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TECH: Serial Success! (650 words)
Aug. 19th, 2023 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker Original Posting 6/28/2019
Writer's Digest, January 1992, pages 36-39, has a piece by John Morressy with the title, "Serial Success: It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3." The subtitle suggests, "Follow this series of tips to write successful series fiction by creating one book or story that will guarantee the sale of the next one - or the next 20."He starts by telling his own story, about having an idea for a story in 1980. A light fantasy tale about a wizard who decides to outsmart the other wizards and alchemists by learning how to turn gold into lead. That story led to a number of other short stories and novels."That's more than I ever expected to write about them, but they've just kept giving me material - far more than I can ever use. That's one of the nice things about writing a series."However, John points out that a series also has some practical problems. But don't worry, John's got suggestions about that, too. So let's get right to it...First of all, every work of fiction has a past, a background history. And John's first suggestion is #1: Build on your story's past. Ask yourself questions, and then see where that leads you. Each new piece reveals more things, introduces new characters and incidents, and it just keeps going.Incidentally, John doesn't recommend starting out with long, detailed plans. "There was no point in planning until I knew where I wanted to go, I didn't know where I was going until I was on my way." He suggests that a series doesn't grow like a Tinkertoy, it grows like a plant, with new pieces coming out in unpredictable places. "Elaborate planning is not only unnecessary, it's probably a waste of time."However, #2: Don't trust to memory. Make notes! With a series, you've got lots of chances to make mistakes. Make those maps, floor plans, timelines. Research, make sure you have your facts lined up. Keep track of your characters, settings, all that stuff!#3: Do not be stingy with ideas. "Ideas generate ideas in writing generates writing." Don't get stuck planning, write! Don't fret about planting things, just see what happens.And, one that is peculiar to series, #4: Make every work in a series stand on its own. "A book or story in a series should not be like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, unintelligible out of context. It should be like a brick: solid and whole, but capable of being part of something larger." John points out that readers don't read a series, they read one book or story at a time! So that one book or story should make sense. Now, there may be a definite order to your series. Although some series just have a shared setting, or some other connection. Which brings us to the next suggestion.#5: There is no single foolproof right and proper way to organize a series. There are numerous ways to tie things together. Sometimes a group of stories shares an inn, or a pub, but is otherwise told by several narrators. Or you may have a single setting in a common narrator. A recurring character. "How you choose to unify your tales is just that - your choice." Start writing. Don't get bogged down in long-term plans. Write that first book or story, then grow your series from that.There you go, 1, 2, 3... One way to write a series!As an exercise, you might take a story that you've already written, and think about what other stories might grow out of it. Is there a background story, is there a minor character that needs to tell their own story? Or is there a sequel just waiting to be told? Think about what other stories are just waiting for you to pay attention to them, and then start writing.
Writer's Digest, January 1992, pages 36-39, has a piece by John Morressy with the title, "Serial Success: It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3." The subtitle suggests, "Follow this series of tips to write successful series fiction by creating one book or story that will guarantee the sale of the next one - or the next 20."He starts by telling his own story, about having an idea for a story in 1980. A light fantasy tale about a wizard who decides to outsmart the other wizards and alchemists by learning how to turn gold into lead. That story led to a number of other short stories and novels."That's more than I ever expected to write about them, but they've just kept giving me material - far more than I can ever use. That's one of the nice things about writing a series."However, John points out that a series also has some practical problems. But don't worry, John's got suggestions about that, too. So let's get right to it...First of all, every work of fiction has a past, a background history. And John's first suggestion is #1: Build on your story's past. Ask yourself questions, and then see where that leads you. Each new piece reveals more things, introduces new characters and incidents, and it just keeps going.Incidentally, John doesn't recommend starting out with long, detailed plans. "There was no point in planning until I knew where I wanted to go, I didn't know where I was going until I was on my way." He suggests that a series doesn't grow like a Tinkertoy, it grows like a plant, with new pieces coming out in unpredictable places. "Elaborate planning is not only unnecessary, it's probably a waste of time."However, #2: Don't trust to memory. Make notes! With a series, you've got lots of chances to make mistakes. Make those maps, floor plans, timelines. Research, make sure you have your facts lined up. Keep track of your characters, settings, all that stuff!#3: Do not be stingy with ideas. "Ideas generate ideas in writing generates writing." Don't get stuck planning, write! Don't fret about planting things, just see what happens.And, one that is peculiar to series, #4: Make every work in a series stand on its own. "A book or story in a series should not be like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, unintelligible out of context. It should be like a brick: solid and whole, but capable of being part of something larger." John points out that readers don't read a series, they read one book or story at a time! So that one book or story should make sense. Now, there may be a definite order to your series. Although some series just have a shared setting, or some other connection. Which brings us to the next suggestion.#5: There is no single foolproof right and proper way to organize a series. There are numerous ways to tie things together. Sometimes a group of stories shares an inn, or a pub, but is otherwise told by several narrators. Or you may have a single setting in a common narrator. A recurring character. "How you choose to unify your tales is just that - your choice." Start writing. Don't get bogged down in long-term plans. Write that first book or story, then grow your series from that.There you go, 1, 2, 3... One way to write a series!As an exercise, you might take a story that you've already written, and think about what other stories might grow out of it. Is there a background story, is there a minor character that needs to tell their own story? Or is there a sequel just waiting to be told? Think about what other stories are just waiting for you to pay attention to them, and then start writing.
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