Borrowed Worlds - Virtual Series

Have trouble saying goodbye to your favourite television series? Well, so do I, and thus Borrowed Worlds was born, and with it, a new Virtual Series.

A Virtual Series - as I mean it - is, loosely put, fiction that is written and released in an episodic manner. That is, they are television shows on paper. Virtual Series shouldn't be confused with Web Serials (writing that when collated would likely culminate in a novel - see Strange Little Band as an example) or Web Shows/Series (which are filmed and broadcast over the Internet, see the Guild, Doctor Horrible etc).

A Virtual Series does not necessarily need to be "fan-fiction" - though if you ever look for Virtual Series on Wikipedia, that is where they lump it. There are countless original Virtual Series out there, written for the sheer love of episodic storytelling. They are as varied as the television shows broadcasting today are.

To my knowledge, there are three formats for Virtual Series: Scripted (with subcategory fan-scription), Prose and Hybrid.

Scripted Virtual Series mimic the scripts of television shows that are shot and produced today. There may be some extra embellishment from time to time because there is no actor interpreting and bringing the characters to life, but for the most part, they follow tele-script rules. These works are generally anywhere from 40-60 pages for an hour-long episode - sometimes spanning entire seasons (22 episodes depending on the "showrunner" and size of the writing team). The readership base of this type is quite small when compared with other online fiction works, because script format is often seen as too difficult/imposing by those who haven't read one before. In reality, scripts are quite fascinating and enlightening, as they require the writer to master techniques that would aid many of today's new (and sometimes experienced) novelists. The most important skill being "Show, Don't Tell".

Prose Virtual Series are written in "novella" form. Their page count varies as they are able to describe the emotions and thoughts of characters rather than find visual actions and scenes to unravel them in. These are probably the easiest of the three for the general reader to tackle as they will seem familiar to almost anyone who reads for fun/school etc.

Hybrid Virtual Series will use some script format to indicate Act Breaks, Location Headings and Dialogue, but will essentially keep the rest of the story in prose. The page length for these virtual series will also vary, and seldom reach the "page per minute" count that Scripted series aim for. The writers are able to utilize the best of both worlds in order to tell their story and it may be a little easier to digest for the general reader. Though, I should mention that scripted series writers tend not to like seeing this kind often as they believe it dumbs down script format and teaches bad habits.

There are also two broad categories for Virtual Series: Fan-scription and Original.

Fan-scription is a nice way of saying fan-fiction that aims to be as realistic and true to canon as possible. Fan-scription is generally a Scripted Series, because the discipline of constructing a true-to-life television episode will likely dissuade frivolous storylines and force the writer to take particular note of character, pacing and plot. It's quite unusual for you to find "slashing" of canonically straight characters, for example, in a fan-scription series, since continuity of character is just as important as what you do to them.

The Originals are, from my point of view, fast becoming the most common/popular Scripted Virtual Series type. Every element of the story and characters come from the writers mind, and some are so scarily good, you'll wonder why they aren't being made into real TV shows.

Recommended Original Scripted Virtual Series (these will all speak for themselves):
The Afterlife
The Company
Eternity and its concluding movie
Shackles

For more original and fan-scription series, please visit MZP.