Episodic Chapters?

So my main character is a Hitman (Contract killer) and he makes his living by completing assignments for money. If he didn't work as a hitman he will be homeless because he doesn't have a degree to get a job as a shop employee. So he turns to crime. HOWEVER, my character decides to take more assignments to help fund his way through school so he can eventually leave behind the life of crime and live a normal life.

Now, my idea was to write the book like a "monster of the week" type of TV show.

Each chapter (episode) will be my main character taking hitman contracts for money and the ups and down of him either failing the mission and not being able to pay his bills for or him succeeding and able to afford to continue to live in house save money and fund for school classes and supplies.

Now it seem like short stories but each chapter CANNOT stand alone like a short story because of the overarching story of the character dealing with his personal life drama with friends/family/relationships and other things he go through that occurs in this world.

So if someone was to read Chapter 5 without reading 1-4 than they will miss out on ALOT of information about the world, the character, his personal issues, his family drama etc etc. The only thing that would be NEW in the chapter is his work assignment.

For Example, TV show "Hannibal".... *SPOILER*............. In season 1 finale Will Graham ended up in a mental asylum for the framing of murdering girls that Dr. Hannibal Lector killed.

The tv show is a "Killer of the week" type of show where Will solves murders every episode using his pyche gift. But in each episode we gets bit and pieces of the OVERALL story which is the relationship between WIll and Hannibal and the unstable mind of Will Graham becoming fragile with each time he uses his "gift"which played a key role into him getting put into a mental asylum.

The way the overall story played out throughout the season is how i want to create my story.

Where in each chapter in my book my character takes a different case but in each chapter you get bits and pieces of the overall story that leads up to whats to come at the end.

Could that work for my novel
or
would i have to choose 1 mission per book like the norm?

For my first book, I played around with an episodic format, the vestiges of which are still somewhat apparent before discounting it. This was because of a variety of reasons, not least in price pointing it.

I resurrected the idea briefly with my current WIP, to the extent it is still saved as 'Episode 1' as a file. The difficulty of trying to shoe horn the story into chunks of around 15K words led to artificial peaks and troughs which upset the whole balance of the piece. I've long since given it up as a bad idea.

It seems you are looking at something slightly different, in that the whole 'season' will comprise of your one book. There have been some successes in this format.

Hugh Howey's Wool is one, although the version now has been smoothed into a novel format, and Andy Weir's The Martian, which is the same.

Try it, but be open to the fact you might change your mind on it.

44 Scotland St.
Corduroy Mansions.
Written "Victorian" style as episodes in the newspaper and later collated as Novels.

If there is a different case in every chapter, it could become monotonous for the reader. That's not a problem with episodic TV, because viewers have time between episodes. In a book, it is harder to pull off. But you don't have to limit yourself to one mission a book for it to work, either. I suggest that you would do best if you go with something somewhere in between.

If, for instance, there were three or four missions (because really, that's all you need to get the idea across that he is doing this all the time, and why he is doing it, and how he feels about doing it), and then near the end of the book you were to tie some of them or all of them together, maybe in such a way that in retrospect he sees that one led to another though neither he nor the reader saw it at the time, then the book would seem more like a unified whole and less like a series of short stories strung together.

I would agree that a new case each chapter would be pushing it. Maybe something like 4-5 cases for the book. Akin to a part or section of a book rather than a chapter.

Teresa Edgerton said:

If there is a different case in every chapter, it could become monotonous for the reader. That's not a problem with episodic TV, because viewers have time between episodes. In a book, it is harder to pull off. But you don't have to limit yourself to one mission a book for it to work, either. I suggest that you would do best if you go with something somewhere in between.

If, for instance, there were three or four missions (because really, that's all you need to get the idea across that he is doing this all the time, and why he is doing it, and how he feels about doing it), and then near the end of the book you were to tie some of them or all of them together, maybe in such a way that in retrospect he sees that one led to another though neither he nor the reader saw it at the time, then the book would seem more like a unified whole and less like a series of short stories strung together.

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Thats the thing, the missions arent related to one another. They are separate. The mission every chapter is to show how he gets his money to survive and fund his way through school.

Teresa Edgerton said:

If there is a different case in every chapter, it could become monotonous for the reader. That's not a problem with episodic TV, because viewers have time between episodes. In a book, it is harder to pull off. But you don't have to limit yourself to one mission a book for it to work, either. I suggest that you would do best if you go with something somewhere in between.

