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Should I write a series? First things first: before you do anything else, you need to decide if a series is the right choice for the story you want to tell. There’s no point setting out to write a series just for the sake of it; it needs to be the right vessel to deliver your particular tale.
- Start Today!
- The Standard Method of Writing A Novel
- Stephen King on Writing: How The Master Does It
- My Experience of Writing Novels Using Both Methods
- PD James and William Boyd
- What to Do Next
Before we look at that, let me cite the US fantasy author Stephen R Donaldson, who was once asked by an admirer how to achieve success in writing. “Start today,” Donaldson said. Donaldson’s advice is great. If you want to start writing fiction, don’t wait until the conditions are perfect and all the stars are aligned (“I’m waiting until the kids gr...
Top writing schools and universities across the world teach the first method. You should plan your story around a standard structure. This structure is set out in a thousand primers – try googling “narrative structure” or “three act structure”. This plan goes back to the ancient Greeks. That’s no bad thing: it has stood the test of time. In brief: ...
For people who don’t feel that planning will work for them, we have the second method of writing a novel: the Stephen King writing process. The most famous account of this method is the book by the fantastically successful novelist Stephen King: “On Writing” (see picture). Many professional writers and reviewers hate “On Writing”, but I like both p...
In addition to Seven Hotel Stories and Eternal Life, I also used the “Stephen King: On Writing” method for my comedy “Sex and the Summit” and my sequels to “Sex and the Summit”, “The Brexit Ambassador” and “The Spear of Destiny”. All are in the drawer. My experience was that using the “Stephen King: On Writing” method, or the Stephen King writing p...
Two parting thoughts, both from famous writers I have had the privilege to hear speaking. I once heard PD James, a consummate professional, say that when she was writing her whodunnits, she did not know herself who had done ituntil she finished the novel. This depressed me, as I enjoy guessing who the murderer is, and her revelation seemed to make ...
If you have found this interesting, you might like to look at the post Writing tips: 7 ways to improve your manuscript and edit your novel on this site. Similarly, you might like to explore the “scenes and sequels” structure designed to ensure that your story makes your reader want to read more! You can find all my “writing tips” posts at this link...
Jul 20, 2023 · I would say that you should go ahead and start writing your first book BUT, as you go along in your first draft take notes for second and third volume. This can really help with creating fun mysteries/questions for the reader, too.
- Know what makes writing series different. Writing a series is different to writing a standalone book for a number of reasons: Series have multi-novel continuity (this separates a book series from a book cycle) – characters and/or settings, and/or conflicts return.
- Choose a central conflict that sustains interest in your series. From Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series to Rowling’s fantasy epic Harry Potter, intriguing series have conflicts and characters whose development span multiple books.
- Create a fictional world readers will long to return to. Readers of Rowling’s fantasy series are eager to return to her fictional world because: It is rich in imaginative detail: Rowling thinks of every detail, from how bank vaults are guarded (by dragons) to the woods used to make magical wands and their properties.
- Outline your series in advance. If you tend not to plot usually, this can work for a novel. When you write a novel series, however, an outline is especially useful, as it helps you retain a bird’s eye view.
Oct 30, 2014 · If you’re a new author asking me if you should write a series, my answer is No. When you aren’t sure, when you have to ask, your story idea probably isn’t large enough to sustain multiple novels. But if you aren’t asking—if you already know you want to write a series because a series is the only way in which you can possibly tell your ...
Oct 18, 2016 · Series that take place in a common setting or story world are often the easiest to write without prior planning. Each book follows different characters, who may or may not know the characters from the other books, so the interconnectedness of the series is limited.
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Jun 29, 2020 · Writing a novel: There’s no one right way to do it. One of the biggest points of difference among writers is whether to plan in advance or not, with those who do referred to as ‘plotters’ while those who don’t earn the moniker of ‘pantsers’ – as in, by the…
