Recaps...Yea or Nay?
Do authors on Steemit who write serialized fiction need to recap?
I was recently thinking about the H.P. Lovecraft story, "Herbert West–Reanimator". In that story, which was serizlized over several issues of a magazine, the author recaps the story at the beginning of each chapter. I have noticed that authors on Steemit tend to not recap their serialized fiction.
The question is, should we recap?
I do not (currently) recap for the following reasons:
- Steemit makes it easy to link the previous parts of a story, so the reader can simply click on the links
- The reader can click on the author's profile to see all of the stories by that author
- Most serialized fiction is released more often than once a month, so the story is still fresh in the mind of the reader
But as my wife would tell you, I am not always right.
Ultimately, as an author, what the reader wants is most important. If readers want recaps, then goshdarnit, I better start recapping.
What do you think?
Should Steemit authors give a quick paragraph or two recap of the story at the beginning of each new chapter in a serialized fiction piece?
Do you, as a reader, find recaps helpful?
Let me know!
Picture Credit: "Question Mark | ?" by Ryan Milani is licensed under CC by 2.0
I use (very small) recaps for several reasons.
One is to remind readers what was happening. They have other things in their lives to remember, and I don't want to ask them to go back and reread the other installments to get a handle on what's going on, especially if they're coming back to the story after a month or more. I don't need to retread the entire story, just enough to jog their memory.
Another is for fun. Recaps are their own kind of expression, and hopefully readers familiar with the story will smile at the way they're expressed. Eventually I want to even include hyperbolic, possibly inaccurate chapter previews. The recap is another of the writer's tools, one that is reminiscent of when this format was used before, and one that is hardly ever used in normal fiction now.
The last reason is for myself. With the recap at the top of the page I have better focus on the story I'm writing, and writing the recap helps me to pinpoint what the next chapter needs to have.
I don't mind if a story doesn't have recaps, though sometimes I have found myself scrolling through an old installment trying to match names to descriptions; it's just something I like doing.
Funny enough, you are who I was talking about before. :)
It's tough being famous.
So far, I think there's only one serial I read that does recaps of any sort at all. Those are extraordinarily brief.
Thr main advantage I could see to them is to control the reader's recollection by emphasizing certain things over others, or simply to create a particular atmosphere.
That said, so far as a reader I don't care that much.
I'm hoping links are ok. I'm a little slower than the pros here, but even I hope to publish more than once a month.
Thanks for asking this, I've been wondering the same thing.
I hope no one finds recaps helpful, because I'm too lazy to write them. ;-)
Seriously, as long as the post contains links to the earlier chapters, I'm good with it. I'm serializing a 15+ part monster novelette, so it's incumbent on me to leave the reader some breadcrumbs.
I assume with links to earlier chapters, readers don't need or want recaps, but as my father always said to me, "You know what happens when you assume..."
That's why I am asking in this post. Better safe than sorry!
Your father was right. Then again, I'm still rooting for your assumption. I'm really bad at summarizing my work. They always read like those bloodless, soulless blurbs found in old TV Guides.
I think it depends both on the piece and on how often it's posted. More delay, more call for a recap. I think the more...informal of a piece, the more you might have call for a recap too.
Taking Herbert West as a model, not only was it appearing monthly, HPL did not consider it to be serious at all but tongue-in-cheek. One might even call it camp, a la the 1960s Batman TV show. On that series, the recaps are part of the fun.
So I think no recaps are fine in most instances, but if you use them, consider their effect.