I was 13 when Stephen King published The Green Mile in six thin installments. The hundred-page chapbooks were everywhere. Newsstands. Wal-Mart. You could even find them near the register at the grocery store, next to The National Enquirer and Weekly World News. It was a craze, and I was happy to be along for the ride.
The whole experience felt unique. The book’s publishing schedule forced me to wait weeks between installments. I had more time to think about the story, and I was acutely aware that the author was out there doing the same. The story felt more alive because of that, brimming with possibility. When all the chapbooks were collected in a single volume, I held it in my hands and thought, “What a shame that whoever buys this will miss out on all the excitement.”
That was my introduction to serialization. I loved it immediately. Later, I’d fall headfirst into a hundred other stories that were published piecemeal. Sherlock Holmes. Dune. Dick Tracy. Berserk. And while I didn’t get a chance to experience the excitement of their publications, I still felt the thrill of the tight rope walk. I read them knowing that the writers didn’t have endings when they published their beginnings. There was something heroic about that, something almost reckless. It was like they were saying, “I don’t know exactly where this is going, I just know I’m good enough that you’ll like it.” I loved that confidence. I loved the risk.
From then on, serialization—or something like it—became the goal. I wanted to walk that tight rope. I learned to write, I went to art school, I worked in Hollywood, I sold scripts, I wrote for a TV show. I worked my way into the modern incarnation of my dream. Or so I thought. But each step forward came with tradeoffs, and I realized that I would never be able to tell all the stories I wanted to that way.
So I bought a domain name.
Welcome to Null Theory. My name is Ben Wolf and I’ll be using this space to share serialized genre fiction. Every week, subscribers will receive the latest installment of my current story. There will be science fiction. There will be horror. There will be pulp. It will have action, and drama, and romance, and passion, and comedy. At least, that’s the plan. I don’t know exactly where this is going, I just know I’m good enough that you’ll like it.
Let’s get started…
welcome!