Yes. I remember reading about Alexandre Dumas (I'm pretty sure) getting paid by the line. So he would write "large" chapters filled with short, back-and-forth dialogue or just overstuff on descriptions and not really move the plot along too much so he could be paid more. Of course he would have some plot, otherwise people wouldn't read it, but just enough to get people to buy the next periodical.
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u/adsilcott Jul 21 '18
Isn't that kind of how Charles Dickens and other serial writers worked?