Writing a Series -- Internal Controls

Today we will delve into Internal Controls. Characters.

Characters are the people who live inside our heads. In almost every story, there are two main characters. In writing a series, you don't have just one in your head at any given time, you have four or five.

Characters

Developing characters for a series is a big undertaking. So, say you have a great story right now. And you have these awesome secondary characters that you want to spin. That's two more books. But then, there are these other characters you could add, and do a little more spinning, and now you have five stories. We'll stop there for now.

How many main characters do you have for each story? Sherlock & Watson or Miss Marple? Romeo & Juliet? Depending on the genre, between 1 - 10 .  (under the presumption we're writing 5 stories)

Who are the secondary characters? The crew of the Starship Enterprise. The Hardy Boys? Nancy Drew? How many for each story? Is one couple going to spin off another couple? Is one murder going to spin off another homicide? Is the first story as a stand-alone able to do some spinning? (And further on in this writing series, we'll touch on the "structure" of publishing a series from a marketing standpoint.)

Now that you've thought about those questions, you can think about these.

Do you want to write 5 novels? You already have the first one written. How long did it take you to write it? How long will it take you to write the other four? Three? Two years? Six months apiece? (Unless you are the NaNo Champion every month. More power to you.)

Novellas? If you've never written a novella, they're generally very fast paced, with one very crucial problem solved, and (in my genre) a happily ever after ensues. (I can generate 35k in about four weeks. Another four weeks in revisions and edits. Another two for one last read-through.)

So now you have 5 stories you want to write to form a series. That is (for the sake of argument we're writing romance) 10 people. We'll start with the couple from the original book. Susie and Joe.

Susie's best friend is Abby. Joe's best friend is Bob. Bob is best friends with Larry , who has a twin sister Linda, and Linda's best friend Carol's brother, Steve is best friends with Gary and Ron, who have two sisters Amy and Jen.

Did you get that? In terms of characters, (which leads into Settings somewhat) Larry and Linda are part of a "family" (third tier characters) Carol and Steve, and Gary, Ron, Amy, and Jen. That's three different third tier characters (parents, other siblings, relatives, the mailman, pets, coffee guy). And do your main characters all "hang-out" together, or "work" together? More third tier characters n that "community".

Can you see how complicated it can get?

Believe me when I tell you, when you get the "idea" --  Hey, I'll turn this into a series -- think about all the people you need to create before you really even write one word. You'll thank me later.

Okay, so on to the TOOLs section. Just like at Home Depot.

What do your characters look like?
Sound like? Wear? Work? Play? Live? Have family?

Some writers choose to do a character "sketch" or reveal, or work-up and keep that close at hand. Everything from hair and eye color, to where they went to high school and their birthdays. I'm more of a "visual" person. I find actors from movies to "become" my characters and keep everyone in a folder in My Documents. Other people use Pinterest boards, Evernote, Google Docs, or Scrivener.

There is no right or wrong answer to how you develop/find/create your characters, that all depends on your creative process. However, what I can tell you, is to make sure you know your characters very well, before committing them to the written word. (You run into problems when they're under-developed. Was that brown, or sandy brown hair? Who had the mustache? Or blue toes?)

I also have a dedicated "Name Bible". For every story I write, I put down the cast of characters, from the lord of the manor, to the lowliest cow in the barn. If they have a name, it gets written down. That way, you'll never use it twice. Take my advice. If you don't do this now, please start, especially if you want to write a series. It will simply make your life so much easier down the line. (I once had a cat and a butler with the same name. I had to change one of them. Guess who got to keep the name?*)

It helps too, to have a "characters" diagram (again on poster board or cork or in docs., whatever floats your boat) to link everyone together. Who does what to who. Who is related to who. Who likes/dislikes who. (I have photocopies of my characters on a cork board tied with brightly colored yarn linking them to each family. My daughter had a class project last year on genealogy.)  I also have several pieces of paper with diagrams of smaller family trees hanging on the wall as well. (Like I said, I'm a "visual" sort of person.)

