And for podcasting, I'm like, oh, this is great. Serialized content. I'm going to go find some audiobooks to listen to.Because I just assumed people were putting out audiobooks that way, like the radio dramas of the '40s and '50s.
Like, for example, the thing that just bugged me about Java when I started programming, if I want to open a file and read serialized objects from it, I have to create three objects for that. First, I have to create this file stream.
And that's not some ham-fisted gambit to position it as great. The great serialized things that are going up on Netflix, and Amazon, and now Hulu-- and I know you guys are doing some buying.
I think that's part of the secret to their success, frankly, is that they do-- I mean, it is-- you think it's unprecedented in the sense that it's serialized storytelling, but there's a very, very big discipline about one movie at a time, and letting that movie become whatever it wants to be. Yeah. So "Infinity Wars 2," which I did the maths, I think it's the 22nd film?
And because "Mr Robot" was not built as a television show, it showed me that you could still tell a sort of closed ended storyline within a sort of serialized format like a TV series. So for all those reasons, I was able to wrap my head around turning "Mr Robot" into the series.
Could you talk a little bit about that transition from being in a, lack of a better term, a team sport, to a solo effort, and how that was different with "Artemis," which wasn't serialized in the same way? Right. So there's like actually two completely different things there.
If I want buffering, I have to create another object. And then if I want read serialized objects, you add another object on top of that. And each of these can throw exceptions that I have to catch.
And I kind of wanted it back, because that's what I remember watching. And there's a lot of great serialized sci-fi out there, but there's really nothing that presents you with the new idea of the week, and that was what we're out to do with this show.
Carter told me. I'm getting rid of the bowls. And he had this kind of serialized thing that some people said, well, can you put this as an e-book, so I can read it all at once?
I knew my book was long, ragged, and a little unfocused. That was fine in a serialized podcast where people hear a chapter a week over a long period of time, but that was not fine, not acceptable in a book someone would sit down to read in a matter of days.
it's I mean I we talking about as a novel but that's a very Grand term it's basically a Nolla um because I'm essentially a very lazy person uh and we serialized it the original plan was to serialize it in four four parts over the summer digitally I I liked the idea of people
And then, I think, over the course of that first season, if you watched that show, you watch it go from a showdown of the week to something that ends up being much more serialized . And then the second season really embraced that with the creation of the Bennett family and Mags and the kids.
So we're all like, most Americans, there are two sides to look at. I'm a big fan of all the serialized shows that are out there.
So we're all like, most Americans, there are two sides to look at. "Rick and Morty." But this is a show that's not serialized .
If you're over 30 and kids, it's like a nightmare. His latest is called "Building Stories." And it was all serialized in "Acme Novelty Library." So I thought to myself, what could be my "Acme Novelty
I mean, it just exists there, and so it's an interesting moment. And yeah, we're very tightly serialized , so you can watch the whole thing through, and it's telling you a story.
I did eventually start writing it all down-- first as a series of posts on GEnie in the early 90s. You remember GEnie? Then as something of a serialized proto blog on my website in 1995, where you can still find that version-- and finally in 1999, as a serious attempt to write the definitive, compassionate, and massive chronicle of the lives and culture of Mormon
So you learn how to build those hooks and so on to lead into the next episode, the next chapter, whatever the case may be. And that has been for me the most fun part of doing the serialized storytelling-- is we have to plan it out in advance. Figure out where all the different little twists and turns are going to go.
And I initially named him after myself because I started Book One as a serialized novella
after that. And I had written pilots for networks over those three or four years. And this was the first time, I was on a cable drama that was serialized where we could get away from a little more of the formulaic, kind of network way of doing things and embrace a different style of storytelling, where the guy in the white hat didn't always have to win.
It didn't have to be wrapped up in that episode. I think just doing six seasons of a big, serialized show was probably the biggest take away. Yeah. That's awesome. And it seems like you've chased that down a little bit, going in that similar path with "Snowfall." Yeah.
They felt like it was different. They liked that it was episodic, because everything is serialized now. And on a network, I think, look, if it's Netflix, if it's Amazon, if it's Hulu, and you're getting everything in one big chunk,
though I don't actually have a publishing deal. And then put "Earthcore" as a free, unabridged, serialized podcast novel, and put out a few press releases, and was able to get rolling from there. And then started to build a fan base, and after that, have just been giving away books ever since.
And that was my only qualification. And if a publisher didn't want to allow me to give away free audiobooks, free serialized audiobooks, then, like, don't bid, because I won't sign your contract, no matter what you're offering. And Crown was good to go.
and you can binge watch it, then it's great. It's hard for me, sometimes, to invest fully in serialized programming on a network, because I got to wait a week, you know? I want to be told an isolated, independent story, Rod Serling style.
So it's not so much like, oh, no, we really painted ourselves in a corner with that serialized story of the one-armed man.
The hallmarks of internet culture come through in experiments like Netflix and Amazon Originals, arguments and reports serialized on Twitter, podcasts like NPR's "Serial," and the new media franchises
Yeah, I agree with what Max is saying about posting online. I think for writers of a certain age that's how we grew our craft, whether you wrote fan fiction or serialized stories like this. Well, I wrote 1000 words today, so I'm going to put it on the internet.
granted this license. And so, this was all legit and on the up and up. And these stories were serialized in a in a