When to End a Series? - Multiple "Seasons"

[TheGentleArtist]

Okay, there are three different questions; so let's see.

Question 1 (in the title): The "when" happens if there is some sort of closure to the story and/or the story can not continue as it is without losing the quality, so ending it off before then helps out a lot. To elaborate on the closure part; if all the loose ends are being tied up, then the ending is getting closer.

Question 2 (in the first paragraph): You'll know when the story begins to take a different turn; when this happens, a "growth" is happening and a change of pace is needed to explore it or else the story will go stale since the usual way of handling it won't really work all that much.

Question 3(the fourth paragraph): I do not really know to be honest. Maybe try the first one where you put them under one link.

[JoshRaid]

I also have an episodic format, but each season is split into its own story. I have the whole thing planned out, so I know when I'll end it.

[cherrystark]

It's a weird issue, I will admit. Each of my stories so far are under one link and the readership has been pretty good. I don't want to scare away readers by having a super-high episode count. If novel-readers are like me, a novel with the 50+ chapters can be daunting. I've been trying to read other people's fantasy stuff and while the overall story isn't bad; I have a hard time when they stretch something relatively simple like a date or even getting ready in the morning, into a four chapter arc.

[cherrystark]

How so? My series is a bunch of short stories.

[JoshRaid]

My series is a bunch of short stories that are part of a larger one, until the end finally came and I switched to a totally different format. I'll switch back when I start the next season. The seasons are split by being marked as completely different novels.

[cherrystark]

Do you use a certain number of stories per season? My stories are all roughly 25K (novella length). I am working on some loose arcs between all of the stories but they aren't to a resolution point yet.

[JoshRaid]

I don't have a defined number of chapters per season.

[Berserker]

I list them all under the same "channel" but I clearly mark where one book ends and another begins. No filler here. I probably wouldn't stretch it beyond 3 books. Could seem like a overwhelming amount to read.

[domisotto]

I would keep going while you are still getting reads. Split if you no longer get them.

[azzy-m]

Think of a season of a comic like you do with a season of a show. I like to think of a season to be the completion of a big story arc that contributes to the main plot. I can't really describe the way I know seasons end, I kind of just do? But I'm gonna try: I think a good way to know when one season ends is if you feel like the story drastically changes at that point, usually this is a major plot being introduced that becomes relevant. However since yours is an episodic format, maybe make it so that each story is an individual season, kinda like Infinity Train?

Also don't feel like you have to limit yourself when it comes to outlining a season. A short, 20-30 episode season is nice, only when your story is compact enough to fit into those amounts of episodes. Plenty of comics have 60-90 episode seasons - hell, the first draft of my comic's first season is 59 episodes (58 if i combined the last two episodes together, since the last one is really short). One of my favorite webtoons, Hooky, was near 160 episodes before it stopped and launched its final season, and it never felt like the story dragged on or anything. The Croaking, a comic nominated for a Ringo Award, just finished its first season with 90 episodes.

What's important is that you're able to properly tell your story and the amount of episodes is irrelevant to that, most of the time, readers aren't gonna care how long it is. Sometimes stories get so big they really can't be told in 30 or so episodes, ya know? Kind of the beauty of publishing comics yourself. You decide how long it is.

Maybe it's different for novels, but I've never seen a comic reader who complains about a season getting too long, haha.

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

I feel like the more chapters the better around here.
That being said, I did split up my novel for book 2. Not really sure if it was smart regarding views etc. But my gut just said that it was the better decision

[DeformedSunflower]

If all of the stories are related, and the main plot hasn't reached a conclusion yet, I say put it under one link. Just because your readers read one of your series, doesn't mean they're going to read the other one, especially if the characters are different.

I don't think the length of the story will bother me, if it's lengthy because there's a lot of genuine content. As long as the story is interesting and keeps me hooked, I will continue to read until the very end. It's only when the story starts to veer off the main point of the series and into filler content that I would stop reading.

[Dysis]

@cherrystark Have you read "The Ghost Teller"? If you haven't, I'd recommend it. It is about six ghosts gathering around to talk about horror stories. Each story comprises around five episodes and is an arc in itself, unrelated to one another. They end a season randomly, after six arcs are complete.

But because the theme is the same so there is no book 2. At the end, the main ghost in the group leaves the discussion and in the next moment, meets another group of ghosts and the season resumes.

They end book one by mentioning [End of Season 1] in the heading and then begin a new season in the same book.

In your case and from the premise, I'm assuming each story is unique. How about ending a season with a story that:

1) makes the most impact and
2) If possible, gives away a reason for the protagonist to carry on the story to season 2?

For instance, end the season 1 with a chapter that links to the first chapter in season 2 in some way, however mundane. As in, the protagonist is walking out of the setting of season 1 and entering a new setting and suddenly, a new object piques their interest and lays down the foundation of the next story.

[cherrystark]

For me, my gut is telling me to stop posting for a while after I finish the piece that I'm working on so I can do more writing. That's why I'm toying with the idea of marking my current link as completed and start a "new season". I don't have to do it that way. Everyone's comments are telling me I can do whatever feels natural for my stories.

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

that's the best way. follow your gut

[domisotto]

You can always change it too, if it doesn’t work

[indagold]

I usually just plan in advance before even making it cause it saves a lot of pain and hardship years down the line.

[cherrystark]

Wait? You can make good art without putting yourself through pain??? Wut? You're too smart for me.

In seriousness, that is actually a decent idea. The ideas for my series keep tumbling over each other in my mind, so now, I'm almost 5 novella's into my series and am kinda stuck. I didn't really plan how I wanted the main story arcs to happen when I first started drafting. They came much later.

[AmazementComics]

Glad you asked. When I first started making my comics, I already knew that I wanted them to happen in seasonal arcs. I outlined where the story starts and how the story would a full year in advance before I started creating them. Currently, three seasons of my series have come out, and they each consist of 26 episodes. This was to ensure that there wouldn't be a huge flood of episodes that would overwhelm my audience, because let's be truthful, when it comes to episodic series, especially in comics, lots of people never bother to start from the beginning, so confusion either route you take is inevitable.

Also, separating you stories into "seasons" can help you understand who's actually loyal enough to see your whole series span multiple story arcs and can give you a better idea which season does better.

[kennielacroix]

I've got one of my series broken up into five arcs and each of those will essentially be a season. Now how many chapters/episodes each season will get I have not figured out yet as I am in the scripting phase.

That being said, I've planned the overall beats and storyline and I know which chapters go where so that helps a lot. I know my fourth chapter just on storyline alone will mean it will likely be the shortest season and the third/fifth seasons will be longer.