Questions tagged [series]
This tag should be used for questions about series of written works, such as series of books, videogame scripts or graphic novels. The questions should detail what aspect of a story is difficult, such as differing lengths or the repetition of information.
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How do successful series decide to break their singular concept into multiple books?
I saw these, which were partly helpful:
How to plan for splitting a novel into a series?
What changes should be made to the story if a single book becomes a series?
I have an idea for a fantasy book ...
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1
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Is there a method to determining how many books long your series needs to be?
I set out to write a trilogy, and feel my characters, world, and story are complex enough to warrant it. However, the more I dig into it, I’m sensing three books isn’t enough. But it will be a huge ...
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How "resolved" do things need to be at the end of the first book of a trilogy?
Without going into detail... I'm trying to decide when to end the first book of my trilogy. There are two options that seem natural to me, but one feels more exciting and allows me to drag the tension ...
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1
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How do you write a submission for a previously published book (taken off the market by the author) and introducing a 2nd book in the original series
The original children's historical fiction picture book was self published by the author. It sold a few thousand and was on Amazon but was too expensive to continue being published by the author's ...
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1
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Is it advantageous for authors to work as an LLC? [closed]
Is it advantageous for authors to work as an LLC? If I'm going to be writing a lot of books, it seems to make sense to work with publishers from an LLC and get some protection from spurious lawsuits. (...
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12
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In a series, do the stakes have to be higher than in the book before?
Imagine you have a series of books: Book 1 through Book 6. Do the stakes in book 2 have to be bigger than the stakes in book 1? The same question applies with each book in relation to the one before ...
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1
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Can revealing the series finale to open the series be effective?
Considering the Marvel film Deadpool II we open up with Deadpool detonating himself on a warehouse full of explosives, and then he tells the story on how we got there. That was one "book," ...
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2
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How can I contact JK Rowling for permission to publish my sequel for the Harry Potter series?
I recently watched the entire Harry Potter series in December 2021. I really loved the Harry Potter world and all the characters.
Even after days, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it and I'm ...
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1
answer
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Is it economically feasible in the present day to write a book series for an older audience as a series of short novellas?
I want to write my book series as a series of short novellas (about 150 pages each) with each book forming part of the storyline.
The majority of books written with comparable lengths are intended for ...
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1
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What's the best way to get Amazon to make it easy for readers to add all books in an eleven volume series to their cart, with minimum hassle?
I have what will be, with newest additions, an eleven volume numbered series spanning one logical collection.
I want to make it easy for readers to add all eleven volumes to their Amazon cart with ...
- 399
2
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2
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102
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How to revise or edit an extremely long story?
I have a story that I am working on that is extremely long. The first volume in the series is about 120,000 words, and that is only about half of its predicted wordcount. Counting the other entries in ...
- 4,617
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4
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164
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How do you continue developing characters in an urban fantasy/portal fantasy after the initial arc of adapting to the supernatural wears off?
This question is very similar to this one, but I felt it was distinct enough that it was worth asking as a separate question.
In a lot of fantasy and science-fiction stories that are nominally set in ...
- 4,617
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3
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212
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How do you write character development in later entries of a series after relationships become established?
When starting a series there is initially a lot of fertile ground for storytelling because the characters don't know each other very well and are still establishing an equilibrium. As a result, there ...
- 4,617
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1
answer
167
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How do you introduce a new character in later entries of a series?
I had an outline for a book series in which I introduce a new character in one of the later volume to act as an introductory viewpoint character for people who are just picking up the series for the ...
- 4,617
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3
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79
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Mapping relationships between topics in a non-fiction series
I am working on a series of episodes that will be made into individual videos to explain different technologies and how they interrelate at different levels within a specific application domain (the ...
- 101
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2
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My Middle Name Is Amara And I Want To Add It To My Book [duplicate]
I'm writing a series that has to do with vampires. My middle name is Amara, and I personally find that name really, really pretty. I wanted to add it to my book as the name of the main character but I ...