If, for instance, there were three or four missions (because really, that's all you need to get the idea across that he is doing this all the time, and why he is doing it, and how he feels about doing it), and then near the end of the book you were to tie some of them or all of them together, maybe in such a way that in retrospect he sees that one led to another though neither he nor the reader saw it at the time, then the book would seem more like a unified whole and less like a series of short stories strung together.

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And yeah i was thinking that every chapter would get boring. I just needed to know if i could have him complete several missions in one book, without them being related to one another. The only connection between them is "money" and how each case effect him mentally and emotionally and how it effect his social life family relationships etc etc

Well, write it and see what happens. As you write, you might find connections that you didn't think were there before. If you don't, don't force it, but be open to anything like that if it develops naturally.

Zoolander said:

Could that work for my novel

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You're thinking too much in terms of TV shows and computer games, and not thinking enough about "writing a novel" and all the quirks and features, benefits and hazards, that relate to this unique media.

I think you would benefit from reading a few thrillers, and paying attention - as a writer - to how they are written and constructed. Lee Childs would be a good place to start - Killing Floor is the first Jack Reacher novel. You might also want to read up about real-life contract killings, to help ensure that you have an idea of how to make it believable.

How many chapters are you planning on? And how long is each? You know, books can be broken up into parts. You could have 3 or 4 parts with each one being a story, but you better have a good unification scheme in the end. A reason those cases mattered more than just money. Reminds me of a "writer's group" that Teresa and I tried to join at a bookstore. Met once a month. Met a gal there who had the most awesome idea for a novel. She and her daughter had driven round the country in a mobile home and visited small town. In each town, they would ask who was the town eccentric, the oddest person or person with the weirdest job. Only ones I remembered were a witch doctor and a guy who had something to do with alligators. She wrote each one up as a chapter. This fantastic idea was failing as a book because it didn't have the proper unifying factor. She said she had one, it was her driving round the country, but she didn't really. Teresa and I felt the real story for a novel should have been the journey mother and daughter made and these interesting people should ultimately have been the glue that binds. The shared experiences that affected mother and daughter, that changed their relationship. An odd duck version of the Joy luck club to some extent. Sadly she got incensed, called me and Teresa names for not adhering to the true focus of the book, these odd people. She didn't want to hear that as each came and went, the characters carrying the story were mother and daughter, so it was mother and daughter that the readers would be able to relate to.

I fear if you book is just about, man it's tough to make a living I think I'll kill people and go back to school so I can get a 401K and dental that there may not be enough reason for a book approach. But if each of these three or four part affects him, changes him and the story is really about his life even as we see him kill others, then you have a chance. But I would want each contract to be not only interesting but ultimately identifiable as necessary to his journey in and of themselves aside from the money. That's just the opening gambit for the reason he starts. I wouldn't think the money should be the endgame without more to it.
good luck.

I think an episodic approach can work in books, but agree with those who have suggested perhaps slicing the book into 4-5 parts. You'll also have more time to devote to each case and more scope to make each more distinctive.

I agree with Brian. If you want to write a novel, you've got to think like you're writing one and not a TV show. The formats are completely different. The Sherlock Holmes stories sort-of work as "monster of the week", although they do become slightly monotonous if you ask me. John le Carre did a very good book called The Secret Pilgrim, about a spy looking back over the most interesting episodes of his career, which might help.

Jennifer, I've met people like that. I think the person who won't change their work of genius seems to crop up at a lot of writing groups!

I've just read a book which was exactly this -- a so-called novel which was in fact a series of discrete adventures, one per chapter, which moved forward in chronological order with some recurring characters as bit-part players, but with no other connection between the episodes. The good news is it was successful. The bad news is, it was written in 1950 as a prequel to the Hornblower series after Forester was already an established and successful author.

So I'm another one for saying it's unlikely to work as one assignment per chapter, unless those chapters are mega-long. My recommendation is to split the novel into 3 or 4 parts, one for each assignment, and have several chapters devoted to each, but try and connect the epsiodes eg the person who gives him the first contract recommends him to the person who gives the second; the widow of the man he murders in the second episode then hires him to kill the principal of the college he was trying to get into. The more links there are the better.

To my mind, the best novels are built like slim tall towers, where each stone is a part of the plot, and each one builds on one below and is keyed into those alongside. Every one is necessary, and if one is removed there's a danger the whole edifice will fall. At present yours appears to be a series of small buildings, which are interchangeable. If you can't move away from that, and make it a complete wholly integrated novel, then another way forward might be to release the story by self-publishing in episodic form.

