What Writing Serial Fiction Has Taught Me…

I’ve never been very good at being succinct. I’m also a perfectionist — which is wonderful if you’re a surgeon, an air-traffic controller, or the person with their finger on the red button at the White House… but not as helpful when you’re a writer.

For years, I perfected the art of overanalyzing, overthinking, and eventually talking myself out of finishing books. My first novel took four whole years and swelled to more than 120,000 words. It was long, explicit, bloody, and dramatic… and in the end, I threw the entire thing away.

All 120,000 words.

Naturally, I cried for days. Then I abandoned the story entirely and leapt into a new one. Eventually, I finished both novels — but they took far too long, and they drained any joy from the process.

Then, a few months ago, I had an idea. A spark. A scene that became Episode One of Hard Candy. It wasn’t a novel. It wasn’t even a premise. It was more like a movie clip that played in my head on loop. And because I was already elbow-deep in two too-long projects, I told myself to ignore it.

Spoiler: I could not ignore it.

So I did something I swore I’d never do. I wrote that one scene — just the scene — and posted it to my website. Totally impulsive. Totally out of character. Totally right.

Now it’s a weekly ritual.
I write one scene.
Usually in a single evening.
And I only review it once.

Once!

Because I’ve made a promise to anyone who visits my site: a new episode goes up every Saturday morning. That means I can’t fuss, can’t stall, and absolutely cannot spend three days rewriting one sentence like a Victorian ghost with too much time on her hands.

And here’s what shocked me:
Writing fast has made my writing better.
Not sloppier — better.

Why? Because I’m not standing in my own way anymore. I’m not nitpicking myself into oblivion or worrying whether someone out there will like it, hate it, misunderstand it, or tattoo it on their forearm. (Though honestly, if anyone wants a Hard Candy tattoo… call me.)

I’m writing more than ever. I’m finishing things. I’m having fun again. I spend far more time in the creative part of writing than the critical part, and it’s changed everything.

And you know what else I don’t worry about anymore?
Traditional publishing.

If you go that route, you have to play by someone else’s rules — their word counts, their structure, their market expectations. And listen… I have control issues. Ask literally anyone who has ever met me.

So now I’m embracing what feels good: weekly serial fiction, mini-mysteries, and short novellas — the kind of quick, punchy reads I adore. Think old-school dime-store novels: 40k to 50k words, just big enough to fit in your purse and devour in a weekend. And don’t even get me started on holiday stories. I love them, so why not write my own?

Most of all, I’ve learned this:
Writing should feel good.
It should be joyful, messy, surprising, and alive.
The technical stuff will sort itself out.
But if you aren’t having fun, none of it works.

I’m having fun again — and I hope that joy shows up for every reader who wanders into my world.

Until next time, dip from your inkwell often,
Mira Wolfe Writes