If you want to succeed, learn to write a series. why? because once readers get hooked on book one and know that books two through four are on the way, you’ll have a captive and interested book audience. These 10 series writing tips will help you plan an intriguing and addictive multi-novel story arc:
1. know what makes writing strings different
writing a series is different from writing a stand-alone book for several reasons:
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- series have a multi-novel continuity (this separates a series of books from a cycle of books): characters and/or settings and/or conflicts return
- often there are longer-term series – broad developments (e.g., the rising strength of a villain) that don’t occur in as much detail or complexity in shorter works
- there is usually time between books in a series (eg when readers realize how far j.k. rowling had gotten in writing her harry potter series) – this increases the importance of making sure readers want to know what happens next from book to book
in other words, the serial structure is important. your ending for book one also needs to hook the reader into book two.
so how do you keep readers coming back for every installment?
2. choose a central conflict that will keep your series interesting
From Chief Inspector Louise Penny’s gamache mystery series to Rowling’s Harry Potter epic fantasy, the intriguing series have conflicts and characters whose development spans multiple books.
The central premise or conflict of your series is the main tension or unknown that needs to be resolved. In Harry Potter, the central conflict is the protagonist’s unfinished business with the villain, first introduced as “he who must not be named.”
a major serial conflict holds the promise of more subplots. In Rowling’s series, we meet not only the main villain, but also henchmen and sympathizers who work openly and secretly. these secondary conflicts propel each book towards a larger or main conflict. In one of Rowling’s books, a cruel and vengeful teacher is a minor villain, while an encounter with the main villain looms on the horizon. A structured approach like this means that each book has its own stand-alone struggle, and opportunity for growth, for the characters, while larger unknowns remain unsolved for later books.
Create a compelling central conflict for your series, whether it’s a roadblock between a character and the final romantic fulfillment (in a romantic series) or an inevitable showdown with a villain. to build a good core conflict, you can:
- place secondary obstacles in your main character’s way to get what he wants that will lead him back to the core conflict. for example, if a couple conflict is the distance created by a war, the secondary conflicts (leading to curfews, invasions, injuries) are additional complications that delay the main resolution.
- turn these obstacles in subplots that provide the rise and fall of story tension while keeping the rest of each book interesting
- move your characters through multiple scenarios as they strive to achieve their goals. make each environment present its own distinctive interests, surprises and challenges
3. create a fictional world that readers long to return to
readers of rowling’s fantasy series are eager to return to her fictional world because:
- is rich in imaginative detail: rowling thinks through every detail, from how bank vaults are protected (by dragons) to the woods used to make wands and their properties
- its world is different from ours but with which we can identify: rowling actively contrasts the rules and codes of the wizarding world, while showing parallel institutions ( for example, the ‘ministry of magic’)
- its settings become familiar: from the school of magic to the dilapidated weasley house, each setting has its(s) own character(s), surprises, wonders and comforts
The writing series gives you the opportunity to develop multiple intricate settings or a unique, magical or quirky world (like the world of Sir Terry Pratchett’s record) full of fascinating people and practices. Now use the novel’s step-by-step ideation prompts to brainstorm setting details, mood, and characters so you know your fictional world inside out.
4. outline your series in advance
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if you tend not to plot normally, this may work for a novel. however, when you’re writing a series of novels, an outline is especially helpful, as it helps you keep an overview. you understand not only how each individual book fits together, but how each book will fit into the larger story arc.
When you’re juggling multiple subplots across multiple books, organized structure will help you keep track of what’s happening and when. your outline will be a guiding hand to help you get to the final page of your final book.
5. establish central characters early but reveal their backstories gradually
When writing a series, it’s important to introduce the characters, their wants and goals early on, so the reader is invested in their character arcs.
Establish your characters early on so readers know who the main characters in your series are. your character goals are the “what” of your story. but the “why” of their motivations can gradually be unraveled. Through main events (such as brushes between your main character and an antagonist) as well as subplots, you can reveal why your characters have the goals they do.
This gradual process of revelation will allow your characters and readers to keep some mysteries and unknowns. this means that the sequels will be inherently more intriguing, as there is more to discover and learn.
changing the cast of characters as the series continues is another way to keep things interesting:
6. introduces new characters to keep your series moving
one of the things that j.k. What Rowling does expertly in Harry Potter is introduce crucial new characters in each book. readers meet important loved and hated characters in the first book. but the main characters first appear in the sequels. there are long-lost relatives and new guardians, love interests, and minor to serious villains.
