Techniques For A Series Part III

A novel series takes planning. Occasionally when an author completes a novel, at the end or near the end, he/she realizes that the story offers an interesting character or two that would make a main character in another book. By then, planning is often too late, but not so. The author can go back and add a scene to heighten the characterization and to foreshadow a situation or problem that can be the takeoff point for another book.


Though this can happen, most novelists plan ahead to write a series. One reason is that editors like to offer a contract for more than one book, and planning a series enhances the opportunity to sell the first idea to the editor. When I send such a proposal, I have a more detailed synopsis of the first story with up to three chapters completed, but I provide only a short synopsis of the next two or three novels that will follow. This allows me to be creative as I write the first novel and set up ideas that will help me when tackling the next books.

If this is a first book with the publisher and the author doesn’t have numerous previous contracts, a completed manuscript for the first book is often required. This means you can be thinking series as you write the story and do the set up for the next book as you write, and there are questions you need to consider

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Setting Up A Novel Series - Part II

Writing a novel series offers options. The first one is deciding the major connection between the three or four stories. Though some series run longer, from experience I’ve learned that too many books in a series can have negative results. Readers want the answer to the story question, secret or solution foreshadowed through each book. This element keeps the stories interesting and hen the reader waits through five or six novels, the wait can water down their anticipation.


Next, series demands an author decide the best way to keep good records of many details woven through the novels. This is important with a large cast of characters. I wrote a seven book series based on people who lived in a town. Some secondary characters became the focal characters in the next book. Seven is far too many. Trying to remember who worked where, who knew who, their careers, cars, and so many other details began to run amuck in my head. Things like birthdays and how old a child would be in book five when he was born in book two became a nightmare. Three or four in a series in complicated enough. Create a worksheet or spreadsheet that will help you store and easily find this information.

What connections are common in most series?

• a single character who is s major individual through all stories.

• a cast of characters with a realistic connection

• a location or setting

• the focal theme or message found in all the novels

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Writing Fiction In A Series - Part I

When I first began to write, each book was a single story. Since I wrote category romance and romantic suspense, the books were focused on a hero and heroine and their journey to committed love. In the case of suspense, the stories were split with half focused on their romantic journey as they solved a crime. In this case, crime resolution happens first followed by the exhortations of love and commitment.

Following numerous unconnected novels, I learned that both readers and editors like the author to write series books. For the editor, a series means better sales since readers who love the first book will purchase the next two or three in the series. Readers enjoy them because they are vested in the characters who have become real, and they want their stories to go on.

If you are considering writing a series, here are some things to think about. Author can digress from these suggestions if it benefits the book, but most readers prefer the following.

• Each novel has an ending that feels complete where the present mystery is solved, the romance journey ends with a happy ever after, and the family resolves their issues.

• Though the story is complete, a single thread—a foreshadowed plot event, theme or question —that goes unanswered and will be the arc that remains in each book and only answered or resolved in the final book of the series.

• The series may be connected by one or two factors that capture the readers interest, such as: characters, settings, or story theme.

• Consider having a story goal that connects each story. This could be forgiveness, good wins over evil, finding happiness or another broad topic that links the stories.

Series come in all genres: Speculative - Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Harry Potter, Mystery and Suspense - Stephanie Plum stories beginning with One for the Money, Sherlock Holmes mysteries, the old detective stories like Sam Spade, and Mrs Marple or the TV show, Murder She Wrote, Family Sagas - Andrew MGreeley’s O’Malley saga beginning with A Midwinter Tale, Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter Family, and Alex Haley’s novel Roots as a TV show, and Romance: again Twilight, Laura Ingles Wilder’s March family series Little House on the Prairie and Louisa May Alcott’s series beginning with Little Women. My last two series in romance are: Man’s Best Friend beginning with Dad In Training and Dreams Come True beginning with A Dad Of His Own. Read the series only if you enjoy romance.

Find series books that capture your interest and as your read, take notes on techniques and methods of keeping the readers interested. This will help you in considering your own series.


Next: Setting Up A Novel Series Part II and Methods and Techniques For A Series Part III

CREATING A SERIES FOR NOVELISTS

Novels in a series are popular. Readers enjoy following the lives of characters they know and so they are eager to read the next novel. A series is usually based on a family or a town, and each novel introduces characters who will appear in the next novel and each novel also includes characters from the past novels in that series. So writing a series makes novel writing more complex.

The author must keep excellent records of the basic details and descriptions of the characters, homes, town buildings, and events in each novel, because readers will find discrepancies of the author veers away from the original story. Birth dates and dates when things happened need to be calculated carefully. Accuracy is the key.

A series is successful when the author follows a few basic steps to insure readers will enjoy each story as much as they did the first one. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating a series.

• A series can be contemporary or historical or a combination. To add interest to a series, try a series that deals with a contemporary plot, and then step back in time and do the next one exploring the families past. This technique can help to explain issues that occurred in the contemporary novel and can set up new problems that will arise in the next book.

• Search some past novels that had a secondary character that intrigued you and has stayed in your mind. Begin with that character from the past and create a new series connected to that character, his or her family or friends.

• For a quality series that will hook readers, allow the characters in your first novel to grow and change in a realistic way that will intrigue readers so they want to know what will happen after the first book is finished.

• Set up a new series by creating an intriguing secondary character that arouses the readers interest and proposes possible issues that will arise in that character’s life for the next book. This is one of the most popular ways to create a series. You can use sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends, or members of an organization that you introduce casually to the readers in the first book and then allow them to have their own stories later.

• Expand your setting by opening the first book in the series in a specific town and then provide a reason for the secondary character of the next book to move or travel to another location for their own story. You can keep the characters is the first novel connected to the new story through phone, letters or emails.

• Be faithful to your own writing style and preferences. Your readers are drawn to your novels by certain qualities that you offer in your stories. Don’t lose sight of those elements when creating a series. Be true to you and your talent.

• Continue to write about things that interest you. When you’re enthusiastic about your writing project, the excitement will reach your readers. Let your research lead you into new ideas to broaden your concerns and involvements.

• Each novel must stand alone to make it a satisfying read for your fans. Don’t leave them hanging with big issues. You can set up an element that’s almost a throw-away thought or foreshadowing. Example: He realizes his job might be transferred to another state, but don’t let it happen. That can occur in the next book and will then affect the next story characters. Tie up the loss ends and give the readers a satisfying ending.

• Use critique partners or faithful readers to do a test run of each of the novel series to make sure that the facts are accurate and then new story is believable. Make sure your characters stay the same from book one to book two except for growth elements which are natural, but those should have happened in the previous book in most cases. Ask these readers for honest feedback.

If you follow these ideas, you can create a series that keeps readers happy and stimulates new ideas for your next book proposal.