsletter going. How do we blend our working styles together? What are the limits? How explicit will we be with humour or sex scenes? What assumptions do we bring to the table? What happens when we disagree? Will Erica adapt to my crazy spelling?

You get to see our story and author style develop simultaneously: we won’t hold anything back. It’s also a chance for you to write alongside us if you struggle to focus on your work.

Serial Hour Seasons

We’re going to split Serial Hour into seasons.

Season 1 will be background planning and the chance for you to explore our new world. We’ll also discuss popular planning techniques, such as Mind-Maps, Story Grid and the Snowflake method. We’ll look at when you can or can’t wing it with a co-writer.

Season 2 will be the plot! Don’t expect a tidy recounting: it’s more like a crazy race where you watch us veer off track, frantically mend plot holes and shout at characters who misbehave. It’s not one story, but two: the characters on the page and the author behind it tearing their hair out in the footnotes.

Raw, unfiltered, real writing. Are you ready for it?