Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett
I’ve talked a lot about writing a long series and done many a guest post on it. Character development over the course of several books, world building, rejuvenating a series that goes beyond a trilogy, and so much more. I’ve learned a lot by starting off on something that will take a few years to finish. Though I should answer a question I rarely get answered.
Why?
Interesting how people ask about my inspiration for the stories, but never ask why Legends of Windemere is 15 books long. With the upcoming release of Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue, I hit the halfway mark. I think. Maybe Book 8 is a better one for that, but I feel like I’m hitting a milestone. Anyway, I love winding tales and grew up reading some lengthy series. A trilogy was fun, but I found myself going to books that would go beyond that. These weren’t small books either. All of them were 300-400 pages each. So that’s the school of story that I’m stepping out of here.
Now, why did I start with the big series? Nothing I write later will come to the series length of Legends of Windemere. The one rival it had has been cut apart and may only have tentative connections. Yet, it still wouldn’t come first. It goes back to when I was only outlining, planning, and following every story in my head. EVERYTHING will come off of this series. Releasing anything first would spoil a few things because survivors of LEGENDS will have cameos. Actions done in this series will cause new heroes to rise and hints in this one will send readers into the past to see what was being talked about. That’s the ‘curse’ I put on myself with this and it’s not an easy one to walk through for the next 2-3 years. It’s also something that appears to be impossible to explain to anyone else and I never understood why. Guess I always had a problem thinking small. There’s the other goal too, but not sure I should mention that.
Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
What have I learned now that I’ve nearly published half of my series?
- Later books will not have the same debut impact as the previous ones. Not everyone will be jumping on the book immediately. They might still be reading the older ones and you shouldn’t demand that people keep up your pace if you’re putting out 3 books a year. This is why aiming for consistent sales is a good idea instead of trying to top the previous release. You need longevity for a series that goes beyond a trilogy.
- Not everyone will continue after the previous book. Many will stop after Book 1 because they weren’t that invested. Happens to every author and I’m sure every reader has a series they started and stopped. Other reasons will be the dislike of a new character, the death of an old one, romantic plotlines, a villain goes too far, a hero turns dark, and any number of plot events. This is the nature of writing anything that goes longer than a single book.
- The author knows exactly what is going to happen, but the reader doesn’t. So a setback that is resolved later or a foreshadowing event can have a negative response. This could be from readers who have followed along and created their own sense of what the story should be. I think we all get like this when we’re invested in fiction. You ever yell at a character for doing something stupid and swear that the writers are being lame to get a plotline going? Well, there’s a lot to that. I’ll go more into detail in another post, but I believe it stems from us being invested. We tend to forget that characters in a story don’t realize they’re characters in a story. Hence why teenagers are always having sex and going off alone in horror movies.
- Change in cover style will confuse people. I still don’t know why since the series title is the same. Yes, I’ve received a question or two about if people should start at Beginning of a Hero or Family of the Tri-Rune.
- Some readers start in the middle of the series and get lost. This is solved by having a little bit of introduction and references to the past in each book. Previous heroes still come up when the opportunity arises. Isn’t that life? We talk about people and events in our past, so why can’t our heroes?
- Never give up and keep pushing forward with your series the way you want to. Changing the direction of a plotline because outside forces are pushing you is obvious in the writing. At the end of the day, you’re the one left with your stories, so you really shouldn’t do anything to them that you’ll regret.
- Even when you say that you’re not sure when the next book is coming out, somebody is going to ask. If you say, ‘Spring’ then people expect late March/early April. Take this as a compliment. Otherwise, you’ll be crying at least once a month.
- Have fun and seek that silver lining.
Legends of Windemere 
Reblogged this on Illuminite Caliginosus- A Spark of Light Within the gloom.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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I am very impressed by the scope of your world-building and story-telling!
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Thanks. It’s always growing too. Every outline, series, and book adds to the Windemere tapestry.
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Great post! I like how you’re sharing your personal experience. Hopefully, new writers learn from your warnings. Sharing on Twitter!
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Thanks. Hope it does teach them a few things. Though I think several pieces are unavoidable when you attempt to go higher than a trilogy. Especially when you’re a new author.
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I can imagine. That’s why I’m stuck at trilogy with companion novels. lol
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I always forget about companion novels, which I plan on working into a future series. One thing I’ve always wondered is how you choose a character from one series to give their own story. Do you look at popularity or just go with your gut?
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Hmm, for me it was the choice to further develop two side characters whose journey between novels doesn’t really fit in the main story arch. They reference their adventures as an inside joke in book II but the companion novel is a side adventure that I wanted to explore.
I also wanted to focus on the main character’s origins, which doesn’t fit in the trilogy. This story would include a wedding that has a grande impact on the characters but not the series in general.
