The “Planned” Limited Series

[Brutal_One]

Just curious. For a writer in Lit who in effect is writing a series although not when I first started writing it (it is to an extent a rewrite after all) but how I can foresee a ‘natural end to the series’ but still with many chapters still to go.

I think about other writers both in Lit where I know Melissa concluded her long series.

But I think of other examples such as probably most famous the Harry Potter series. I know of course that is a series of novels but the point is the same.

Another example I marvel at is from another writing genre the graphic novel. In particular Dave Sim envisaged his opus magus Cerebus the Aardvark of having 300 issues! Imagine that.

So how many of you fine writers who write a series think about it in terms of a planned length? The variable may well be the actual number of chapters (or even novels if your ambitions are loftier).

Brutal One

 

[NotWise]

So how many of you fine writers who write a series think about it in terms of a planned length? The variable may well be the actual number of chapters (or even novels if your ambitions are loftier).

Brutal One

"A Valentine's Day Mess" started as a one-and-done contest entry. I gave it a cliff-hanger ending without really thinking about it. Readers wanted more, but before I wrote more I envisioned the whole story arc and laid it out in five parts, each containing a variable number of chapters.

Despite having the structure all laid out, it was still hard to keep on track. It's been more than three years since I published part three, but I'm working on the final two parts now.

 

[SimonDoom]

I plan my series stories out fairly carefully. I usually have a good idea how many chapters there will be and what the story of each chapter will be. I don't plan every detail but I have a rough outline for each chapter done fairly early in the writing.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Just curious. For a writer in Lit who in effect is writing a series although not when I first started writing it (it is to an extent a rewrite after all) but how I can foresee a ‘natural end to the series’ but still with many chapters still to go.

I think about other writers both in Lit where I know Melissa concluded her long series.

But I think of other examples such as probably most famous the Harry Potter series. I know of course that is a series of novels but the point is the same.

Another example I marvel at is from another writing genre the graphic novel. In particular Dave Sim envisaged his opus magus Cerebus the Aardvark of having 300 issues! Imagine that.

So how many of you fine writers who write a series think about it in terms of a planned length? The variable may well be the actual number of chapters (or even novels if your ambitions are loftier).

Brutal One

There are different schools of thought about this. One is to actually write the whole thing first before publishing anything. Then there is the idea that it's okay to publish chapters sporadically.

I'm guessing that Melissa didn't know the course of her entire series at the beginning, but she would be the source for that info. I don't know how far in advance J.K. Rowling evisioned Harry Potter to go. The success of the first book must have inspired her to contiue.

For my first true series, I wrote Chapter 1 and then didn't know for months where to go with it. When I started up again, the response was very good but now interest is dropping off rapidly. But by then I knew that the total length would be no more than ten chapters.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So how many of you fine writers who write a series think about it in terms of a planned length? The variable may well be the actual number of chapters (or even novels if your ambitions are loftier).

I never think in terms of a story's length. I get to the end and stop, and the length is what it is. Thinking in terms of a word-count is an artificial constraint.

Also, except for my Arthurian myth novel (which prescribed an ending of sorts, with a king in a cave), I've never known a story's ending when I started it, so I could never plan a word count even if I wanted to.

 

[KeithD]

I have an ending in mind or I won't begin it. I'm not married to how it actually ends matches what I projected, though.

 

[SamScribble]

I tend to write short stories. My challenge is usually to tell the story in fewer than four thousand words. Occasionally, a character (or two) will demand a second outing. And, sometimes, the second outing will turn out to be more 'successful' (whatever that means) than the first. But, no, I never have to worry about 'the series' or where it's going.

 

[yukonnights]

Just curious. For a writer in Lit who in effect is writing a series although not when I first started writing it (it is to an extent a rewrite after all) but how I can foresee a ‘natural end to the series’ but still with many chapters still to go...

... So how many of you fine writers who write a series think about it in terms of a planned length? The variable may well be the actual number of chapters (or even novels if your ambitions are loftier).

Brutal One

I have a general idea of the end goal before I start. I typically do scene outlines to help me get there. But, I never know the actual length. I've never planned the actual number of Parts/Chapters - that would be impossible because I create as I go, "trying" to loosely follow the bread-crumbs of my outlined idea.

I've never been in the situation of a stalled multi-part story because I view, write and publish them as a completed project. Partly that's just me — I get kinda sick of the story after so much time spent on it and know that I probably couldn't force myself to finish it. I wouldn't want the pressure of that hanging over me.

 

[WatchingCloud]

I don't do many series. That said, my 20 chapter M Club was planned from the get-go as a series with a very specific ending. Before starting that one, I had a short paragraph synopsis of each chapter. I think I'd written five full chapters before I started releasing any, just to be sure I was happy with the characters and plot...enough so as to be sure the outline would work.

I've been tempted to try a make-it-up-as-you-go series, but I think I'd risk tiring of it before reaching a satisfying end. Or I'd leave too many loose ends that would drive me nuts.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

'Alex & Alexa' was meant to be six chapters, my first story on here. The characters had other ideas, however, and the story ended up being seventeen chapters.

It spawned a prequel/sequel (sprequel?), Mike & Karen, which is currently 21 chapters, and may be halfway finished. A spinoff, Freja & Jeanie, is about to be four chapters, and will probably be eight.

At least two other spinoffs are about to begin a well.

The Alexaverse expanded way beyond my original intended scope, but I'm happy about it.

I've now trained myself to consider if any story I begin could mushroom into more than I'd planned before I begin it. Thus far, it's worked.

But the Alexaverse is outta control. Ah well.

