Writing a sequence is daunting.
Every installment should each stand alone and work as a part of the entire. You’re compelled to maintain up with all the weather you exploit in a single novel and ensure they serve the whole entity: characters, plot, settings, every part.
Having written six grownup sequence and ten kids’s sequence, I can say I realized shortly that I needed to re-read the earlier title earlier than beginning the following, each time.
Was that actually mandatory?
The one time I attempted to shortcut the method I discovered myself greater than midway by means of the writing of the following title in The Left Behind Collection™ once I had a sinking feeling.
One of many world curses I had included was a lower within the energy of the solar by one-third. So my characters within the desert all of a sudden needed to put on lengthy pants, sweaters, coats, hats. Made sense.
However hadn’t that curse been lifted close to the tip of the earlier title? A reasonably vital growth, if I used to be proper.
And I used to be. A quick re-read of that earlier title confirmed my suspicion. The desert was again to full aridity. I had to return to the start of the present manuscript and re-dress my characters!
A Essential Guidelines
Navigating the fragile stability between satisfying your reader with every e-book and protecting them eager for the following, you will need to stay vigilant on many fronts.
Ask your self:
- Do I threat irritating my reader by stretching the story to accommodate a sequence, reasonably than guaranteeing that every title works by itself?
- Am I in a position to hold every installment comparatively related in size and time span lined?
3 Tricks to Writing a Nice Collection
1. Do not forget that Publishers Love Collection
Left Behind started as a one-book deal. The concept was to inform the story of the Rapture, together with the seven-year Tribulation (together with 21 judgments from heaven).
Midway by means of the writing of that manuscript I spotted I had lined solely two weeks of the seven years.
With nice trepidation, I knowledgeable the writer, Tyndale Home, that I used to be afraid the story would require no less than a trilogy. They instantly rewrote the contract and urged me to let the story dictate the size.
My editor jogged my memory that publishers love sequence as a result of they get extra bang for the buck. If the general plot can bear it, a number of titles permit promoting and promotion that rather more affect for just about the identical value. The person titles themselves promote the entire.
Midway by means of the writing of e-book two, I had lined two months of the seven years. One other cellphone name. One other rewritten contract to make the sequence seven titles.
Ultimately Left Behind grew to become a sequence of 16 titles.
2. Hold Character Arc Paramount
The primary motive I couldn’t power 21 dramatic judgments from heaven into one massive novel was that with such an enormous, cosmic idea, my characters had to be lifelike and plausible.
If the whole novel was stuffed with slam bang motion, my characters would have change into props, stick figures on which to hold a kind of comedian e-book story.
My message on this story is that whereas it was forged as fiction—placing made-up characters in the best way of those dire prophecies—I consider it’s true and can occur some day.
So to lend credence to that theme, my characters needed to be simply recognized with. The reader had to have the ability to see himself in these conditions and resonate—or not—with the choices of very lifelike individuals.
Character arc takes time, and pages. It could actually’t flag and get boring, however neither can or not it’s shortcut.
In a sequence, readers anticipate characters to develop in every e-book and all through the whole bundle.
3. Every Novel Should Fulfill On Its Personal
That is the place too many novelists stumble.
They succumb to the temptation to “save the good things” for the ultimate e-book. Higher to present your all to every title and, in essence, have to begin from scratch with every new one.
Naturally, the general story itself must proceed, however power your self to jot down every novel as if it’s the final by way of intrigue, suspense, battle, dialogue, character arc, all of it.
That may assure that the reader will get your greatest with each installment and one gained’t dip in high quality or serve solely as a connector title to maintain the sequence going.
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