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Step 1: Map out the plot. The first thing you want to do is solidify the ideas you have for your series’ plot. Write down a brief outline of all the key events you have in mind so far, forming a rough chronology. Don’t worry too much about structure or order just yet; we’ll get to those below.
- Determine The Type of Series That Best Suits Your Story
- Plan... But only as Much as You Need to
- Dive in and Expand Your World
- Leave No Character Unexamined
- Make Sure Each Book Satisfies on Its Own
The first thing to do is figure out which kind of series suits your story idea. This will affect the way the following tips apply to you. Think about the series written by your favorite authors. Chances are that they all fall into one of these categories 1. Serial:featuring one overarching narrative told in several, chronological installments 2. Ep...
Not every type of series requires the same amount of prior planning. For instance, if you’re a committed free-writer, you’re probably interested in writing an episodic series, as it’s not necessary to have an overarching narrative connecting the different books. Authors writing serials, on the other hand, typically know how the whole thing will end...
While there are many differences between the three types of series, one thing is consistent: they all need a well-crafted worldin which the stories unfurl. Here a couple of tips to bring the universe of your series to life.
When we said characters are important, we don’t just mean the protagonists. They no doubt deserve the largest portion of your time, but they don’t exist on their own. Throughout their journeys, they’ll interact with many others, from enemies to friends, who’ll bring out the worst or best in our protagonists, so these side characters must have some ...
When actually draftingtheir books, a lot of series writers fall into the trap of writing filler novels. Sure, your books are part of something bigger than each individual title, but readers will buy them one by one, so you have to make sure each one is complete and unique. Otherwise, you risk losing the audience’s interest. This means that: 1. Each...
Jul 23, 2019 · First Book: Starts with the Hook, ends with the First Plot Point. Second Book: Contains the Midpoint, ends with the Third Plot Point. Third Book: Ends with the Climax and Resolution. Of course, these may not line up 100%, but as a general rule, this is how most trilogies are formed.
Feb 15, 2019 · As you might have gathered from your indie author journey already, having a sizeable backlist to encourage read-through is all important. It helps turn a low or even negative click-through-rate into an overall positive, as people buying (or downloading for free) your advertised book go on to buy your others. Writing in a series not only makes ...
- 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.
Mar 9, 2020 · March 9, 2020 by Nathan Bransford. For many authors, one book simply isn’t enough to contain all of their ideas and the complexity of the fictional world they’ve dreamed up. But series are tricky beasts to write and even trickier to get published. I was fortunate enough to turn my Jacob Wonderbar novels into a series, which was fabulous fun.
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Start with Enough Story. The first rule of writing a book series is having enough content to justify more than one book. Even if you plan to write an expansive multi-book series, editing is still your best friend. No reader wants to drudge through unnecessary passages just because you have the room.
