Writability: series

Showing posts with label series. Show all posts

Vlog: Series? Standalone? Companion Novels?

So you have a story idea you want to turn into a novel—but how far should you go with it? And how do you decide whether to make it one book or series? Today I'm talking about the scope of an idea and your options.

RELATED VLOGS:

How do you decide whether to make your projects standalones or part of a series?

Twitter-sized bite:

Series? Standalone? Companion novels? How do you decide? @Ava_Jae breaks down your options & what to consider. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: On Plotting a Sequel/Series

In which I talk about an integral part of working on a series: plotting sequels and tips for series development.

RELATED VLOGS:

Have you ever worked on a series?

Twitter-sized bite:

From plotting sequels to development over a series, author @Ava_Jae vlogs series-writing tips. (Click to tweet)

On Writing a Series by Vicki Leigh + Cover Fun!

NOTE: Hey guys! Today I've got a super special (and rare) Saturday post to share with you the super epically awesome cover for my CP Vicki Leigh's second novel Find Me if You Dare! And because she's awesome, she's also chatting with us about what it's been like to write a series. AND there's a giveaway. Woot!

Enjoy!

As a reader, I love series. Not only does it give me a chance to stay in the world I’ve come to know, but it gives me the opportunity to hang out with the characters I’ve come to adore, too. So, when I first started writing with the intent to be published, there was one goal that I knew I had to achieve: publish a series.

I’m so excited to announce: Book Two of my Dreamcatcher series is releasing December 1, 2015! The excitement is insane, ya’ll.

But while there was lots of squealing and jumping for joy when I got the contract for the second book, I realized I had no idea how to actually write a series. I understood how to start a story and complete a story arc, but how do you take a story arc and expand on it so that the next book has its own arc but both books are encompassed under a bigger story arc umbrella?

Cue a mini panic attack, am I right?

Well, after a few mishaps and re-drafting the same scenes multiple times, I learned a few things about writing a series—and I want to share them with you!

Have your ultimate end in sight. It’s one thing to worry about the ending of a book, but I think it’s even more important to have the series’ climax planned ahead of time. If you know how you want to series to end, you can then work backward to figure out where each book in the series should end.

For example, as the blurb for Find Me If You Dare tells you, the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have a significant role to play in my Dreamcatcher series. I then made a clear distinction as to how I would reach that final ending: two Horsemen would ride in Book Two, and the others would (maybe) ride in Book Three. Right there, I had a clear idea of where my plot was heading and how I would ensure my series arc continued over the rest of my books—and all because I knew how I wanted my series to end.

Force yourself to plot, even just a little bit. I know many of you are “pantsers,” and you let your characters dictate what happens in your stories. That’s perfectly fine! I am not telling you to become a “plotter.” In fact, I like to think of my self as a “plotser” because I’m not one of those people who use scene cards or outline from beginning to end. But I still make sure I have some sort of backbone so I don’t lose track of my story arc.

In my opinion, this is even more important when it comes to writing series. Each book needs to connect to tell one big story, and if you’re simply starting at page one with no idea of what’s going to happen, you will find yourself spending a lot of time in revision, trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. So, even something as simple as Dan Wells’ 7 Point Plot can help make sure you’re moving each book in the right direction toward that ultimate, series end.

Re-read the other books in your series before you start writing the next one. Maybe you guys are already awesome and can jump right into characters’ voices, even though you’ve had zero contact with them for a while. But if you’re like me, and you fully absorb yourself into each new point of view you write, it’s really hard to jump back into an old character’s head. To make sure you’re getting the voice right—and the tone right—the best thing you can do for yourself is to read the first book(s) in your series. Besides, what’s more fun that falling back in love with the characters you haven’t “seen” for a while?

Find a critique partner or beta reader you trust and talk it out with them—if they don’t mind spoilers! One of the great things about my best friend and CP (though she has many) is that she lets me talk out my plot ideas and isn’t afraid to offer advice about where I might be steering the story wrong. Having someone to brainstorm with can make a huge difference because their opinions can absolutely spark new ideas that you never would’ve come up with on your own.

