Writing a Great Series

September 2020 Gimme Five: Writing a Great Series

By Jen Collins Moore

Sharon Short has written twelve mysteries in three different series, and she says every installment in a series allows her to get to know her characters in a deeper way. This month she’s sharing five tips for writers considering a series.

1) Don’t hold back

Sharon wrote her first two series with a long-term plan for the stories. Looking back, she says this was a mistake. “I think I held myself back a bit in earlier books, wanting to have plenty of material for lots of titles.”

It wasn’t until she wrote her newest series, the Kinship Historical Mysteries, published under the pen name Jess Montgomery, that she realized the importance of focusing on the current book without worrying about the future. She wrote The Widows, book one in the series, as a stand-alone novel. Then her editor suggested making it the first book in a series, and she began to think of it as part of a longer-term arc.

“What I've learned from the Kinship series is that I have to 'give it all away' with each book—write each one to make it my best, to challenge myself to go as deeply as I can.”

Sharon says writers have no shortage of ideas, and it’s a mistake to hold anything back from your current work. When you sit down to write the follow-ups, you’ll come up with plenty of opportunities for your protagonist to deepen and grow.

2) Focus on world-building

As a reader and a writer, Sharon says there’s a comfort in a series with its familiar characters and setting. When done well, it is this world building that creates the opportunity for a successful series. 

“My editor gave me one of the biggest compliments of my writing career when she said I’d created a whole world and vast cast of characters set in 1920s Appalachia that she wanted to know more about, and she felt readers would too.” The Kinship series soon followed.

For a successful series, writers should create a rich world that readers will want to come back to again and again and that you, as the writer, are excited to deepen and expand outward.

3) Balance series and stand-alone readers 

Sharon recommends that authors write their books so they can be enjoyed as stand-alone novels, but with a wink and a nod for readers who are following in order. It’s tricky finding the right balance, especially in a series with a huge cast of characters. Sharon says some characters must go to the background in one book and can come into the foreground in another. 

One technique is to give a few lines of dialogue to secondary characters from an earlier book who don’t have an important role in the newest one. Those lines make sense if the reader hasn't read the previous book, but are a treat for a reader who has.

4) Don’t worry about being typecast

Sharon says writing one series doesn’t mean a lifetime commitment to one set of characters, or even one style of writing. Sharon has written two series which were light and contemporary and a third that is darker and, Sharon says, deeper. “The new series almost feels like a re-set of my writing style, even my writing career.” 

Sharon’s agent suggested using a pen name for the series, while other authors write under a single name. Readers read broadly, and faithful readers will follow you.

5) Get an outside perspective

As writers, we get so close to our work we sometimes have difficulty seeing its potential. Whether it’s a fabulous agent and brilliant editor or writer friends and beta readers, our support team can help us see our work differently. 

“I didn't realize the characters and setting of The Widows had series potential because I'd gotten so close to that particular story,” Sharon said. Now she has written three books in the series, with a fourth contracted and under way, and she hopes there will be more. “I truly needed my editor to show me how The Widows could grow into a viable series. This just shows the value of having objective input!”

Once you’ve explored all the options, Sharon says the decision about where to take a book and a series must come from the author. “Dig deep into your own heart to find what will be compelling and riveting to you as the creator. Then you can make something compelling and riveting to readers.” 

Jen Collins Moore is the author of the Maggie White Mysteries, debuting September 22 with Murder in the Piazza from Level Best Books. Her short fiction has appeared in Mystery Weekly, and she is the editor of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest newsletter.