by Corrina Lawson
I naturally write series books.
I suspect it’s because I loved
reading series when I was growing up. From Walter Farley’s Black
Stallion, to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan books to J.R.R. Tolkien’s
work, and eventually to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern and Lois McMaster
Bujold’s Vorkosigans, when I loved something, I wanted
more.
As I revised my “Books” page on my
website recently, I realized that there are now six stories in my
Galaxy Award-winning
Phoenix Institute series and I have ideas
for several more. I decided if the series was to continue, I needed
to codify my guidelines for keeping the stories fresh and fun. Here
are my top five:
One: Never hold back anything for the
next book.
If the story requires something to
happen, let it happen. Don’t think “wait, if I do that, I can’t
use X character for the next book” or “hey, let me save that big
fight for the next book…”
No. Treat every book as if it might be
the last book. Resolve the elements that need resolving in this
particular story. If you need to kill off somebody, kill ‘em. If
you need to give a character a happy ending and send them off into
the sunset, do that. Give your readers an emotionally satisfying
catharsis. Don’t make them wait until the next one.
Two:
When building your storyverse, always
keep in mind that many other people besides your characters will be
living in it.
Filmmakers do this with production and
art design, creating the spaces for the actors to live in. Don’t
neglect this even if your books are contemporary.
Don’t overthink it, either. It’s
not necessary to put every element of what you’ve imagined in your
story. Sometimes it’s enough to just toss off lines about untold
adventures, as Watson was wont to do in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock
Holmes tales. Sometimes it’s making sure your spaceport contains
separate spaces for military and civilian vessels.
But always consider how your characters
live in their world, even the minor ones.
Three: Don’t let your series
characters overwhelm the characters of any particular story.
You know readers loved the hero and
heroine of the first book but you’re working on the second story
and they just don’t fit. That’s okay. It’s nice if other series
characters are useful and integral as supporting characters but if
they’re not essential, they drag your story down. Your readers were
hooked on the first book because they loved the story. Give them
another great story and they’ll come back. (I have a favorite
character that I keep writing out of stories because he threatens to
take them over. No! Back to your HEA!)
Four: Each book should be, as much as
possible, an entry point into your series.
I’m one of those weird people who
will read a series out of order. I just received an omnibus volume of
Steve Miller and Sharon Lee’s Liaden Universe. The three books
inside are recent but I had no trouble walking into their wonderful
world. If I had to start at the beginning of the Liaden stories(there
must be over 20!) I would despair. But they made it easy for me to
walk through the door. How to do this? One of my tricks is to use
beta readers who haven’t read the other books. (Yes, George R.R.
Martin is an exception to my “rule.” There are always exceptions,
which is why I call these guidelines. )
Five:
Mix up the kinds of stories told in
each book.
Phoenix Rising is a classic
“becoming a hero” story. Phoenix Legacy is a dark
redemption tale. Ghost Phoenix is my international adventure
story inspired by Indiana Jones adventures. Phoenix Inheritance
brings the focus back to the very personal. And the two novellas
featuring Al and Noir, Luminous and Ghosts of Christmas
Past, are my urban fantasy ala Batman tales.
I’m reasonably certain that my author
voice comes out in each story . I’m equally sure readers are going
to find common elements that, as the author, I never notice. But I
get bored writing the same plot, over and over. I bet readers get
bored with similar plots too. As long as I don’t genre-hop too
widely and start adding elements that won’t fit (I doubt spaceships
carrying aliens will ever show up at the Phoenix Institute), I’m
guessing that readers appreciate some variety.
As for the next book?
I sense it’s time for reckoning with
my current bad guys.
Time for the big, fiery, world-changing
confrontation and a reset of the board.
Because maybe that’s bonus rule six:
Don’t get stale. Up the stakes every so often.
