Completing a series

[Brutal_One]

I have just completed submission of my story series. I know there are other authors who have similar series they have written to conclusion. Starting from the first submission where the initial submission was rejected but it was later after a resubmit accepted it allowed the related chapters to be drafted and submitted, often the chapters are short but they from the writing perspective are doing the job to advance the series. After 27 chapters and 2 related short stories posted as part of it there is satisfaction in completing in in particular the concluding part being by far the longest and pretty much novella in its own right and can also as written be read in isolation. The conclusion of course relies on the characters that were introduced during the series. How have other authors who have completed their own series views or thought about the completed work? Brutal one

 

[ElectricBlue]

How have other authors who have completed their own series views or thought about the completed work? Brutal one

No differently to any other story. It is what it is, and once it's submitted for publication, I'm on to the next story.

 

[NotWise]

How have other authors who have completed their own series views or thought about the completed work? Brutal one

I was sick and tired of it and glad it was over. I've never reread it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I have one complete series and two incomplete series, so I suppose my final answer is up in the air.

I'm kind of with EB, though, on this one: Once a story is done, I smile with satisfaction at whatever I've accomplished, and I move on. Sometimes I re-read stories I've written, and I think about the things I would change, but I don't fret about them. I focus instead on how I can make the next story better.

Eventually, I will complete the two series I haven't finished, and then I'll probably have a better answer.

 

[Scorpio_Six]

I wrote my only long story to date over a two and a half year period, with a very long gap, for various reasons, after chapter 5 and another after chapter 7. I finished it this year, over the summer, but when I went back to the first half to do a 'quick revision' I found my writing style had changed so drastically since 2018 (for the better, I hope) that in addition to adding in a new opening I ended up almost completely rewriting chapters 1 to 5.

I'd like to do an actual sequel one day, but looking at it now I've somewhat written myself into a corner, since chapters 6 to 12 will need an even more extensive rewrite than the first half. It'll be a better story for it, but in hindsight the main thing I take away from this is that the story was too complex to write as episodically as I did.

 

[TadOverdon]

I have just completed submission of my story series. I know there are other authors who have similar series they have written to conclusion. Starting from the first submission where the initial submission was rejected but it was later after a resubmit accepted it allowed the related chapters to be drafted and submitted, often the chapters are short but they from the writing perspective are doing the job to advance the series. After 27 chapters and 2 related short stories posted as part of it there is satisfaction in completing in in particular the concluding part being by far the longest and pretty much novella in its own right and can also as written be read in isolation. The conclusion of course relies on the characters that were introduced during the series. How have other authors who have completed their own series views or thought about the completed work? Brutal one

First off, when we publish I've probably read the book three or four times straight through in the course of a week or so, looking for errors and trying to fix the prose that I hate.

So of course as soon as we put it out there on the Internet I have to read it online and freak out about the stuff I didn't notice and that I want to change. Agggh!

Looking back? Like others have said, lately we always have at least one other book started by the time we finish one. Right now I'd count at least four projects as being in some stage of development anywhere from some scenes drafted, to a lot of notes, to a premise and some research. So, I move on right away.

After a while I sometimes go back and reread parts of older books. Usually I feel okay about them. Getting a little distance with the passage of time, scenes that I thought were disasters sort of work, and passages that I thought were clumsy read as...well, less obviously clumsy. I get a little reassurance and encouragement from seeing that I'm not quite as bad as I'm sure that I am.

And also after a while I discover that some characters don't completely let go of my imagination. For God's sake, my characters are anything but well-rounded representations of human beings. They're essentially porn avatars, but in longer work like novels and novellas they occupy a lot of space in my head every day while I'm writing and they just won't evaporate. So I go through a period where I don't think of the old story at all, to a period where I wonder what some of the characters might have done later (when really the answer is "have more sex, all the time, and every orgasm is the best climax of their lives" ) and if there isn't more to tell about some of them, to finally being so immersed in other things that I forget about the old stuff.

 

[KeithD]

No differently to any other story. It is what it is, and once it's submitted for publication, I'm on to the next story.

This is me as well. I have written them all within the same time frame from beginning to end, just as I do for a shorter story, and then I'm on to the next.

What gets more involved is when one book leads to another. I have six or seven book series going in various categories which the characters never leave my mind, mulling over what the follow-on book will be (here they are the Clint Folsom--which I think is truly finished--Hardesty, Kavanaugh--which may not continue--and Sam Winterberry--which is more a succession of stories--series). My problem with these, in having so many series going, is the need to review back to ensure the new work is consistent with earlier ones.

Congrats on finishing your series.

 

[lovecraft68]

When I finished Siblings with benefits it was a mixture of satisfaction and relief because the series featured a lot of depression and dark topics, many of which either I, or people close to me in my younger days experienced, so it was emotionally draining.

It took 18 months to write (900k all told) and after I typed the end I found in the ensuing weeks I missed the characters, they had lived in my head for well over a year, thinking of what they'd do next, playing out conversations in my head...it was like saying good bye to old friends.

 

[Brutal_One]

Thinking of “old characters”

Personally I think it’s a good thing to have “old characters” hold onto you. It can depend of course where this is more relevant for series arguably. A writer can’t help but invest something of her/his self into characters, even if the main character is not intended to be themselves. We will always draw on what we know. Characters you create over a series presumably change. Writing like Game of Thrones may be an extreme example but there are major changes to a lot of characters, the ones that survive anyway.

In my case I had a big break in both story years and also in writing time, in part due to Covid19. In part due to a submission rejection of one part. I had to reassess how the story should continue. The final part is twenty years plus on in story years with the last part being March 1999! The latest conclusion is in current 2021. I did not make any Covid19 references in the last part. It’s better thinking of characters not impacted by that difficult period.

But yes I could reference back and changes that happened to them and some changes that even the characters know have happened, the changes they recognise as you’d expect them to.

Each author is of course different. To just move on to next story, and presumably create characters anew, new plot. New locations. New premise. New times.

But those characters - in particular in a series - are going to stay with you. I know many of mine will if it is indeed the same character they should change in time even if it may be subtle, the older, wiser syndrome.

My take anyway. I can see at least a few that feel the same. I guess your characters should not be write and forget. You breathe life into them, even if it is just for a one off story.

Brutal One

 

[SexualisPhantasia]

I've found that many of my characters have surprised me. Many of them have become more than just avatars of sexual fantasy. In a way, they helped direct the stories as I wrote them. I often have to revise my outline at least a few times as I'm writing my stories, because the story becomes clearer to me over time. Very rarely are the changes major, but they are important enough.

After I finish a story, days or weeks later I'll feel more inspiration to start hashing out ideas for what comes next for them.

And as time goes on, other background characters step forward and reveal themselves and their stories that should be told someday.

It's like putting up a building, but you only get a the building plans a bit at a time. Then you combine them to see the bigger picture. My stories and the characters in the world they inhabit, reveal themselves little by little. Yup, following the trail of bread crumbs...