(As an aside --- You really are going to need a plot outline (an outline that will "plot" the course of all the books in the series). I have mine diagrammed on a poster board but we'll get to that when we revisit Construction) This outline also helps if you're running a "theme" throughout the series. The "link" if you will remains focused. ( Internal Controls -- Plot devices, other spin-offs.)

As I keep saying, it takes a serious commitment to begin and end a series. If you want to have a successful series, the goal is to develop it well before hand. And some would say that takes away the "creativity" of the writing experience, but it doesn't really. No matter how well you outline, the characters always take off in a different direction. Don't they.

Think about your series. Think about your characters. Think about how everybody fits together. Write stuff down. Next week, I'm going to discuss Plotting a Series.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

(* Brown, the kitten, in THE LADY'S FATE, got to keep his name once I found Manning for the butler.)

Writing a Series -- Introduction

Good Morning. If you've been thinking about spinning off from your first novel into a series, there are a few things to consider. Writing a series is a commitment  not only to the books themselves, but to your readers. If you're lucky, as soon as they finish that first book, they want the second, and the third and won't stop reading until you're finished writing.

Over the next couple of weeks on this blog,  I'll share my opinions and what information I've found that works for me in writing a series.

Today, there are three main areas, I'd like to discuss. Commitment, Construction, and Clarity.

Commitment

I'm not going to lie, I never thought I'd write a series of books that linked together. I had three stand-alone novels when I started looking for an agent. I had high hopes, and was rewarded with rejections, although several agents did consider my writing quite fine, they just couldn't place me with a publisher. The market was flush with my genre.

I wanted my work to be read. People were self-publishing as the old stigma of vanity publishing was lifted. I won't lie, I jumped on the bandwagon. Perhaps it was because Amazon had made it so easy, but three years ago, when I hit publish on A WIFE FOR WINSBARREN, and a few weeks later on THE LADY'S FATE, my whole life changed.

I was finally a published author.

Giddy with my new-found career, I worked on my other novels and proceeded to publish them in kind, along with novella length stories. Buy one for $2.99, and one for $.99. This marketing plan brought readers, and then fans, and I was moving right along on my next combination when I was FORCED to stop writing.

I couldn't write. Not that I didn't want to, I wasn't "blocked", I just could not find the TIME to finish the books. I also couldn't find time for social media and sales started to slip, then dip, and I had no idea what to do other than finish "something" and get it "out there". I had been publishing at a rate of three times per year, with either a novel or novella.

(Throughout the Reluctant Grooms series, I also published REMEMBERING YOU ~ a contemporary romance novel under my pen name, as well as several short stories, and other work for literary anthologies.)

I was frustrated as I watched other authors, my peers, publish steadily and gain higher rankings on the book lists. What could I do? I cried. I raged. I was so bloody angry. But there was nothing to be done, and I put my writing aside until my personal life gave me the time to finish my fifth novel.

It took almost nine months to complete, too late to recover from the landslide that was now my career. I picked up the pieces of both my personal and professional life, and took a vacation. Literally. I had blocked out six weeks for vacation this past summer, a "working vacation". I would write and nothing would stand in my way. My own personal NaNoWriMo. I wrote a 25K novella, and finished another 22K words on another manuscript I had started in March. Three weeks later I had two publishable novellas.

I told you that, to tell you this... You need to understand the commitment it will take to write, publish, and market a series. Depending on how fast you write, what you have on your back-list, under your bed and publishable, writing a series of books is a commitment of at least three years. Especially for a new writer.

Once you have ruminated on that thought, and are ready to jump in, we're on to the next decision you have to make.


Construction

Here are the questions I wish I had the answers to before I began writing my series.


How many books do you envision? How many plots do you have? (Hint * There are only twelve.)
How will they be linked? By family, circumstance, event?
Is this a wrap-around series, or a progressive timeline?
Is there one main character for the series? or one/two for each book?
Is there a theme to maintain throughout the series?
What length and genre are you writing in? (Hint * know the "rules")
How much research are you willing to invest in?


