I’m getting ready to come up with a new series idea for my
Superromances. The Tyler Group Series that I’m finishing up now was my first
ever attempt at connected stories. And I really liked it. I liked setting up
the characters in one book and then seeing them through to the end in another.
I was/am a little worried about readers though. I never
wanted anyone to feel as if they had to read all the books in the series to
understand the book they were reading now. But the truth is, For the First Time which is out in October, I think will only really be satisfying if you’ve read An Act of Persuasion and have gotten to know Mark and his daughter Sophie first. We’ll see.
I now have a real appreciation for those people writing
connected stories how much the world takes over. I’ve been with these
characters now for more than a year. I feel like Ben Tyler is this personal
friend I know. There are times when I thought I could really use his advice about
something and wanted to call him.
But I’ve run out of ideas for the series and I’m ready to
move on. So this will also be my first experience leaving a connected series
behind. But maybe that’s a good lesson to learn too.
I’ve read a number of series books and eventually I do get
tired and leave. The characters get stale for me and the world becomes to repetitive.
A perfect example is James Bond. I used to be a Bond fan for a long time. But
eventually I just couldn’t watch it anymore I left when Pierce Brosnan left. But
I heard great things about Skyfall and so I thought I would give it another
chance. And it was a good film. But smack in the middle we have this ridiculous
moment where he interacts with a beautiful woman and ends up banging her and I’m
like… what purpose did this serve? Except of course it’s Bond and there has to
be women and sex and martinis….
It’s that fine line of meeting the expectations but not
repeating everything over and over again until fans get bored. So I guess the
trick is creating the world, letting people get sucked up in it, meeting
expectations but then also making each new story fresh and interesting, and
then letting it go when the time comes and knowing when that time is.
Wow. Writing is really hard.
4 comments:
I love that you're moving on and creating a new series. I think it re-ignites a creative process and can create something really cool.
That, and at some point, don't all series become stale?
That's what I have planned for the writer retreat.
I have a loose idea... I throw it out to you guys and poof... magic!
Not magic, but all sorts of fun! so looking forward to it
I think a series only works as long as the writer is invested in it - though, that's just me and I never did read long enough to figure out whether Plum picked ranger or Joe. You either have to walk away from a series, or blow it up - everything else gets stale.
And I think the power of the world is strengthened by the sense of a reader walking in on something that's already been happening - a life in progress. Think West Wing...
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