The Chicken/Egg Conundrum: How Modern Stories are Best Told
We are at a point of confluence in the storytelling universe. As the entertainment industry continues to merge, morph, contract and expand, we are rapidly approaching the crossroads of how stories are best told.
Traditionally, a book was a great place to start a new storytelling adventure. Books have weight, gravity and substance. The very act of getting a book published gave it a presence that would attract other storytelling media, like film, television and the gaming industry.
We all knew what came first until… Streaming Media.
Suddenly the options for storytelling have blown up, expanding the entertainment universe with a Big-Bang effect. Now everyone is binging on complete, serialized stories that don’t progress week-to-week, but are available immediately.
Now we have an entertainment industry that is screaming for new stories and new content at the top of its lungs. In fact, they’re even rebooting and modernizing old series just to keep up with the growing demand. And the demand will continue to grow.
Entertainment Weekly recently pointed out:
“A key element in the Future Viewing Potential (FPV) appeal of shows as in the streaming universe is continuity in their storytelling. An extended, twisting and turning mythology — something that the broadcast networks have been marginalizing or altogether avoiding in most of their series for at least 15 years — now makes a show even more desirable in the long term. The thinking here is that ongoing stories more readily entice viewers who watch on streaming services, especially those given to binge watching, in ways that series built in the standard stand-alone format may not.
This is especially true of younger viewers who have come of age in the digital, multi-platform, stream-it-anytime era. They’ll turn anything into a binge, treating even sitcoms as hundred-hour-long movies, especially those shows that they may not have watched or to which they came late during their runs. Of course, many of the most durable sitcoms, from “I Love Lucy” to “Bewitched” to “All in the Family” to “Friends,” have a serialized component to their storytelling, simply because they were on for so many years and chronicled changes in the lives of their characters (courtships, marriages, births, new jobs, etc.) throughout their runs.”
The great thing about a book series is that the content is already framed, serialized and structured in a format that is very conducive to development in other entertainment media. The downside is that it takes a very long time for a book series to build an audience and gain popularity, compared to other more visual media. (It’s much quicker to watch several one-hour episodes than read multiple 400-page novels).
And that’s where the conundrum lies. In the old days, you’d take the long road of book publishing, build your audience and fan base and then field licensing deals with major studios or big entertainment groups.
But now the demand is so great, people don’t want to wait. In this world of immediate gratification, people want there stories now, on demand, and complete… and they’re willing to pay for it too.
What remains to be seen is whether these fully-developed series will work in reverse from the traditional model. Will successful streaming serials spark successful books?
I’ll bet YES.
For history tells us that when people embrace a story, they will always ask for more in various fashions and forms.
These are strange times, indeed; especially when it’s the egg laying the chicken.
