Writing A Series
I still remember the first book I read that very clearly ended in a cliffhanger and implied there was more to come: Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. My twelve-year-old jaw just about hit the floor as I read the last few lines. What? How can you leave it like that? YOU CAN’T DO THAT! And so I discovered the glorious torture of The Series.
Yes. Glorious. Because despite the fact that it’s torture, I love book series. I love, love, love a story that is too complex, detailed, and just plain epic to fit into a single book. And while it super sucks to have to wait for The Next One, it is always worth it . . .
Some favorite book series:
His Dark Materials
Harry Potter
The Mortal Instruments
The Hunger Games
I always knew I would write series. I loved reading them too much not to end up writing them. But the Creepy Hollow series isn’t quite what I envisioned any of my series to be when I first started writing. I was planning to write novels. So how did a series of novelettes (which, of course, are far shorter than novels) come about? Well, that’s where my other series love comes in:
Some favorite TV series:
The Vampire Diaries
Modern Family
Flash Forward
Dawson’s Creek
Dark Angel
Glee
Brothers and Sisters
Yup, I’ve always loved the TV series idea (who hasn’t?). Watching characters and relationships develop over multiple interlinked stories is fun, not to mention, uh, kind of addictive! So I decided to try combining these two ideas: a series of episode-length stories in book form. And that’s what Creepy Hollow is :-) A number of people have asked how many books there will be in total. Honestly, I don't know. I know what the overall story is and how it will end, but I’m not entirely sure how many novelettes it will take to get there. It’s unlikely it’ll be as many as a 20-something-episode TV series, though!
What are your favorite book and TV series?
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Author Info
Thank you so much for stopping by today, Rachel! I have to say that I love that you mentioned the Dark Angel TV series. That was (and still is) one of my all-time favourite shows, perhaps not least because it got cut off too soon and never went to crap! As for writing series, well I've written at least one of those myself, and have another endlessly in the works, so I can relate to the joy of it! I must say though that I really love your idea of writing a novelette series! That's a new concept to me!
Thank you for hosting me!
ReplyDeleteSo cool that you also enjoyed Dark Angel. Max was kinda kick-ass, wasn't she?! I wish they'd made more of the series! (But at least this way it didn't have time to become a weak series!)
She was very very kick-ass! Plus I just love the world she lived in, which probably sounds funny as it was a bit of a broken world.
DeleteI wish she and Logan had managed to get things happening, but in a way it's kind of cool it was unresolved. hehe
Yeah, it was kind of dystopian (a term I didn't know back then!).
DeleteI'm not keen on novel series, but I love the fact that Rachel has written shorter interlinked stories - I'm working on something similar. I still haven't read it, I must - it's on my laptop ready and waiting!
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear that you're working on a similar idea :-)
DeleteIt was my way to write a novel length MS. They were seperate stories, but easy to tweak so the setting is the same. I hope to publish them as a whole, rather than as a series.
DeleteOh, I see. Well, it's great that you've found a method that works for you :-)
DeleteThat sounds cool Annalisa!
DeleteI also enjoy reading series. Every attempt I've made at writing a standalone always ends up with series potential. I suppose I just like these character so much, I want to see what else they have to deal with. Awesome post, you guys! :)
ReplyDeleteI seem to either come up with a plot that's too short for me to actually make into a novel, or too long to just be one novel. At some point I'd like to work on a standalone novel, though, just to see if I can do it!
DeleteI'd be curious to see if your attempt at a standalone wound up being some kind of series after all :)
DeleteI love anticipating the next book in a series. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, so torturous... But cool when you have other fans to "suffer" with!
DeleteI kind of love it when all the books are already out when you start reading, so you don't have to wait.
DeleteAgreed! I mean, it's nice to be able to say "I was a fan from The Beginning." But I discovered the Twilight series, the Hunger Games series, and the first three Mortal Instruments books AFTER they'd all already been published. Was fantastic :-)
DeleteI love reading series as well! Lately, I've been finding it hard NOT to come up with writing ideas where I've got a series in mind. After you spend a certain amount of time with characters, I think it's natural to want to know what happens to them after "The End." Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Jess!
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