One problem with a book that is too episodic is that it makes it too easy for readers to decide not to finish it. In this case, you can hardly call a character who murders people so that he can make money to go to school and get a better job appealing, and if readers, therefore, aren't invested in what will happen to him, they'll only keep reading if they are eager to find out what happens next. If the story is divided up into separate episodes, though, each with its only resolution, after readers realize that, they may come to the end of a section and think, "Well, that wraps up that" and feel no particular urge to go on.

Teresa Edgerton said:

One problem with a book that is too episodic is that it makes it too easy for readers to decide not to finish it. In this case, you can hardly call a character who murders people so that he can make money to go to school and get a better job appealing, and if readers, therefore, aren't invested in what will happen to him, they'll only keep reading if they are eager to find out what happens next. If the story is divided up into separate episodes, though, each with its only resolution, after readers realize that, they may come to the end of a section and think, "Well, that wraps up that" and feel no particular urge to go on.

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the people he murder are criminals, serial killers and peple who slips past the justice system. There's alot more going on in the story that plays out throughtout the novel. the ONLY thing that is wrapping up in each chapter is his work assignments. His family drama his menta lillness his relationhips friendships drama and other problems do NOT wrap up in one chapter. They all play out through the novel as a whole.

You can't go into all of those things with sufficient depth, though, if you have to spend too much of the book on the details of a long series of assignments.

And if he is just in it for the money in order to better himself (which is the impression you give in your first post), it won't matter so much to readers that the people he kills deserve to die. You'll have to write the book with great skill and an intuitive understanding of human nature—and I am not saying that you don't have the ability to do that, because I have no idea of how well you write, and you may well be able to pull it off—to prevent readers from thinking he is no better than his victims are and stop caring about his problems. I do wonder if it is possible to do that if you distract yourself, and your readers, with a dozen different hits.

I could start out by pointing out how the television show Kung Fu had the overarching story of the main character having run away from a life he would eventual have to face.

Each episode he did something to help other people while hiding because there was a price on his head.

But what made the episodes work was the back story about how he got to where he is and what made him what he is.

I see that missing from this plan and that might be more important than anything else. Why should we care about the daily trials and tribulations of a hit man.

Or I could point you to Shibumi: one of my favorites about a sort of spy- trained killer type who we keep seeing the backstory while he's trying to figure out how to deal with people who are trying to manipulate him in some larger game or scheme. It's the backstory that gets us to understand what he's capable of and how he came to be where he was; but more than that its this backstory that brings the reader closer to where he comes to sympathize with this man who ends up being about the only character who has any redeeming qualities.

And then I could point out Refugee Sentinel by Harrison Hayes a dystopic tale that has an assassin character that reminded me of the one in Shibumi and did the back story and everything. This should have struck me as well as Shibumi except there was nothing to find redeemable about the character. Sure they'd undergone horrendous treatment to get where they were but there could be no sympathy or empathy for this character. There were other characters with great back stories but where was the one with something I could relate to?

Of course that's just me. But In all you have mentioned there is nothing there that indicates that we'll find out what makes this character tick and why we might stick with them throughout the story. I think that that's more important than deciding if it could be ten or a hundred short stories with one main thread through it. After all at this point the main thread could be-the life of a hit man; oh and by the way here are some of his greatest hits.

On the other hand there are all those Sherlock Holmes stories and I don't think you have to worry about reading all of them to catch any underlying long thread that runs through them so why is it you worry about that if each story will have what might be considered it's own satisfactory conclusion?

Do you have a number of episodes in mind?

I only ask because you are setting yourself up for never reaching the characters end goal. That is: if he succeeds, the story ends.

I think the idea works fine if they are all within the same larger work or if written separately. The difference being if its a separate work, then each individual episode will need to repeat the basics of the plot so it can be a stand alone item. The missions/jobs need not be sequential if you plan it out within the main story arc.

I would recommend you format the plot such that the first and the final episode are the only ones where the order matters (not sure you even need the first episode as it seems like you could sum up the main goal in a few sentences near the begining of each episode). Each episode could provide some character details or developement, but stating progress toward the end goal is dangerous (may limit your total number of episodes).

My definition of a novel is a journey to get somewhere. It can be an emotional journey, a physical journey, a spiritual journey, or any combination of those but there needs to be movement / discovery / growth on the way to an end goal. Television shows usually don't have an end goal because they are designed to keep on going as long as possible!