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How Do I Compress Multiple Novels' Worth of Plot, Characters, and Worldbuilding into One?
I have been working on worldbuilding, plotting out, and writing characters for a science-fantasy series for over 4 years now, and I feel the time has come to take another stab at writing the actual ...
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5
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202
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How to avoid having too many side characters in school-based story?
Follows up this my question (How to choose ideal number of main characters?)
I want to write a book / series about 4 friends from school. A little inspiration comes from The Middle series. But I do ...
3
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2
answers
73
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I’m having a rough time starting my second book in my series. Is this normal?
I am a young author writing a fantasy series. When I was writing the first book, it was easy and words literally flew onto the page. Now that I’m starting the second book (even though I know what it’s ...
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1
answer
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Starting my second book. Would this be considered an info dump?
I’m trying to open up the second book with the impact of the last book on my MC, but it looks more like an info dump.
I was slowly beginning to cope with the fact that my world was completely ...
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6
answers
151
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What if you want to write two separate books at once?
I am a young author writing a fantasy series, and while browsing writing prompts and trying to better my writing yesterday, I got an idea for another, totally different series. I am in love with the ...
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Can I write a different book before my sequel?
I am just about done writing the first book in a series. I have an idea for the next book in that series (let's call it "book a"), but I also have another idea brewing in my mind which takes ...
- 1,551
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7
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Should I end my book on a major cliffhanger?
I am writing a YA fantasy series, and I'm wondering if the first book should end in a major cliffhanger. Right as the book ends, the main characters get trapped by the enemy. I'm wondering if this is ...
- 1,551
2
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2
answers
166
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What is the best way to structure my series?
I am working on an urban fantasy series. The series is currently divided into a number of episodic chapters that follow a "monster of the week" format. Each one is projected to be about 30-...
- 4,617
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1
answer
138
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When writing the first book in a series, do you need to plan the next book also?
I am just finishing my first book in a series that I started, and I'm wondering if you need to plan all the books in your series. For reference, I'm not quite sure if my series is going to have two or ...
- 1,551
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0
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126
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Successful (non YA) epic high fantasy published episodically as a novella series
The high fantasy genre is notorious for producing enormous tomes.
I am currently writing a BronzePunk epic of my own. However, I have chosen to publish it somewhat episodically as a series of ...
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answers
27
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Finding a book series, I read the first book awhile ago and would like to finish the series [closed]
I read a book a while ago and I'm try to remember its name.
The book was about a an outcast who used to be a the general of a rebellion against a colony of planets. These planets had faster than ...
5
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3
answers
212
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how do I tell my main character’s backstory throughout the book?
I'm loosely working on a trilogy. Book One and Two are supposed to contain the main character’s backstory, divided by two parts that will be exposed accordingly: on book One, the first half, on book ...
6
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2
answers
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Did I set up my book series titles and ISBNs wrong?
I currently have 4 books all under one series that are self published. The way I have been setting up the titles through Ingramspark and under my ISBNs has been:
Title: Name of the Book Series
...
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9
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2
answers
686
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Would it be better to write a trilogy over a much longer series?
I'm planning out a long series (more than five books as is). It's very optimistic, I know. But I'm just wondering:
Would it be better to plan out my series as a trilogy, leaving room to expand if ...
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24
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10
answers
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Can a successful book series let the bad guy win? [duplicate]
I have a five book series and I have plotted them all out. The main bad guy wins in the end. My problem with this is my girlfriend keeps telling me that bad guys winning will make readers upset that ...
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6
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In a series of books, what happens after the coming of age?
I'm writing a novel focusing on a single character POV. For many aspects, it can be considered a coming of age story; along with the usual tropes of the hero's journey, my protagonist gradually learn ...
5
votes
2
answers
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How much episode recap is necessary in a tv-focused podcast?
