Series Writers: Chart the Details, Part 3

To all a Merry and Blessed Holiday Season

This month concludes my mini-series on series writing. For the first two posts please visit: Is Series Writing for You? and Three Tips on Starting a Series.

The Challenge is in the Details
Begin your series by creating worksheets to keep track of the details. This will help avoid the pitfalls of time spent having to flip back to previous books for small (or large) details that may have escaped you. Preparing your series worksheets isn't much different than keeping track of the details for each of your writing projects. To accomplish this for each individual book project:

1. Keep a separate notebook for each book.
2. In each notebook, preferably during the first stage, create a chart of the following important information. This will take time but will be worth it. The information will be at your fingertips to tweak as you go along, and also to use for school visits, your blog, etc.

• Age group                             
• Genre
• Verb tense
• Point of View 
• Mood or tone      
• Setting
• Time span
• Character list, role played in your story and profiles
• Theme
• List of Scenes or contents of chapters
• Concept sentence          
• Why you wrote your book
• Where your idea came from
• Research: what you researched, what file it's kept in, sources you've cited
• Books by other authors that are similar to your book or that you used as models
• A list of your favorite authors, your favorite books and the authors' bios

Ideas on how to Organize your Series
Keep a separate section or separate notebook if you've created a series. A series organizational chart can contain information similar to the charts for your books.

• Series title
• Genre
• List of characters and how this list changes from book to book
• How the books tie together
• How your characters grow and change as the series progresses
• Series timeline
• Settings
• Keep track of the series books you've read and notes you've taken
• Most important: write down how your series will end
• Also: keep track of special information pertaining to your story, such as in my MG mystery, the chapter(s) and page numbers of when the ghost appears.

Join the Fun
One of the most fun parts of writing a series for me has been reading popular and well-loved series by other authors.

• Take notes on the books you've read and on how the series is connected.
• Note who the mc is and how the mc changes and grows
• Are there new characters introduced? Which ones stay the same in each book?

What's so intriguing is the difference in how the books are connected from series to series. In the Stepping Stones series of chapter books about ghosts by Marion Dane Bauer, each book has different mc's and characters; the connection is that each book is about a ghost-of-a-different-color: The Blue Ghost, The Green Ghost, The Red Ghost, The Golden Ghost.  And the delightful Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, in which sweet Princess Magnolia must handle a monster problem when her glitter-stone ring rings. Out bursts the Princess in Black for her next adventure, which is different in each book.

When I first realized that two of my projects could become series I was intimidated. But, after studying the nature of series writing I've come to realize that planning is key, as it is for the creation of any book, either right from the start or the plans emerge sometime during the revision stage. I plan to avoid as many pitfalls as possible by following the advice of authors who have shared their expertise and experiences. I hope this information will help you, too.

Treasure Chest of Sources on Series Writing

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/11/02/writing-a-series-continuation-issues/; http://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-book-series/ http://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-a-series-mistakes/http://www.nownovel.com/blog/six-secrets-to-writing-a-series/;http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/some-tips-for-writing-a-series; Writing the Fiction Series: The Complete Guide for Novels and Novellas, by Karen S. Wiesner  

Photo by Linda Wilson

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 100 articles for adults and children, and six short stories for children. Recently, she completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction courses, picture book course and mystery and suspense course. She has currently finished her first book, a mystery/ghost story for 7-11 year-olds, and is in the process of publishing it and moving on to new writing projects. Follow Linda on Facebook.

Scrivener - The Novelist's Friend

A few years ago I was introduced to a 'New' program. By then I had several novels under my belt, one had been written by hand, another in Word Perfect, a few in Word. When someone suggested Scrivener, I wasn't necessarily sure what I thought. 

For one thing, there is a learning curve. Did I really want to begin to learn a new program 'just' to write my next novel? Would the learning curve eventually pay off in rewards that I currently didn't understand? Well, the simple answer is, yes.

Reasons to consider Scrivener:

1. Plotting

• Plotting with Scrivener is a dream! There is no other way to say it. Notecards can be written in the program and then that information is transferred to the area where text is written. This allows me to plot several chapters and then easily take the notes with me into the text writing area and write while viewing my notes.

2. Organizing

• I tend to write from several character's perspectives. Scrivener helps me to color coordinate which character I'm writing from and allows me at a glance to see where I should go next, or if I'm spending too much time in one character's head.
• I am also one who likes to research and gather information for my novels. This information I used to find and print and keep in folders - lots and lots of folders. Scrivener allows me to utilize a section of the program to keep all those files and all that information and then lets me write and view the research at the same time - meaning I'm not having to flip from screen to screen to get information and check to make sure I'm getting it right, and I don't have to be connected to the internet to access files, or drag them with me when traveling.

3. Goals

• Perhaps one of my favorite things is setting up my goals. Why? I'm a goal oriented person and having a bell let me know that I've reached my goal of word count brings me great pleasure. It also keeps me focused on the end goal of total word count for my novels. 

4. Bonus Help

• Name Generator: I always have difficulties with this and so having a name generator is a bit of fun
• Word Use: Also an issue I have. I come up with a great word and then I use it and use it and use it. Scrivener will call me on it. The program lets me me know how often I use words, which is great for finding weak verbs, but also great for finding the unusual word used several times as well.
• Multiple formats: Want to write a comic book, the format is there. How about a play? Yep, it's covered too. 

So, while I realize for you it might also mean a learning curve, I recommend giving it a try. 

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D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, Solem was released February 2016.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole, and Perception, and the co-author of The Exodus Series: The Water Planet: Book 1 and House of Glass: Book 2. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.                                                                                             

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com                                      

You can also follower her on Facebook.