This is an important part of writing a series: making the supporting characters count. don’t just add an extra character because you’re not sure how to get to the next scene. instead, show how each new supporting character helps or hinders your main character(s). For example, in Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling only introduces the sadistic teacher Dolores Umbridge in the fifth novel. however, she is a powerful and villainous character in her own right. she also provides a subplot that creates additional tension in driving the story.
To make your book series exciting, feature characters in the sequels who:
- help your main character(s)
- hinder them
- share information that helps the reader piece together the ‘why’ or the ‘how’ of your story
- mislead the reader with false information so you can surprise them later (a standard device of mysteries)
It is important that your main characters are especially interesting. make readers hungry for more information about their future or past experiences:
7. give each character a longer arc of development
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When you write a series of books, it’s crucial that the character doesn’t remain static or the readers might get bored.
c.s. Lewis avoids stasis by showing his central characters as children at the beginning of the Narnia series. then we see the children as adult rulers of their fantasy world. jk rowling builds longer arcs by showing the development of her characters, from dreamy kids to angsty teens.
so your character arcs are satisfying throughout your series:
- giving characters recurring faults that they gradually outgrow or give up more and more
- shows how changes in the game environment affect them your characters . a hobbit in the shire is cozy and comfortable, but a hobbit thrown into the dangerous world of mordor may discover surprising bravery
- list for each character how they might switch from book to book: eg, ‘book one: character unexpectedly inherits a large sum. book two: the character becomes increasingly arrogant but loses everything. book three: the character is reconstructed and finds other things to value.”
8. give each book in your series a strong central event
remember that each book must stand on its own to some extent. a reader should be able to start with book 4 and not find the story so puzzling that they miss it entirely. so that each novel in your series works well as a stand-alone work:
- Have a strong central event and image for each book. in c.s. Lewis’s fantasy novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the discovery of a portal to another world in the back of an ancient wardrobe is the central event and image from which the entire book develops. li>
- create a secondary conflict and (at least partial) resolution for each novel in the series: a smaller rise and fall that is a miniature version of the larger rise and fall action of the entire series
9. make the subplots of your middle books count
Many aspiring series writers struggle with messy media. so that the middle books in your series progress successfully into the penultimate and final book:
- make the middle books show character development: show the reader how the main characters gain the skill, conviction, or strategy they need to achieve their goals (rowling shows the harry mastering spells)
- introduces tension that makes goals seem more distant than they are: uncertainty and unknowns make us want to know what comes next.
- build and resolve sub-arcs that illustrate important things about your characters: stories are satisfying when they give us creative answers for all the ‘w’ words: ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘ why’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. ‘why’ is possibly the most important.
Have the middle books in your series have their own central arcs, but also use them to illustrate important details about your characters, their stories, and their challenges. this will give depth to your series.
10. put it all together and create catchy titles for each book and the series as a whole
To make your series successful, make sure the end of the last book:
- resolves all major conflicts and plot arc
- uses language that conveys the sense of an ending; for example, emotionally driven language that conveys purpose
- resonates with incident: you can even take the story back to the starting point of the first book in the series (as tolkien does when frodo returns to the shire in the lord of the rings, although technically it is a cycle and not a series)
Once you’ve created a satisfying ending, the fun part of choosing titles begins. think of some of the titles of the great series to inspire you:
- mervyn peake’s gormenghast gothic trilogy: titus groan, gormenghast and titus solo
- george r. r. martin’s song of ice and fire series: a game of thrones, a clash of kings, a storm of swords, a feast for crows, a dance with dragons, the winds of winter, a dream of spring
looking at the peake trilogy, the titles have a mirror structure: ‘aba’. both the first and third books begin with the main character’s name: titus. The title of the middle book is the name of the castle that Tito inherits. therefore, the titles echo the plot developments of the trilogy as a whole.
the titles of martin’s fantasy series have symmetry: most follow the structure ‘a(n) [abstract noun] of [concrete noun]’. Try creating your own Martin book titles as an exercise, following this format (eg ‘A Siren’s Song’, ‘A Silence of Stones’). Finding similar structures for the titles of the books in your series will help make the individual titles in your series identifiable as related installments. this makes it easier for readers to remember which books of yours are in print.
start brainstorming and writing the first book in your series now.
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