I'm planning for my next podcast to do an episode-by-episode tv show analysis. (Actually two are in development, but they'll be about different shows.)
I'll be the main researcher/outline-assembler ...
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2
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2
answers
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How possible is it to publish a sequel with a different publisher than the original (successfully)?
How possible is it to publish a sequel with a different publisher than the original (successfully)?
Does the genre matter? Such as science fiction, fantasy, mysteries or picture books?
I would ...
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How to traditionally publish a fantasy-fiction novel serial in our modern era of publishing without the use of zines?
I am about 3/4 finished with the first "volume" of a novel I desire to serialize. Not for the money really, though I won't lie that it'd be nice, but more for the fact I can get my name out there. Now,...
- 2,512
6
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5
answers
569
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Writing a trilogy and editing [duplicate]
I planned out to write a trilogy and the first draft of book one is now completed. I want to know if I should edit this draft before starting on the second book.
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6
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What keeps most authors writing after receiving multiple rejections?
Last year, I completed a heavily researched 95,000-word novel about an emerging pandemic that targets primarily children. I am a former scientist and current nurse and wanted to do teaching about what ...
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How to keep darkness from piling up
I'm a big fan of ongoing stories and longer series. But one thing I've noticed about my writing (and a lot of the works I read/watch) is that as a story goes on, the tone gets progressively darker.
...
user33474
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6
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How to Write a Colossal Cast of Characters
I'm planning a book series called The Weasel Sagas. Things have been going great up until now, where I've realized I've hit a bit of a problem: I've come up with backstories for so many different ...
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14
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Avoiding spectacle creep
It's common in stories for spectacle to build over time. Each story arc, the stakes get higher, the drama gets more intense, the villains get more dangerous, and so on. For a story with a fixed ...
user33474
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4
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How do I design characters for an open-ended series?
There is plenty of information on how to draft characters for a single story, or characters that follow an important arc throughout a (small) number of stories.
Are there any techniques for designing ...
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Series: How can I get my reader to not expect any one genre?
Background: I'm planning on writing an extensive series of fantasy books. I plan on writing quite a few of these books, and while they'll all be set on the same planet, I intend them to center on ...
3
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3
answers
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How to fill in the outline for "book 2" of my series?
I finished up "Book 1" of my series, and it was very much a fly-by-the-seam-of-my-pants type of writing. I let the plot develop as I wrote, in other words. And it did. I had to reread/rewrite it a lot ...
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Do I need to repeat character descriptions of main characters from one book to the next?
In the second book of my trilogy, do I need to repeat everything about the main characters' appearance from the last book, or can I just mention a few key things?
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Is it okay to switch protagonists between books, if the main protagonist is a hidden "actor"?
On my research I stumbled upon this question and it matches somehow with my question, that lingers in my head for a long time.
In the mentioned question I read the common thinking is: Switching ...
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What type of character should I write about first in a potential series of books?
I have a world in which many characters live in. At first, I thought they all could be part of one novel (kind of like Sherwood Anderson's book Winesburg, Ohio or the movie Short Cuts (1993) by ...
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to changing the POV in the second and third books of a trilogy?
Consider placing the second book of a SF/F trilogy into the point of view of a secondary character from the first book. Good? Bad?
This seems like a workable idea to me, interesting, expand the world,...
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1
answer
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How do I label a graphic novel series?
Similar to the issues brought up in Structuring a novel like a television or graphic novel series, I'm adjusting a saga I'd conceived as an animated TV series of ~42min episodes, 13 episodes per ...
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1
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Series tracking
I have a series with most characters appearing in every book. I have been tracking all character info in excel, but the age tracking is becoming too complicated so I'm seeking software that can ...
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1
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Is it a good idea to have a manifesto for my series, and where should it go
I want to create a series for my books. The books are unrelated, and can be read in any order. This would be something like Goosebumps by R.L. Stine. Like a Twilight Zone framing.
In my first, and ...
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