Working on a Series

The thought of writing a novel can be a scary thought. Attempting to write a series, can be downright frightening. To me, anything over three books is a series and in the beginning I had no desire to write more than three.

Then came my first YA novel, Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy. When I completed the first draft, I had a cliffhanger and a lot of dangling plots. I took my editors advice and wrote down all the items that needed to be resolved and/or raised questions. By the time I was finished, I had outlined enough for four more books.

Indecision struck. Did I want to change the outcome of the book and make it a standalone or did I dare take the plunge and attempt to write a series? After much contemplation and encouragement from my friends and editor, I decided to try.

Writing the second book turned out to be easier than the first because I had set the world and the characters and they welcomed me back like old friends.

There were still challenges though. Keeping it interesting for both me and the storyline. Adding in a few new characters while fleshing out others. Making sure the main character experienced growth. So many things to remember and keep tabs with.

Other things to help when writing a series is to create your series "bible", "encyclopedia" or "guidebook". In mine I have character sheets that contain information like date of birth, eye color, hair color, etc. Mine also contains a list of places that are mentioned in the book as well as hand-drawn maps to help me keep things straight.

For any that have thought about it, I would suggest you give it a try. You never know what you can accomplish unless you go for it.