Holiday Extras for Your Readers

[Moonpearl]

With Christmas coming up, this was on my mind again~!

Although I don't have any stories posted yet, I've always wanted to write holiday extras for the long-running webnovels I had planned - kind of like the little extras that many web comic creators make. How much I'd be able to write for them would have to depend on my time and circumstances, but even small shorts seem like a lot of fun to include.

Does anybody else do holiday extras, or wish that they could? What sort of extras would you write? Would you make extras for only specific holidays, or all the ones you celebrate?

 

[Owl]

I write them! It's really fun and I do it for the ones I celebrate and feel like writing one for.
Great things are reader suggestions about scenes they want to see, alternate universes, short skits... For me, it doesn't even have to do anything with the holiday itself - it's just a special chapter and I want them to be fun, nothing else :) For me that would be absolutely non-canon stuff (For example, I've got an extra for a cultivation story - it's in a modern times AU, which has nothing to do with the original story but was super funny to write)

 

[ordinmandra]

For an extra on Christmas, I don't really have ideas for it, but I do want to make one

 

[Blitz]

It doesn't have to be canon either. A short special centered around the holiday seems interesting

 

[Scribbler]

I don't have a story going on, but if I did, I don't think I would. Though it would probably depend greatly on the cast. I mean, if the MC doesn't really have any close friends then I definitely wouldn't. But if the main characters were a father and daughter and maybe some traveling companions then I might consider it. I mostly wouldn't since I think most readers just want a continuation of the plot. Though if I were a slice of life writer, I suppose readers wouldn't have much of a gripe.

I like the manga form for holiday specials since people could be satisfied with just a picture of the main character/s in holiday getups and be done with it. But for a web novel format, I wouldn't have it be an extra, I would have it be a part of the story, like it's that time of the year in universe. But again, I wouldn't want to interrupt the flow of the plot. If I ever did, I feel both my readers and I would hate me for it.

But maybe if I made it a side/extra story it wouldn't interrupt the plot? But isn't it kind of already interrupting by taking my time to write it instead of the main story? But isn't that what the holiday season is all about? Doing a little extra?

Oh my god, this has become quite questionable.

 

[Moonpearl]

I write them! It's really fun and I do it for the ones I celebrate and feel like writing one for.
Great things are reader suggestions about scenes they want to see, alternate universes, short skits... For me, it doesn't even have to do anything with the holiday itself - it's just a special chapter and I want them to be fun, nothing else :) For me that would be absolutely non-canon stuff (For example, I've got an extra for a cultivation story - it's in a modern times AU, which has nothing to do with the original story but was super funny to write)

I'd like to make them at least a little relevant to the holiday, personally, because I like to get in the spirit of it. Even if that means just setting the stories in the winter for Christmas/New Year. I'm also drawn towards extras that provide shipping fanservice.

Would you be okay linking to your extras? I'm a little curious to see what others make~!

For an extra on Christmas, I don't really have ideas for it, but I do want to make one

It's definitely difficult to come up with ideas. I've been writing some stories based on the RPGs I write lately, and I can only come up with really cliche plots... I think people don't mind cliche for holidays, though. Most people seem to enjoy them, actually.

It doesn't have to be canon either. A short special centered around the holiday seems interesting

Exactly~! Some of my favourite comic extras have been whacky AUs.

I don't have a story going on, but if I did, I don't think I would. Though it would probably depend greatly on the cast. I mean, if the MC doesn't really have any close friends then I definitely wouldn't. But if the main characters were a father and daughter and maybe some traveling companions then I might consider it. I mostly wouldn't since I think most readers just want a continuation of the plot. Though if I were a slice of life writer, I suppose readers wouldn't have much of a gripe.

I like the manga form for holiday specials since people could be satisfied with just a picture of the main character/s in holiday getups and be done with it. But for a web novel format, I wouldn't have it be an extra, I would have it be a part of the story, like it's that time of the year in universe. But again, I wouldn't want to interrupt the flow of the plot. If I ever did, I feel both my readers and I would hate me for it.