How many books do you plan on writing?
My first three novels were planned as a trilogy. Beginning, middle, end. The fourth came out of nowhere, and then I had a secondary character from the third novel who absolutely begged to be written, and that's how I came up with my fifth. A trilogy is by far the simplest of series writing. Beginning, middle, end. However, with short stories and novellas also comprising a body of work these days, a series could continue indefinitely.

How will they be linked? By family, circumstance, event?
In all my stories, Lady Olivia Leighton, the Duchess of Caymore, is the lynch pin that holds the Reluctant Grooms series together. She keeps family and friends in her especial favor, and all of my work centers around her meddling and interference with these characters. Successful links for series writing also include family members, friends, a place, a circumstance, a job, anything that unites the books in some way.

Is this a wrap-around series, or a progressive timeline?
I believe I have both of these aspects in my books. All of my novels include disparate parts of the others, characters or circumstances, that happen within the same time frame of the novel you happen to be reading. I call that a wrap-around timeline. My original timeline begins in Nov. of 1810 and follows the calendar until June 1812 through the course of seven novels. Each of my books also follow that continual timeline, which moves the characters through those particular twenty months.   June 1812 is finite. (An upcoming blogpost why I chose that date to end my series will reveal the answer.)Where does your series start, and where does it end? What about each of the books? You need to answer each of these questions before you commit.

Is there one main character, or one for each book?
I chose to include Lady Olivia in all of my books, but only as a secondary character. Each of my stories is a  traditional Regency > historical > drama > romance. Boy Meets Girl. What the boy does with the girl after the first meeting is why I write books. You may be writing about the last cyborg. Or Brady Bunch fan-fiction. It doesn't matter. Who are your people going to be?

Is there a theme to maintain throughout the series?
If you're that type of writer who can identify themes, by all means put one in. However, know that you need to keep it alive throughout each of the subsequent stories. My main theme is reluctant grooms. I have several underlying themes as well. When readers can identify them, they become fans.

What length and genre are you writing in?
I had written three novels before writing my first novella. I was going after a particular "market" before I realized the self-publishing dynamic gave us tremendous options. I know several cozy mystery authors who only pen 60,000 word novelettes. A paranormal writer I know puts out two novellas a month. A literary fiction author publishes one book a year. It's important to know the rules of the genre you're writing in and under what classification your writing falls.  Mine is Traditional Regency > historical > drama > romance. (With sub-categories of suspense, mystery, espionage, divorce, and old age. I don't write in the same genre as Georgette Heyer. Traditional Regency > historical > sweet romance.

How much research are you willing to invest in?
There is not a day that goes by that I don't get bogged down in research. Naturally, the genre determines how much you will need to know before you attempt writing in the first place, but no one really thinks about research when they get their first great idea. World Building =  Time, Weather, Food, Clothes, Housing, Flora, Fauna, etc. ad infinitum. And then there are the things you forget about = history, science, art, music, speech, philosophy. It's all about "authentic" voice, whether yours as writer, or yours as character. That takes research.

We will discuss the construction of a series in more depth as this writing series continues.


Clarity

I could not write my any of my books/stories/manuscripts without having visual aids. Thank Al Gore for the internet. Google Images is my best friend. So is Pinterest. I find having pictures of my characters and settings easier to bring other images to mind. I never know what I'm looking for until I actually find it.

(My character Davingdale has been portrayed on one of my Pinterest boards by Andrew McCarthy, the actor. He was never right for the character, and I knew it, but I hadn't found the right actor to portray Davingdale. One day, searching the web for a movie, I found a different movie, which turned into a google search for an actor, which turned into the picture you see now in its place.)

It's all about your vision and what you'll compromise on. (Nothing.)

With research come findings, and you need a place to put it all. Some people use Evernote.  Others find Scrivener easier. I tend to have scrap paper piles all over my desk and folders tucked inside folders in my pc. I also have three bulletin boards on an office wall, and two whiteboards keeping track of the calendar. I also built a genealogical family tree (in preparation for this last novel and the next series).