 

[MelissaBaby]

There are different schools of thought about this. One is to actually write the whole thing first before publishing anything. Then there is the idea that it's okay to publish chapters sporadically.

I'm guessing that Melissa didn't know the course of her entire series at the beginning, but she would be the source for that info. I don't know how far in advance J.K. Rowling evisioned Harry Potter to go. The success of the first book must have inspired her to contiue.

For my first true series, I wrote Chapter 1 and then didn't know for months where to go with it. When I started up again, the response was very good but now interest is dropping off rapidly. But by then I knew that the total length would be no more than ten chapters.

When I started writing Mary and Alvin, the plan was to chronicle the entirety of their life together. I think of it as a journey. I knew my starting point, I knew my destination, and there were places I knew I would go along the way. I had about two dozen chapters that focused on events or themes I knew I would get to (their wedding, birth of their daughter, etc.). But I was open to taking side trips, particularly, for example, when readers kept telling me they wanted more of some of the secondary characters. And of course, as the characters developed, different ideas emerged. But I always knew I was working towards the preordained conclusion. The two dozen chapters turned into three. Of course, now that it's concluded, I have thoughts like, "Maybe there should be a chapter where..."

 

[ElectricBlue]

The two dozen chapters turned into three. Of course, now that it's concluded, I have thoughts like, "Maybe there should be a chapter where..."

Develop alternate but joined universes, Sliding Doors style.

My Floating World weaves in and out of several of my story lines, and ultimately everything joins up and makes a kind of solipsistic sense. What's really fascinating is that this world has recently spread into another writer's world, and hers into mine. That's when it gets interesting .

 

[YDB95]

My very first story on Lit was intended as a one-and-done story, but in writing it I fell in love with the protagonist and just had to continue with it. That's happened a couple more times since then. There has been one case of the other way around, where I intended the story as the first of a series, but never continued it.

 

[RejectReality]

I typically have a beginning and an ending. Getting from A to B isn't set in stone, though. It's a series of points. Every part of it is negotiable if I have better ideas along the way.

I typically write the first chapter until I find a good stopping point, and then try to aim for generally that same word count on following chapters. If one falls short, or one goes long, I don't worry too much about it, but that's where my bullseye is. As often as not, I can find a good place for a transition in the target range.

One I'm working on now transitions where they're run out of town. The second transitions where things appear to be turning around. The third transitions on the arrival of a new character ( a returning character actually, as this is a follow-up to a previous story where a minor character has been promoted to MC of the new story ) when things are going to hell in a handbasket again.

Only about halfway through my wordcount target for Ch. 04, so I'm not sure where that transition is going to land. Something from the ending decided that this chapter is where it's going to pop up. Actually, it's something from the epilogue, which is going to be a time jump from the last scene. It's absolutely going to be something to do with the MC fighting to get the upper hand. Just not sure which particular chess move it will be on.

I'm entirely too character driven to have an outline that structures everything from beginning to end before I start.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Of course, now that it's concluded, I have thoughts like, "Maybe there should be a chapter where..."

You always have the future option of writing such a chapter, perhaps with a somewhat different title, and saying at the top, "This would fit into the series at such and such a place." I'm sure some of your nearly three-hundred followers would read it.

You probably are not in the mood to do that now, but somewhere further along the line you might feel the need to revisit it.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Oh, I see electricblue66 had a suggestion above. Alternate timelines can be interesting but a lot of work perhaps. See how you're doing in a couple of months and decide what you wish to do.

 

[AlexBailey]

Geoffrey Chaucer?

Be careful about being too ambitious. The Canterbury Tales were never completed. The series was supposed to have 30 tales, each told by a different pilgrim as they traveled together on a pilgrimage. Chaucer managed to write most of 24 stories, not all complete, in the varying voices of the travelers.

After working on it for 13 years, how many down votes did he get for leaving everyone hanging?

 

[SimonDoom]

Be careful about being too ambitious. The Canterbury Tales were never completed. The series was supposed to have 30 tales, each told by a different pilgrim as they traveled together on a pilgrimage. Chaucer managed to write most of 24 stories, not all complete, in the varying voices of the travelers.

After working on it for 13 years, how many down votes did he get for leaving everyone hanging?

It's well known that Chaucer was a whiny bitch about all the 1-bombs he got. The Medieval incels never forgave him for the Wife of Bath and his stories suffered as a result. And the Site didn't have sweeps back then.

 

[AlexBailey]

It's well known that Chaucer was a whiny bitch about all the 1-bombs he got. The Medieval incels never forgave him for the Wife of Bath and his stories suffered as a result. And the Site didn't have sweeps back then.

Was it Chaucer who first said:

"Never post in Living Wives" ?

 

[MelissaBaby]

You always have the future option of writing such a chapter, perhaps with a somewhat different title, and saying at the top, "This would fit into the series at such and such a place." I'm sure some of your nearly three-hundred followers would read it.

You probably are not in the mood to do that now, but somewhere further along the line you might feel the need to revisit it.

I may very well do that, but as you surmised, at present I have other ideas I have been anxious to explore.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Was it Chaucer who first said:

"Never post in Living Wives" ?

I think it was Giovanni Boccaccio, actually.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think it was Giovanni Boccaccio, actually.

Wasn't that turned into a movie with de Cameron Diaz?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Wasn't that turned into a movie with de Cameron Diaz?

Actually is was Michelle Pfeiffer.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Actually is was Michelle Pfeiffer.

EB grinned. It was a test, Gunhill. More research needed .

 

[BiscuitHammer]

EB grinned. It was a test, Gunhill. More research needed .

It was an awful movie with Hayden Christianson. It was kinda painful to try and watch. And had virtually nothing to do with the source material.