Obviously, we have different likes. I'm not going to cover that. I'm only going to talk about the serial story I'm writing, Sian.

Serial stories are strange. You never know when they're going to end. In a way, it's the better form from one of my early Elsewhere posts where I bemoaned the fact we cheat ourselves with metaknowledge:

this book is running out of pages, this is either to wrap up quick and probably lazy, or it's going to lead into the next book.

this movie is drawing to a close, but we still have time for one plot twist.

Serial stories don't have this. Serials end when the author says so, but no one knows when that is. For most of the run of a serial story, not even the author does. He may know how, but when is impossible to predict, unless he has everything plotted in advance.

Seeing as a serial story doesn't have to pre-declare itself as novellette, novella, novel, trilogy, or horse-choker of a volume, the author has freedom from that mudane pacing, which requires the author to try to get everything aligned at the right time. Not so the serial author, or at least my writing.

But, the question facing me is "what if your serial story is going well and you come to a fork in the road?" Short or long?

This is an odd decision. Those constrained by length will choose accordingly. But, take length limitation out, what do you choose by? The author's master plan? The characters, who by now have their own voices, which they too-frequently use to cluebat you. "Hey, bozo! this is so out of character for me."

If you didn't care about length, what would be your next most important criteria when suddenly faced with two development pathes?