The third standalone takes place years and years after the third book and focuses on the sole surviving member of the original cast. Because this character is a coward and the topic of death gets brought up around him I wanted to focus on themes relating to death. (I promise it’s still a comedy). But I came up with the story as a way of coping with my own mother’s illness and how I feel about the topic of mortality. But again, has nothing to do with the main arch.
So I suppose to answer your question, it’s characters. lol
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Interesting. Now I’m really curious to see who gets these stories. For me, I have only one side character who gets an epilogue type of thing after the series. People have requested companion pieces for other characters, but the stories aren’t there. Another series that I have has 3-4 that can step into their own series or solitary books. I haven’t really decided on what to do because I’m always scared that the character won’t be popular in his/her debut.
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Hmm, that’s a good point. I too worry about characters being liked in their debut. Two of my companion novels rely on the readers liking a character who doesn’t start off entirely likable. So that’s a concern.
So by popular demand is Nyx getting a spin-off series? Or is there another character readers have been dying to see more of?
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Nyx really is too central in the main series to get a spin-off. In fact, I’m starting to feel like she’s the true main hero since she’s the only one raised to be a champion since birth. The current plan is for any champions who survive being used for cameos and making way for future heroes.
Most popular requests are Fizzle and Fritz Warrenberg. The problem is that the former never really left the forest and the latter didn’t have anything really book worthy. They’re fun characters, but I fear tossing them into their own books can harm them. This is a challenge with pulling anyone out of a ensemble cast and making them go solo.
It’s Percival, right? 😀
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True, it’s kind of like when side characters get their own movie and you realize they really can’t support themselves.
LOL. No, “Quest” is a standalone. I was referring to my comedic fantasy series with Little Hammer the dwarf and all them. The first one comes out early this fall . . . well, that’s the plan, anyway.
While finishing “Quest” I began planning and drafting the trilogy as well as the companions. I need to start drafting the companion novels, actually.
But yeah, Percival wouldn’t have anything book-worthy to do, unless he had an awesome adventure following the events of the book. lol
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TV shows seem to do that a lot too.
Standalones are cool since too much of something like that can ruin it. I’m guessing too much Percival would be a bad thing since he’s definitely a supporting character from what I’ve read so far. How much of the trilogy is written?
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Yeah. I think Percy would tire out after a chapter or two. Lol. The first book is in the editing process and I’ve drafted books two and three.
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I am curious to see how a ‘simpleton’ can carry a series. One of my future characters is rather dim, but has a big heart, so I’m hoping to get the balance right. Then again, I might be misreading Percival.
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Great post Charles! Keep writing as the story takes you! 🙂
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Thanks. That’s the plan.
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Reblogged this on The Way of the Storyteller:.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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Yes, someone understands! It’s not just a series; it’s one long big thing that needs to be put into book-sized segments (I talked to Harry Turtledove about this at a con once, and he had this look of “Someone gets this!”). I have multiple series planned, but some of them are on the same planet, and some people eventually get to meet other people. Fortunately I have a spreadsheet where I keep relative ages of people in all of them, just in case.
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That’s a great way of looking at it. All of my series take place in the same world, so I get to do a lot of crossing over at times. That might be why the first series is so long too. I’m establishing a basis for everything in the future.
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Yes, I wish other authors would do more planning when their series(es) get really long; some readers are happy in Yet Another Day in the Life of Stephanie Plum, or Anita’s Latest Fun Date, but some of us like to see character development. Might I recommend Sherwood Smith’s INDA series? it’s four huge books, and they are basically one long story with a well-planned ending. Lots of cool fantasy naval warfare, too.
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Interesting. I’ll put it on the list. Still have 2 books to go with Ranger’s Apprentice, which is a lot of fun. 12 books and good character development so far. Never heard of Stephanie Plum, but I think I know the Anita you’re talking about. I remember when I was a kid that long series had very little development because they were designed to be stepped into at any moment. Doesn’t quite work for older audiences.
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Stephanie Plum books are by Janet Evanovich. Apparently they’re crack to the right person. Now, the crack I like, but which has Developments, is the Phryne Fisher mystery series by Kerry Greenwood. Miss Fisher remains the Flapper Superheroine, but continues to gather a family around her with various feats of derring-do (Cocaine Blues, the first one, is free). But I have a hard time reading too many in a row.
But then, in mystery I cut my teeth on the Lord Peter Wimsey books, which have lovely character development all the way through, especially the ones with Harriet Vane. I have a taste for any series with lovely character development, actually.
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I’ve been reading mostly fantasy for years, so I wonder how the character development styles change. It seems some genres are blunter than others. As for long series, I tend to go through as many books in it that are available without leaving it. End up slowing down on it though for some reason. I should probably learn to jump series from time to time.
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