Writing a Series and Where to Begin

writing

by Kym Farris

Writing a book is hard but have you ever thought about writing a series? Some of the best stories ever told were turned into a series. Harry Potter, Twilight and Jaws (for us older folks). But why? What made them so intriguing that people wanted more? I’ve done a little research on this and wanted to share what I found.

What is a book series?

A book series is a set of books that share certain characteristics and are identified together as a group. A series is usually written by the same author. When writing a series most of the time the story follows the same character and the story progresses from one book to another. Yet, there are books that don’t do that. There are series that follow an author through a journey of different characters. Nancy Drew is a character in a series of books. Yet her character solves a different crime with each series. Same character, different outcomes.

Where to begin

The first thing you want to do is decide what kind of series you want to write. Not every genre of writing is equipped to turn into a series. Fantasy, Science Fiction and Crime/Mystery are some of the most popular genres for writing a series. Literary or commercial fiction are usually stand alone books. Meaning only one book is necessary to view your point.

Map your stories content

There are 4 key points to consider when writing a series.

How does the story start? Who are your characters? What is the character's mission? What stands in their way?
How the story ends. You don’t need every detail to it just yet but you would want to know where you want the ending to go.
What is the climax of the story? Do star crossed lovers finally get together? Does the villain have a showdown with the good guy? Every part of your series should have a climax. And you should know what that climax is before writing.
Have a general plan for each character. Think about any changes you want them to have throughout the story. What is their purpose?

Broaden your horizons

When writing your series something to remember is keep the characters interesting. Take them on adventures. Just because your story is based in Paris it doesn’t mean they can’t jet off to the Amazon or anyplace for that matter. Show different sides to them. Having them go through the same thing over and over again will eventually leave the reader uninterested. Take them to the edge of the cliff, have something go wrong with the plane. Keep the adventure alive!

Adding Secondary Characters

Almost every good character has a sidekick., best friend or someone who goes through the story with them. These characters are just as important as your main character. They need a good back story and a purpose going forward. If you’re writing a crime series they could be the one who takes the bullet meant for you. Which makes them an important part of your story. Don’t lack detail on your characters.

Books purpose

Every book should have its own purpose yet still carrying the story over to the next book. Example: You find out you’re adopted. You find out your biological mother is alive so you go find her just to find out your father was murdered. So the end of book one is the start of book two in finding out why your father was murdered. All connected but in a different way.

Know when to end

Just because you don’t want the series to end doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. There are only so many adventures you can go on, twist to tell before it gets boring. Harsh to say but true. No one wants to read the same thing over and over again. If you’re bored of writing it, they're bored of reading it!

I’ve added a few links to some books on the topic that were a great help to me with understanding how to write a series. I hope they are of some help to you also.

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