Section No. 09

New part most Thursdays

Serials

Stories told a part at a time

Multi-part original fiction and reported series. A new installment lands most Thursdays.

Read them in order. They were written that way.

The House on Briar Lane

Part 5: What Has a Name

Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.

Part 5 of 5·2 min read

A modest two-story house on a quiet suburban street in early autumn

From the desk

What changes between one part and the next?

Serials are planned whole and then released a part at a time. Each installment is written to work on its own, but they were composed in order and reward being read that way.

Structure

Planned as a whole before part one is filed.

Continuity

Names, weather and furniture stay consistent.

Pacing

One installment lands most Thursdays.

Also filed under Serials

Children jumping off a wooden dock into a lake in summer

The Summer We Didn't Want to End

Part 5: The Last Day at the Dock

A five-part series about being young, carefree and convinced it would last forever.

Part 5 of 5·2 min read

The House on Briar Lane

Part 4: What the Street Agreed to Call It

Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.

Part 4 of 5·3 min read

The Summer We Didn't Want to End

Part 4: August, and the First Empty Chair

A five-part series about being young, carefree and convinced it would last forever.

Part 4 of 5·2 min read

The Summer We Didn't Want to End

Part 3: The Week the Rain Fell Sideways

A five-part series about being young, carefree and convinced it would last forever.

Part 3 of 5·2 min read

The House on Briar Lane

Part 3: The Truth in the Backyard

Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.

Part 3 of 5·11 min read

The Summer We Didn't Want to End

Part 2: The Dock

A five-part series about being young, carefree and convinced it would last forever.

Part 2 of 5·9 min read

The House on Briar Lane

Part 2: What Marjorie Ptak Remembers

Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.

Part 2 of 5·10 min read

The Summer We Didn't Want to End

Part 1: Out the Door After Breakfast

A five-part series about being young, carefree and convinced it would last forever.

Part 1 of 5·8 min read

The House on Briar Lane

Part 1: The Fence Went Up in Two Days

Five houses. Four families. One thing nobody on the street talks about.

Part 1 of 5·9 min read

Taped above the desk

Read them in order. They were written that way.

The Otherwise Ordinary Desk · Serials

What to expect

Reading Serials

New part most Thursdays

01
New part most Thursdays
02
Part numbers on every card
03
Full run kept in the archive

The complete Serials file

Browse every section

Life
The days you forget to notice
Work
What we do for a living, and what it does to us
Money
Numbers that never quite explain themselves
Culture
The things everyone did without deciding to
Home
Rooms, drawers, and the objects that outlast us
Relationships
People, and the effort of keeping them
Nostalgia
Remember this?
Fiction
Made up, but not invented
Then & Now
What changed while nobody announced it
Notebook
Shorter, plainer, from the same desk

Part 5: What Has a Name

Structure

Continuity

Pacing

Also filed under Serials

Part 5: The Last Day at the Dock

Part 4: What the Street Agreed to Call It

Part 4: August, and the First Empty Chair

Part 3: The Week the Rain Fell Sideways

Part 3: The Truth in the Backyard

Part 2: The Dock

Part 2: What Marjorie Ptak Remembers

Part 1: Out the Door After Breakfast

Part 1: The Fence Went Up in Two Days

Reading Serials

The complete Serials file

Browse every section

Good stories.Once a week.