Finally, if you are struggling to determine where your story should go, do some exercises from your main character(s) point of view. Act out a scene as if you were that character. Write journal entries as if you were that character. Actually talk to them if you have to. It’s amazing what can happen if you put yourself in the place of your character and start to think about the story in other ways than plot points on pages. Becoming a character can make a story feel real, and when you’re in “the zone,” many ideas can spark.

And now, for the cover. Ready?

...

BAM

Isn't it friggin' amazing? Here's what it's about:

They may have won the first battle, but the Apocalypse has just begun.

Five weeks have passed since the battle that left Rome and Columbus in ruins. Sheltered in the hidden city of Caelum, Daniel and Kayla train alongside over one hundred Magus and Protectors, hoping that their unified ranks will be enough to take down their greatest threat yet: Richard, his followers, and his horde of Nightmares. Then a fallen comrade is returned to Caelum with a message carved into his chest and a note referencing the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Daniel knows their time for training is over.

Finally understanding Richard’s plans for Kayla and the three other Magus born on Halloween, Daniel and the rest of Caelum’s volunteers scout the U.S. in a desperate attempt to stop their enemy before he can unleash his first Horseman. But when massive attacks claim thousands of lives, people all over the world begin to fall ill—including those Daniel and Kayla care about the most.

With the Horseman of Pestilence released, Daniel knows it’s time to step aside and let Kayla take the lead. Only she has the power to rival her father’s. But when Richard’s plot turns out to be darker than they imagined, their fight is met with more death and destruction—and an enemy who might be unbeatable, after all.

Finally, there's a 22 book giveaway over on her tumblr page, so if free books and swag are something you're into, you may want to check that out. :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

What do you think of the post and cover?

Twitter-sized bites:

How to write a series—@vleighwrites talks series-writing & shares the EPIC cover for her 2nd book. (Click to tweet).

Is Writing a Series Before You’re Published Worth It?

Photo credit: [phil h] on Flickr

So two years ago I wrote this post about why I’ve yet to write a sequel. And, well, I still haven’t written a sequel (but it’s more likely now than it was two years ago, so yay!), but one of you fabulous people sent me a question about the value of writing series vs. standalone and. Well. Here I am again.

Before I go on, please do note that just about everything I’m going to say here applies to those who want to get traditionally published. For those who plan to self-publish, it’s a whole different ball game.

Okay. So.

It’s no secret that for many many years, series books, particularly trilogies, have been massively popular, especially with children’s books. Over the years, however, with the recession and people just in general getting tired of the same series format over and over, series books have started to fall a little out of style. Not entirely, of course—there are loads of totally successful series still being released—but there’s definitely been a push toward companion novels (rather than strict linear series books), dialogues (instead of trilogies), and standalones.

It’s not impossible to sell a series. But there’s also no guarantee that if you sell your novel, you’ll end up with a multi-book deal, even if your book does have series potential.

So what does this mean for unpublished and/or unrepresented writers?

Basically, writing a full series before you sell the first novel (and yes, I mean sell, not find representation for) is really really risky. In the sense that you could potentially lose a lot of time and effort if your book doesn’t sell (or if your book does sell, but it when it hits the shelves it doesn’t do as well as everyone hoped and you don’t get the chance to publish the sequel).

Something that’s equally risky? Writing a book with a cliffhanger-type ending that can’t stand on it’s own. Hell, I’d say this is even riskier, because in most cases, books need to stand on their own to sell at all (though, of course, there are always exceptions). Still, it’s probably best you just don’t do this.

Here’s the thing: sequels are fun—or at least, I think they are—but when you’re a writer, there’s absolutely no guarantee that you’re going to get that multi-book deal. Or that after you sell your debut, you’ll also sell the sequel. I mean, yes, they both happen, but they don’t happen always.

I’m absolutely not saying that you should give up all your hopes and dreams of writing and publishing a successful series. I’m not saying that you should never write a book with series potential again. What I am saying, is when (or if) you do, you need to be a professional and be realistic about it.

