text: #Hello r/Shortstories! For the last 14 weeks, we’ve been running a ‘Serial Sunday’ feature here on the sub (a rebranding of ‘Serial Saturday’). I’ve had the pleasure of watching numerous writers build an entire world from scratch, and I’ve watched their characters grow and develop as they’ve faced different challenges. I’ve seen each and every SerSun participant improve week to week and it’s been a delightful experience. One such writer is u/ColeZalias. He’s been with the WP family for some time now, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him and his writing. He’s even joined us on the mod team over at r/WritingPrompts. He began his serial, Subsidized, on Serial Saturday, and he continued it on SerSun, through to the very end, with a whopping 22 parts! That’s quite the accomplishment. Take a minute to leave him some love in the comments below! #Subsidized - Written by u/ColeZalias If you haven’t yet read the latest installments of his serial, I encourage you to check it out. Take an afternoon, kick your feet up, and dive in. **A little synopsis from Cole:** Subsidized tells the story of David, a lowly man whose world is shaken after hearing unexpected news from his sister regarding his mental health. Whilst dealing with personal troubles, including lingering ones from a previous relationship, David faces the harsh realities of the lifestyle he has been living and the struggle to resolve the mistakes he has made. - - - - - - - - - - *Note: If you’re brand new to Subsidized, you can check out and more on his personal subreddit, r/ColeZalias. &nbsp; *** &nbsp; #A Chat with u/ColeZalias about Serial Writing I thought the perfect way to celebrate Subsidized’s conclusion was to sit down with Cole and ask him about his experience writing a serial. ##**What have you learned through the serial writing process?** Subsidized was the first long piece of writing that I saw through to its completion. Before I got into the rhythm of writing an entry every week, I noticed for a long time that I’d often have trouble finishing a piece of work. Most of the motivation to start a serial was just to feel more intune to the community, seeing as how I already wrote for other weekly activities, it seemed like I should try SerSun even if it didn’t yield any writing for me to be proud of. The fact that it went on for as long as it did taught me to become a more confident writer. I learned how to manage my time and even how to develop long term planning to these sorts of projects and I can now confidently tell myself that it is a possibility for me to work towards something bigger. That mindset only became a reality because I did SerSun. ##**What did you enjoy most about writing this?** The fact that I had no idea where I was gonna go with it. It was only towards Subsidized’s conclusion that I felt certain of how I wanted everything structured. Though, in the beginning, I was learning about my world and my story nearly at the same pace as the reader. There was no outline so I was sorta winging it for most of it. I loved the fact that it turned out as well as it did with very minimal planning and I honestly don’t think it’s something I can replicate again. It was a truly wonderful experience and when it was finally over, it was an amazing sense of satisfaction. ##**What was the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?** 100% the ending. From the start I knew I wanted to make a story that was more grounded and that I could connect with at a personal level. All my “planning” had been to tell a journey of someone who picked themselves up from a difficult situation and finally came out of it feeling proud of themselves and of their actions. As a person, I never had a moment like that where I felt like I achieved what the character of David achieved at the end of the story. For me to have a solid ending from day one meant that I knew how to get over these problems if they happened to me, which I didn’t. I sat at my keyboard for a solid two days, non stop. I had four endings written out and it just came down to choosing the simplest. By the end, there was a mutual understanding with myself where I said “this doesn’t need to be extravagant or spectacular in any way, I just want something subtle” and I think I did that pretty well. At least I hope so. ##**What advice would you give to writers who are thinking about writing a serial for the first time?** Don’t think. When I first started I had a rough draft of a story. I had no concrete plans of where I wanted to go and if you asked me when I first started you would have received a plan for a story that is colossally different to what I ended with. If you’re just starting out writing longer pieces of work, try not to overthink it. Try to remove yourself from your own expectations and just take a chance. Obviously you should have an idea of the story you want to write, but don’t let the fact that you have to have something ready every week affect your process. Being unsure is not a bad thing. Being unsure just allows you to discover the limits of your story along with the people reading it every week. It’s good to have an outline and if that works for you then go ahead and do what’s comfortable. But if you find yourself doubting the idea that you want to express into writing, don’t limit yourself. Don’t believe it needs to be perfect. And don’t think for a second that you can’t turn it into something wonderful. &nbsp; *** &nbsp; Cole, thank you so much for your insight. It’s been a treat reading your stories and watching your writing grow over time. Thank you for joining Serial Sunday. I hope your next project brings you even greater joys. You’re a pleasure to have in the community. Have this as a prize. &nbsp; *** &nbsp; ###Subreddit News - Try your hand at serial writing with - You can now post serials to r/Shortstories, outside of Serial Sunday.