It takes a commitment to create a family tree.

How ever you find your muse, once you figure out what works for you, stick with it. If you have a vision, you might want to take the time now to make a comprehensive outline so that you can follow it successfully to its conclusion. How many books? Length? Genre? Characters? Themes? How long will it take me to realistically write 3, 6, novels? 2,4,6, novellas? Can I commit fully to this endeavor?



If you can, please join me next week. The topic for Writing a Series is Internal Controls: Characters, setting, plot, structure.

I look forward to seeing you.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014


 itunes/US   Nook   Kindle  Kobo  Smashwords

Writing a Series -- What I Learned

Good Morning. I have been brewing over the fact that my current work-in-progress is the final novel of my series. I'll miss these characters. They've been with me for quite some time. However, I have new characters, and new story-lines for a whole new series.  (I'm looking forward to starting that in the fall of 2015.)

That being said, writing a series is a BIG undertaking. I didn't know that was what was going to happen five years ago when I put my pen to paper. But here I sit with with five novels and six novellas under my belt.

Five years ago, I wrote three stories in quick succession. THE LADY'S MASQUERADE, THE LADY'S FATE, and THE DUKE'S DIVORCE. I also had 45,000 words on THE CAPTAIN'S COINCIDENCE, but we moved and I
lost them.

My intent was to acquire an agent, and sell the series to a New York Publisher. That didn't happen. I also hadn't planned to write novellas either. My work was piling up and I wanted readers. I decided to self-publish. It was a steep learning curve. But here I sit with five novels and six novellas under my belt, (as well as other published works under my Robynne Rand pen name).

I am a working writer.

A professor told me once, that when we achieve a pinnacle, or a certain level of success, we must write about how we did it. Share it with the world and discuss it. Someone else might gain something that will help them achieve their own pinnacle.

Over the course of the next few Sunday's, I'm going to outline what I learned from writing a series. I will try to incorporate many aspects of the publishing industry as well. Here is a list of topics I will attempt to cover.


Introduction to Writing a Series
    Commitment, Construction, Clarity
Internal Controls
     Character/Setting/Plot > Structure, Plot devices, Spin-off series
Formulaic/Genre Writing
Marketing
     Novella/Short Story
     Business Plan
Publishing Structure
     Timeline > Pricing > Free?
Marketing Part 2
     Branding > Social Media >Web Presence > Spam
External Controls
     Surviving the Crash > Writing as a Job
Complete


I hope you'll stop by.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

  itunes/US   Nook   Kindle  Kobo  Smashwords

Places to Find Anne Gallagher (Regency Romance Writer) on Social Media

As a self-published independent author, "they" say we should be on as many social media sites as you can be. Market, Promote, Be Everywhere and Annoy People with Spam.

As a general rule, I try not to annoy people. Hence my less than stellar performance at Marketing and Promotion. However, if you follow me on Twitter, you'll see over the last few days I have a really great excuse. I've been adding words to THE SEDUCTION of MR. SUMMERVILLE. (Up to Chapter Five so far.)

However, I was talking to a friend of mine (who oddly enough does marketing for her job) and she asked me how many social media sites I was on. I tried to name them, but couldn't. There are just too many. So I decided to do it here, in case you wanted to find me somewhere else. (IF that makes any sense.)

Not in any particular order of appearance.... click through for the link

Goodreads -- for my reviews. I'm not just a writer.

Pinterest -- for who I think my characters are.

Twitter -- Fun at 140 characters.

LinkedIn -- Because I can.

Shelfari -- I really need to update there.


And if you wanted to buy my books.... click through for the link

Kobo US

Apple itunes US

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble NOOK

Amazon

Scribd

And coming soon to Google Play (but we're not set up just quite yet -- by Thanksgiving hopefully)

The blog where I discuss writing, mainly, but with a more personal perspective Piedmont Writer.

So here I am. And where you can find me. Hope to see you around.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014