THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: a memoir

05 | rolling it out

November 2017

There was something nostalgic about the way new stories rolled out on Episode back in the early days of the app. Seeing many people coming together in excitement really became "core memories" for me as a reader. Since writing on the app, I immediately learned about the value in rolling out a project in a way that not only excites but sits deeply with readers. If you ask any author today, you'll immediately learn that promotion and building hype for a new story is an art form in it of itself and pivotal for its success. It takes a lot of precision and planning to execute a full announcement to prepare your readers for what's to come.

Prior to writing on Episode, I was merely a spectator — a student learning the craft of selling your pitch to an audience that only knows you through social media. In 2017, I was nearly finished with episode 1 of "Making Lemonade" when I was convinced I had something going and decided that this project would see the light of day. I remember making a cute little post finally announcing the arrival of my much beloved Wattpad novel to Episode. A small but profound first move. All but a few of my 50 followers at the time gathered in joy for this new chapter in my life as an author. My favorite writers as well as Wattpad peers all sent their well wishes and encouragement when the post was made. Looking back, I see this moment as more than my debut on an app I have grown to love, but the birth of my legacy as a creator in the digital world. After completing my 1st, 2nd, 3rd story and found my groove on this new platform, I realized how each experience built on top of the next. I saw each project I put out as an era; a reflection of my creativity — my world — in that moment.

When rolling out a brand new story, I always wanted the thrill and adventure to begin from the moment it was first announced, not when readers opened episode 1.  The secrecy of "The Marriage Counselor" began with a cryptic post with #TMC on my social media pages — no one knew what it meant and listening to everyone guess what it was made me weak! The seduction and sexiness of "Mine and Yours" started with a surprise release in the form of a cinematic video that accompanied the story. The climatic thrill of "Home Wrecker" was introduced with short teaser trailers that gave little to no context about what the story entailed. In short, I became increasingly calculated about how I was to bring my readers into a brand new world. When I finished writing and directing "The One That Got Away", I immediately recognized that this project had to be introduced in a different way that not only captured the reader but immersed them in a travel through time.

January-March 2023

Every project I have written had been traditionally rolled out as most stories -- episode by episode. This is the standard recipe that the Episode app has provided to all of its creators; you release your first 3 chapters and update as you go. It was proven to be the way to gain the most readers, trend up the ranks in your genre, and become recognized by the app's developers. I personally saw tremendous success with all of my stories using this strategy, as many other writers too. Channeling the reception with each update I released became the driving force that fueled me for many years. However, it quickly became about everything else rather than what lived inside of me -- my purpose. After experiencing a major creative plateau and reevaluating what was truly important to me as a writer, I no longer was concerned with following the crowd or standing out. I wanted "The One That Got Away" to be an experience above all things. My goal was to have my readers feel the same joy and escape that I found when writing the story over the past year. In this new awakening, I was ready to do things in an unconventional manner that defied what people typically expected of me. That is why I decided that this new story would be released in 4 parts.

Breaking the story in 4 parts was a way to reinforce the plot so readers could build on their momentum and form an experience with each passing chapter.

In PART I: "The Love Curse",  the core dilemma of the story is established, allowing the readers to also better understand the characters and their world in 3 chapters. Having a defined start and end to this part gave readers a sense of progression through the narrative which interlocked the entire story seamlessly. If you were to take part I on its own, it could easily stand by itself as a short story. My vision consisted of giving the readers all that they need at once without having an overload of information, but also framing it in a way that made this complex plot line cohesive.

PART II: "Time Frenzy" introduces everyone to life in the late 50's and defines Olivia's mission that will carry on throughout the rest of the story. All of my research was on full display here as I tried to build an entire world based on the past and make it believable. This part builds on what we learned in part I and sets the stage for the challenges Olivia will need to face in order to help her grandmother.

PART III: "Rewriting the Past" dives into the messiness of amending the past to save true love and the many obstacles that Olivia must face -- falling in love being one of them. This part of the story could not be possible without the last 2 working on pulling the reader into this retro inspired world first. In part III, we get to see the effort and planning that goes into solving the main conflict while making sense of how twisted things have become.

The final part, PART IV: "Our Now" ties all the loose ends together while getting to see the aftermath of going back in time. "Our Now" focuses in on the value of time and the importance of putting love at the forefront. We learn that although the mistakes we make in the past shape our future one way or another, the present — our now — is what truly matters at the end of the day. It was the perfect way in my eyes to wrap up this entire story.

This different roll out strategy was all about the readers and their experience in mind. I understood the risks that could come with releasing multiple episodes at once over an extended period of time for a relatively "short" story. Readers today are used to receiving various updates at a fairly consistent rate so that their attention and interest is retained. I am certain that the Joriemar of 2, 3, or 4 years ago would flip at the thought of doing something this meticulous and strategic. One of the concerns would definitely have been making readers stick around and getting the story to perform well on the "charts". But TOTGA came into my life at a time of growth and renewal. "The One That Got Away" was not about the ego or the desire to be number 1 or land a spot on an Episode shelf. I simply wanted to share the joy and love that my supporters have given to me over the years with them, even if it meant TOTGA getting only 50 reads and going unrecognized. What mattered to me was celebrating everything we have built for more than half a decade with love. That's it.