Order of Novels

[Soliton]

I love jumping into the middle of a novel series and trying to figure out what carried over from a prior novel.  Remember the Star Wars movies series began that way.  I am old enough to remember Saturday all day kids day at the movies from 11:00 am to 5:00pm where they had about 4 or 5 serials before the 100 cartoons before the 2 B-rated movies all this for Twenty-Five cents.

My question is what do you think about writing your novel series out of sequence?  Would it possibly work to present the last in the series first?  The reason I ask is my starship goes on missions and I keep leaving part of the crew behind, but I still want to use that character. 

More to the point.  How does one plan an series of novels without taking all your life planning without writing the first one?

Any ideas?
 

[doublejay9]

It's been a while since I've worked on any of the large series that I've got in various stages of completion. But when I was actively developing them, I jumped around from story to story and would often spin off prequels, sequels, and companion stories from the "main plot." That's how my brain naturally works. It got to the point where I stopped thinking about the series as a sequence of separate stories and more like a handful of story arcs stretched out over multiple titles.

As far as publishing is concerned, I think you could very easily write them out of order. Star Wars, as you noted did this. Indiana Jones did it. And so many TV series were designed for syndication, where the audience is expected to watch them in any order -- Star Trek: Original Series and Next Generation come to mind. The thing to remember for your debut piece is to start at the beginning of an arc. So while I wouldn't suggest starting with the season finale, starting at the start of a later mission could work. I'm sure critiques will tell you if the starting point is good enough, or if it should be pushed further back.

For planning, follow your inspiration, write everything down, and keep all of your notes together. As you generate more pieces of backstory and lore, you can start organizing it into a timeline and/or compendium. Such notes documents that are external to your drafts of the story proper are crucial to writing series. Trust me. Your future self will thank you.

[Alatariel]

Technically, all stories start in the middle of someone else's story. There's really no beginning or end, but simply where YOU choose to start the story. There will always be characters with deeper backstories who won't get their stories told until later...or maybe never.


You start where you are most excited with a character who has some kind of indicating incident that leads them on a path of self discovery and change. Will other characters around them have stories to tell? Yes but stay focused. If it's relevant to your main character's development, you can divulge that information, but if it isn't relevant to the main storyline then don't put it in. You, the author, cannot go on side tangents just because you want to or because you like a side character's past. That's important.

It all depends on how you weave in the backstory, if it's relevant to the story you're trying to tell NOW, and if "sequence" matters. For me, it matters a ton because my timeline is very close together and doesn't jump around. It's all one story told in parts. Your books are all separate missions. Many authors write books with the same characters but don't have a specific sequence. However, if something from one mission influences the choices your character makes in another book, then you have a delicate line to walk. You have to write it in a way that new readers can comprehend and old readers won't feel frustrated with reliving the memory. You don't want to confuse readers who haven't read a previous novel and yet you don't want to harp on past events to the point where someone who has read the previous novels get bored.

Honestly, dad, I don't think your chops are there yet. I'd write in order because writing non-sequentially is very very very difficult and requires a lot of organization and the ability to be nuanced.

Now, to your last point, many authors have the issue of over-planning without doing any actual writing. It's called World-Builder's Disease. Where we get bogged down with building and creating and planning and then freeze when it comes to writing the story. For me, if I have a general idea for beginning, middle, and end plus my characters basically outlined, then I jump into it. I also try to make sure I know where I want my characters to start and where I want them to end- not physically but emotionally and personally. How are they going to grow and change and what are some key moments where they need to make a decision that will emphasis that change? 

The main questions to answer before writing are (in my opinion):

- Who is the protagonist and who/what is the antagonist?
- What do they want? Answer that for both protag and antag.
- Why can't they have it?
- What choice(s) will they face?
- What will happen if they choose choice A? What will happen if they choose choice B? What do they lose with each choice and what do they gain? It must be a difficult decision or it's not compelling.

Then I come up with a super basic outline: beginning, middle, climax, and ending. Very basic character arcs that could change while I'm writing because that's allowed. I don't map out how characters get from point A to point Q, but I have a few things that I need to happen between those points. I discover the nuances while writing.

So honestly, if you have the skeleton outline and can answer those basic questions about your plot and characters, it's time to take the plunge and start writing. 

[farida]

Oct 22, 2020 18:55:52 GMT -6 Soliton said:

More to the point.  How does one plan an series of novels without taking all your life planning without writing the first one?

Any ideas?
 

I'd say, write the first one, then worry about the planning later.

Even if your first novel is in the middle of a series, it needs to be fully structured, with a beginning, a middle and an end. Each book in a series needs to be a fully contained story. So, rather than planning the whole massive story arc right away, focus on the smaller things. The immediate plot and the characters involved in it.

That said, once you have your starting novel sorted (no matter whether it's at the actual start of the story or the middle), you might want to peg down the story arcs and character developments of the main characters, so you have something to go on for the other books. But I wouldn't overdo it. See where the story takes you in the subsequent books. With each one that you finish, you will have more material to draw on for future plot lines. As long as there are three or four characters who carry the plot through several books - and one big plot goal for them to achieve - you should be good.