A Classificatory Schema for the Series
Oct. 18th, 2007 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kateelliottMy post on Midnighters and the Genre Trilogy made me realize I wasn’t clear enough about my definitions, so I thought it would be worthwhile setting up a classificatory schema for “the Series”.
This is a preliminary draft, thrown together this evening. I’m counting on you to please help me out. Toss out any and all ideas. By the way, this is for fun, not for Serious Discussion and Debate. This is not a manifesto or a challenge. But even so, I still think we can come up with a workable schema to entertain ourselves. Then again, I’m obviously a cheap date.
This was slightly updated late Friday night, 10/19.
I. The Standalone Novel
II. The Series
IIA. The Duology
IIA1. a single novel split into two volumes
IIA2. two linked stories published as a unit
IIB. The Trilogy
IIB1. a single novel
IIB1a. arbitrarily split into three volumes
IIB1b. already split into three internal parts that become volumes (play in 3 acts)
IIB2. the expansion trilogy (first volume tells a complete story, second and third open out the scope of the original tale)
IIB3. the follow-up trilogy - a single novel, complete in itself, is added onto
IIB4. the interconnected trilogy - three related novels in which events that happen in the earlier books impact the later books and deepen them, but which are not a single story arc.
IIIB5. (added by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
desperance) the subsequent trilogy - a trilogy that is written as a follow-up to a trilogy, containing its own self contained trilogy plot arc (with possible reference to and relationship with the previous trilogy).
IIC. The SuperTrilogy
(thus called because in Parents-of-Twins groups, triplets or quads are referred to as SuperTwins)
IIC1. a single novel divided into installments
IIC2. the big picture series, with single volume internal plot arcs as well as a longer overarching narrative that takes the entire series to resolve
IIC3. the roman fleuve (quoting Katharine Kerr: “Generally speaking, a roman fleuve covers several generations and several interrelated story lines; alternately, it may be a number of books set in the same milieu and featuring interrelated characters.”)
IID. The Episodic Series (any given volume can be read without reference to the others)
IID1. the reset series (the characters and situation do not change from episode to episode, only the self contained adventure or plot differs
IID2. the slow growth series (while each episode is self contained and complete as a plot arc, there is incremental change within the characters and setting that shows up in subsequent episodes, such as aging, marriage, divorce, children, family problems, etc)
IID3. the “frame tale” series (this differs from IIC2 in that the frame tale is more a part of the background setting than front-loaded into the plot, and is referred to and dealt with periodically while meanwhile the main focus is on individual episodes)
IID4. linked short stories revolving around the same character or setting (these may be published separately across many years and venues and possibly eventually collected in one place)
IIE. The Mirror, or Progressive, Series (may be any length from duology to SuperTrilogy)
(added byla_marquise_de
a single or trilogy or set of books that are written by the same author in reaction to a previous novel or series, which are "set in the same background but often radically reshape or even undermine the others deliberately"
All right.
Your turn.
This is a preliminary draft, thrown together this evening. I’m counting on you to please help me out. Toss out any and all ideas. By the way, this is for fun, not for Serious Discussion and Debate. This is not a manifesto or a challenge. But even so, I still think we can come up with a workable schema to entertain ourselves. Then again, I’m obviously a cheap date.
This was slightly updated late Friday night, 10/19.
I. The Standalone Novel
II. The Series
IIA. The Duology
IIA1. a single novel split into two volumes
IIA2. two linked stories published as a unit
IIB. The Trilogy
IIB1. a single novel
IIB1a. arbitrarily split into three volumes
IIB1b. already split into three internal parts that become volumes (play in 3 acts)
IIB2. the expansion trilogy (first volume tells a complete story, second and third open out the scope of the original tale)
IIB3. the follow-up trilogy - a single novel, complete in itself, is added onto
IIB4. the interconnected trilogy - three related novels in which events that happen in the earlier books impact the later books and deepen them, but which are not a single story arc.
IIIB5. (added by
desperance) the subsequent trilogy - a trilogy that is written as a follow-up to a trilogy, containing its own self contained trilogy plot arc (with possible reference to and relationship with the previous trilogy).IIC. The SuperTrilogy
(thus called because in Parents-of-Twins groups, triplets or quads are referred to as SuperTwins)
IIC1. a single novel divided into installments
IIC2. the big picture series, with single volume internal plot arcs as well as a longer overarching narrative that takes the entire series to resolve
IIC3. the roman fleuve (quoting Katharine Kerr: “Generally speaking, a roman fleuve covers several generations and several interrelated story lines; alternately, it may be a number of books set in the same milieu and featuring interrelated characters.”)
IID. The Episodic Series (any given volume can be read without reference to the others)
IID1. the reset series (the characters and situation do not change from episode to episode, only the self contained adventure or plot differs
IID2. the slow growth series (while each episode is self contained and complete as a plot arc, there is incremental change within the characters and setting that shows up in subsequent episodes, such as aging, marriage, divorce, children, family problems, etc)
IID3. the “frame tale” series (this differs from IIC2 in that the frame tale is more a part of the background setting than front-loaded into the plot, and is referred to and dealt with periodically while meanwhile the main focus is on individual episodes)
IID4. linked short stories revolving around the same character or setting (these may be published separately across many years and venues and possibly eventually collected in one place)
IIE. The Mirror, or Progressive, Series (may be any length from duology to SuperTrilogy)
(added by
la_marquise_dea single or trilogy or set of books that are written by the same author in reaction to a previous novel or series, which are "set in the same background but often radically reshape or even undermine the others deliberately"
All right.
Your turn.