Sequels can be good news for everyone—writers, agents and editors alike—but they’re only good news when they sell well. And sometimes you need to prove yourself as a writer before you can get that multi-book deal everyone dreams about. And you know? That’s okay.

In the end, I think the thing to remember is publishing is a business. And if you act like a professional, and listen to your agent and your editor and your book sells well, then you know what? You may very well see a multi-book deal in your future.

But until you’ve reached that point, it’s important to keep yourself grounded and focus on what’s important—writing your books, one at a time.

So those are my thoughts, but I want to hear from you—what do you think?

Twitter-sized bites:

When writing a novel, @Ava_Jae says every book needs to stand on its own. What do you think? (Click to tweet)

Writer @Ava_Jae says writing a series before you sell the first novel is risky. What do you think? (Click to tweet)

Series or Standalone: Which Do You Prefer?

Just for fun, I decided to count up the books on my physical shelf (so these figures don’t include my e-book collection) and figure out the percentage of series versus standalone novels. Because that’s what everyone does for fun, right? Right.

Anyway. It was no surprise to me to find that the large majority of the books on my shelf were part of a series, but what I found interesting was the enormous discrepancy between series and standalone books, at least on my shelf.

For context purposes, my shelf is comprised of 37% Adult novels (nearly all from one author, heh heh) 48% Young Adult and 15% Middle Grade.

And for more context, the genre breakdown is as follows: 62% Fantasy (of all types—Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, High, etc.), 17% Thriller, 7% Sci-Fi (Note to self: buy more Sci-Fi), 3% Contemporary, 10% Dystopian and 1% Horror.

Now the series figures. Are you ready?

A whopping 82% of my bookshelf are books that are part of a series (versus 18%, for those who don’t like math).

And out of the series books, 44% are part of a trilogy.

Out of those standalone novels, 73% are Adult.

Out of the trilogies, 77% were Young Adult and 23% were Adult. (The two Middle Grade series I’ve collected on my shelf are part of a longer series).

So this probably says a lot more about my book buying habits than it does about trends and the industry, but I know I’m not the only one whose noticed that as of late at least, series seems to be king. Particularly trilogies. And I’ve noticed that some people seem to be getting tired of it.

I read a post not too long ago that mentioned that years ago, the promise of a trilogy made it easier to sell a book. It makes sense—the promise of more books equates more money in the long run, however, the post also mentioned that nowadays, you’re about equally likely to sell a standalone compared to a trilogy. (I forget what post this was from, but if anyone recognizes it feel free to let me know. I like giving credit where credit is due).

As far as reading goes, I’m not sure that I really have a preference. I love trilogies, series and duologies alike, although the trilogy format always seemed to be a perfect amount to complete a full story arc to me (although I still love longer series just as much, *ehem* Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Mortal Instruments and Percy Jackson). A series allows us to extend our time in worlds we love with characters we love, and I think that’s really special.

I’ve also seen a new trend of series comprised of companion novels, like the Graceling series the Losing It series, which I find especially interesting because they allow us to learn more about the story world an see aspects of that world that the original main characters couldn’t show us. And that, to me, is fascinating. As an added bonus—no cliffhangers! Every book has a fully completed arc from start to finish.

All that being said, I enjoy standalone novels just as much. The Fault in Our Stars was perfect on it’s own, as were some of my Adult favorites like Immanuel’s Veins, Thr3e and The Bride Collector.

As for writing, all of the manuscripts I’ve written thus far were written with a series in mind (although I haven’t written any sequels for reasons explained here). But with NaNo coming up and new ideas taking hold, I think I’d like to play with straight-out standalones in the future. With maybe an idea or two for companion books. Who knows?

So those are my thoughts, now I want to hear from you: when reading or writing (or both), do you prefer series or standalone novels? Why?

Twitter-sized bites:

When reading or writing, do you prefer series or standalone novels? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

To series or not to series? Writer @Ava_Jae counts her books, makes pie charts & shares series & standalone stats. (Click to tweet)