Multiple stories-one setting and crossover characters question

[DFWBeast]

Will be submitting at least four, probably seven stories that all occur in the mythical city of Brownwood over the next year. All these stories will have crossover characters. I want to be able to provide 'hooks' in each story that will link them to each other.

My question is how much detail should I give concerning these crossover characters and how detailed can I be when describing the setting? In both cases, the more descriptive I am, the better chance it will take away for the current story. Since these are hooks for other stories, technically they could be edited out and not take away greatly from the story making it read cleaner.

As editors, I'm very much interested in your thoughts.

Thanks,
DFWBeast

 

[RejectReality]

Well, I'm not an editor, but I think you're best served by slipping away from the focus characters as little as possible.

Provide enough detail to fulfill their purpose in the story. If all you want is for them to be part of the same setting, you don't really need to do more than casually introduce them.

From "Secret of the Wood" where the main character is Dan, and Glen is his nephew.

She could hear Glen and Xanmara starting to fidget behind her, and knew that they were eager to see their great-grandparents, so she stepped back from her clandestine listening post. The whole family had been a bit worried about Dan's shyness around girls, and it was a relief to see him doing all the right things.

She turned back to the kids, pressed a finger to her lips to indicate silence, and then waved for them to follow her back to the car.

Ten-year-old Glen's voice piped up from the back seat as Kia drove home from the store. "Mom, why is Uncle Dan acting so goofy?"

"He's in love, Glen."

He stuck out his tongue and declared, "Bleh."

Kia laughed, glad that her son had chosen to wait until Dan wasn't around before asking that question.

From "Kindred of the Wood" where the main character is Mara, and Glen is her brother.

Just around the bend of the shore, she heard her younger brother whoop, heralding the launch of the canoes on the morning fishing expedition.

Then Glen gets his own story in "Heart of the Wood".

It's just brief mentions, establishing his relation to the main characters of each story, and a few hints of his personality. This is a generational storyline, so it's a bit different than characters having experiences at more or less the same time, but the same principles apply.

You don't want to alienate first-time readers picking up whichever story in the series you're currently writing by putting a microscope on other characters. What you're aiming for is a connection between the stories for people reading them all. Those readers don't need that much prompting to pick up that connection, so going with a minimalist approach accomplishes that without confusing people who are only reading the one installment, or making them feel as if they've missed something.

Those read-them-all readers also don't seem to have a problem with you describing elements of the setting over again, so that readers picking up only a single installment get those important points. Even though the reader knows this because they read another installment, they don't seem to balk. It helps if you can mix up that description by focusing on other elements of it. That way, you get the necessary information out there, but manage to provide something new to the continuing readers as well.

 

[DFWBeast]

Thanks RR, I really appreciate the feedback.

 

[sr71plt]

With clever title work, you could have them run one after the other and in the order you want in on your story list. If you consult with the editor, Laurel, when they are ready to submit (PM system, upper right on this page), she might get them put under a series title for you.

As far as recurring characters, it's the same with novels done in series with repeated characters. You need to give enough to define them and not so much that they will bore with redundancy. It's part of developing the craft. Unless you are writing a chaptered story, you'll want each of the stories to be able to stand alone as well as fit together.

 

[DFWBeast]

Thanks for the response pilot. Here was my initial thoughts on how I'd submit them.

Submissions

A Cold Heart Aflame (?.??) The thin line between love and obsession Loving Wives 10/10/14
A Dragon's Gift (?.??) Can a cruel ex-wife ever change? Loving Wives 12/10/14
Dinner Party (?.??) An intervention gone bad Loving Wives 70/3/14
Brownwood Collection: 10 Part Series
→ Hedge Funds Ch.1 (?.??) Love & Betrayal Loving Wives 6/25/14
→ Hedge Funds Ch.2 (?.??) Revenge & Epilogue Loving Wives 6/28/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream (?.??) Complete Story Romance 8/15/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream Ch. 1 (?.??) Bozo and the Brain Romance 8/3/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream Ch. 2 (?.??) The Reunion Romance 8/6/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream Ch. 3 (?.??) Past Sins Romance 8/9/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream Ch. 4 (?.??) New Wounds Romance 8/12/14
→ I Dreamed A Dream Ch. 5 (?.??) Paid In Full & Epilogue Romance 8/15/14
→ Silver Valentine (?.??) How to forgive a cheating wife Mature 1/15/15
→ Welcome To Brownwood (x.xx) Primer for the Brownwood Collection Letters and Transcripts 6/10/14
Long Drive Home (4.32) Vet gets BTB revenge on cheating wife Loving Wives 3/08/13

Problem with this is that the Brownwood Collection: # Part Series could get big if I continue to add to it. Also, from this I would think that a reader might not realize that each of these stories are stand alones.

Thoughts?