Start at the End
As a novelist and audio dramatist I understand the difference between writing a book and writing an audio series. Through three seasons of The Dex Legacy I’ve evolved my approach from – by necessity – pure pantsing, to careful planning.
While writing my epic trilogy of novels I adopted a “lighting of the beacons” approach, discovering the path between set moments, always with a clear destination in mind. And you might think that writing a series would follow a similar format, with every episode focusing on a key moment. But the truth is episodic dramas improve with better planning. They also improve when you know the complete journey from the start.
The End is Always Important
Many audio dramas fail to “stick the landing”. This is a problem with audio productions at all levels. Creators set out with an idea/concept in mind, explore it through the series, but ultimately don’t know how to end it.
This can leave listeners flat, deflated, annoyed, and at worst, resentful.
The best way to avoid this is to really think about your story in advance. Work out your episode beats. Think about what’s happening and why, and crucially where you’ll end up. From the start you need to be thinking about the consumer: what they’ll feel while listening, at the end of each episode, and at the end of the series.
The Dex Legacy
These observations come from years of fucking about and finding out. Season 1 of The Dex Legacy was nothing short of a miracle. Chris and I were writing and producing on the go, with a release every 2 weeks. I hadn’t written episode 6 when we were releasing episode 4. I lived in fear for 3 months straight. Having lived it, I would not recommend this approach to anyone.
The ending came to me while drafting episode 5 and I was instantly excited. Season 1 is a thorough introduction to all the ways in which Varian, Isra and Ren’s lives are made a misery, and the ending is like a shaft of hope breaking through the clouds. We’re with them, we’re ready. Now we wait and see.
Season 2 was well planned and much tighter in structure. It drives the tension forward and has a very clear journey structure.
Season 3 is coming, so I can’t spoil anything, but it’s tighter still and benefits from even greater planning.
With every season I’ve broken further away from my novel-writing style, accepting that where audio drama is concerned, I need to approach things very differently.
The Novels vs the Audio
It doesn’t matter how many series of The Dex Legacy I write and Alternative Stories produces, there is an end. Because I’ve written it already. The whole series is a prequel to a trilogy of novels I wrote a few years ago. I know what’s coming and the series is about getting my characters to the point where the novels pick up. But even if the audio series doesn’t get that far, the books will come out and fans will be able to read what happens further down the road, and they will see how the story plays out to the end.
Many listeners won’t start with a show unless they know it’s complete, or at least has a completed season, because they don’t want to be left hanging. And the fear is real. With hundreds of indie productions fizzling out mid-season due to expenses or adulting or both, listeners have been repeatedly burned.
The Dex Legacy is an outlier, but it’s also great to be in this position as a writer.
Final Destination
Knowing where the series is ultimately heading has been a huge bonus. There’s no pressure to pack everything into a single batch of episodes, when you know in advance that that would mean spanning 5 years of material. It’s impossible.
The same can be said for any show. What is your complete timeline? Is it a single series? If so, great. Where does it end?
If your aim is to create multiple seasons, where would it lead?
Ask yourself these questions at the start. The answer may be hazy. It may change. But working towards something will help keep you on track and pace the wider narrative.
This is Not “Planning”
Or it doesn’t have to be. Planning means not only deciding on the ending, but blocking out every beat on the way there. Simply having a destination in mind leaves a lot of room for discovery… it just keeps you on track and helps to steer your narrative to your foregone conclusion from the moment you set out.
Listeners Deserve This
Yes, indie audio dramas are often passion projects. We make them to stay sane… or because we’ve already gone insane (the jury is still out on which). But that doesn’t mean they should be a selfish endeavour. We’re creating a product that will be consumed by busy people and they deserve to know that we’ve thought about it from the start.
So don’t leave them hanging.
If nothing else, you don’t want invested fans hunting you down with polymer lightsabers and larping swords at the next convention.
So know your ending. Whether you can see the entire path on the way, or hack it out of the wilderness as you go, do your listeners a favour and have that destination in mind.