But maybe if I made it a side/extra story it wouldn't interrupt the plot? But isn't it kind of already interrupting by taking my time to write it instead of the main story? But isn't that what the holiday season is all about? Doing a little extra?

Oh my god, this has become quite questionable.

Hm... I think you're right that readers would rather have the story than extras. But if you start writing the extras early enough, you can release them on top of your regular releases, so no one's unhappy.

 

[Arexio]

How nifty. I like this idea.

 

[Greydra]

Think I'll make one as well. I'm free for most of December anyway

 

[MrDarkness1234]

Yeah sure I could make one after I finshed my first arc of Psykers.

 

[MrDarkness1234]

and also a little sad that no one is reading my first and second chapter
Ch1:https://www.scribblehub.com/read/53071-psykers/chapter/57128/
Ch2:https://www.scribblehub.com/read/53071-psykers/chapter/69728/

 

[tiaf]

Now you gave me the idea and Christmas is right around the corner...
A sweet family chapter

 

[jinxs2011]

I don't write them. Personally, I almost never like seasonal episodes or chapters, even if they're non-canon. Especially if they happen in the middle of an important event or something, they just break all the tension and ruin the suspense.

 

[yansusustories]

I'm doing extras as well. Not for all holidays but for the ones I personally like or feel that they fit what I write. Like, I'm writing gay romance so I normally do one for Valentine's Day and Xixi although I don't personally celebrate either of them. And since I personally like Halloween, I usually do one for that as well. I haven't done any for Christmas yet since it's not something I'm super passionate about but I might change that if inspiration strikes.

I do have an issue with what @jinxs2011 just mentioned as well:

Especially if they happen in the middle of an important event or something, they just break all the tension and ruin the suspense.

To me, that was especially a problem since some of my projects have daily chapters and my extras usually have more than one chapter as well so I tend to spread them out over the day or maybe start uploading a bit before the actual holiday. So I'd have normal chapters and extra chapters alternating (sometimes for a whole week or longer) which ... would be kind of stupid?
I finally just created an extra project where I collect all the extras so that they don't interfere with the main story. If I upload another extra there, I include a short author's note in the latest chapter of the main story, put a notice on my wall and whoever wants to regularly read the extras can just go and subscribe to the other projects. Those who just want to check some of the extras can wait for the announcements and those who don't want to read can ignore it. I feel like that's the best way for me to deal with it.

 

[Moonpearl]

I don't write them. Personally, I almost never like seasonal episodes or chapters, even if they're non-canon. Especially if they happen in the middle of an important event or something, they just break all the tension and ruin the suspense.

Ah, that's true... Maybe they're best skipped when you're at a tense part of a story. Or at least scheduled around about them?

 

[jinxs2011]

I mean, saying that, I do do an extra chapter for april fools. But it's mostly unrelated to the theme of the day, I just use it as an excuse to write a side story. For that, last time, I wrote it as entirely separate from the main story - it was set in the same world with the same mechanics and all, but you could read the entire main story without needing to read the side story, and vice versa.

 

[Owl]

Would you be okay linking to your extras? I'm a little curious to see what others make~!

Looks at your signature I mean, if you don't mind BL xD Not like anything is happening in the chapter, not even a kiss.
Here it is! It was just a random funny thing to write as a response to a reader commented they'd find this kind of AU fun. It's my only extra so far, but I'm already writing one for Christmas :3

 

[Moonpearl]

Looks at your signature I mean, if you don't mind BL xD Not like anything is happening in the chapter, not even a kiss.
Here it is! It was just a random funny thing to write as a response to a reader commented they'd find this kind of AU fun. It's my only extra so far, but I'm already writing one for Christmas :3

I also read BL~!

Ooh, it's cute~! I'm pretty far behind in the story, so I'm not sure I recognised all the characters, but it's great even as a stand-alone. I'll look forward to the Christmas special.