The Secrets To Writing A Series (Part 2)

Welcome to part 2 of my Secrets To Writing A Series!

If you missed part 1, it can be found here.

This is a continuation of what has worked for me and what hasn’t during the last 22 years of thinking, planning, and writing my debut series, Blackbirch. So, without further ado, these are my final secrets!

The Secrets To Writing A SeriesKnow Your Characters

Not just their physical descriptions and if they like ice cream but the deeper stuff.

Why do they hate clowns? Why do they react badly to good news? What would drive them to sacrifice themselves for others?

Those things might not make it to the printed pages, but the deeper you know the characters, the more it seeps into your writing. Spend as much time as you can thinking about them and what they would do or say in any situation, even if it never makes it to the final version. It will shape the character in your head and imprint that knowledge in what you write.

Bonus secrets: celebrate everything, even the wins that don’t pan out. 1. I was offered a small press publishing contract for book 1, which I exited when they asked me to sign a new contract just 6 weeks before release but had yet to do edits or a cover despite having my MS for months. 2. My first book is available in libraries! 3. Books 1-3 were available on the shelf of a Dymocks for two years, but after only a handful of copies sold in that time, I was asked if I wanted to “Try my luck elsewhere.“If You Can, Write Everything At Once

Could my entire series be better if I’d waited until all of it was written? Sure. There are different ways I’d write certain events, characters, and there’s more fun I could have with foreshadowing or twists if I had all four books at their final draft stage before releasing anything, but doesn’t every writer think that way about any book they’ve written, series or not?

We could always do something better, even as little as 6 months after a book has been out in the world, simply because we’re better writers with each writing session and completed draft. But the reason I’ve included this secret is due to bitter experiences. Ones that mostly apply to self-publishing rather than querying.

The first experience happened when I was getting book 3 ready for publishing. At that stage, I’d managed to release books 1 and 2 within 6 months of each other and planned to keep that 6-month gap for books 3 and 4. After all, I had rough drafts written and figured I could edit and publish the next book in that same time frame. What I didn’t account for was the rough draft of book 3 not working.

It took multiple beta reads, two near-total rewrites, and a whole year to get it right. It’s since gone on to be the best-reviewed book of the series, so it worked out in the end, but it was stressful trying to make it work with the two books that had already been published.

The next bitter experience happened when I was working on book 4. Way back in 2020, when I released book 1, I had a rough draft of book 4 written. It guided some of the events/mentions/foreshadowing that I added to books 1-3. A great idea, right? Except that when editing and going through beta feedback for the final draft of book 4, there were some things that could have been deleted for complexity and wordcount sake, but because Past-Me had “cleverly” referenced said things in the previously published books, Present-Me couldn’t drop them. They’d become dangling series threads that needed to be tied up.

So, if you can, try to finalize your drafts before dropping your series. It could save you a lot of editing heartache and pressure. Having your whole series written at launch also means you can release your books within a short timeframe and create an almost instant backlist for your readers to find/enjoy. Or, if you’re querying, it allows you to have more examples of your work if an agent or publisher shows interest.

Write Old Drafts Fresh

Another secret I learned too late is to always start fresh with an old draft.

When the first three books of my series were published, obviously I went to work on the fourth. At this stage, I’d started the initial draft in 2017 and had tinkered and edited my way through 8 drafts by the time it was 2022. This 8th draft, however, still echoed my original ideas and writing style, both of which were different now that I’d published the other 3 books.

So, I started re-writing and editing. Then, I got stuck. Stuck on these now-5-year-old words not being as good as I wanted/expected them to be and the book events and characters not being the same anymore.

I tried polishing them instead of just writing fresh because I had 60,000 words already written and felt it should have been a case of editing them into my current writing style and updating the characters so they matched who they were now after 3 books.

I spent a year doing this, and I know now that it would have been easier to write an outline of what events I wanted to keep and then start a new document, writing fresh.

Giving the draft to my alpha reader confirmed this when the scenes she loved the most were the new scenes I’d added. Writing them fresh allowed me to easily tap into my current writing voice and the characters, which meant the words flowed better and didn’t read like I was editing over old work.

If you take anything away from these secrets, let it be that if you’ve got an old draft that you’re updating, start a new document!

Write it from the start again with your current knowledge and experience of the story and your characters. It will be easier to craft, and it will be a better version of your book to read.

Bonus secret: support is awesome. I penned the majority of what went on to be the published versions of my books with support from the wonderful writing community, especially the #6amAusWriters, who were up early with me working on their own amazing words. Members have also been on hand for annual writing retreats, cafe catch-ups, writing events, and when I held my one and only book launch, just before the pandemic hit in early 2020.You’ll Care The Most

And now we’ve come to my last secret, which is more like an inner truth.

When writing a series (or any book), you’ll care the most.

The drafts that were frustrating to write, the drafts that made you eager to sit at your desk, day after day, weekend after weekend, year after year, will always hold a complicated love/hate place in your heart.

It will matter to you that a specific character arc happened, that an inside joke was added, or that your MC expressed/went through something similar to yourself. It’ll sting when beta readers and editors tell you to delete sentences or plot points because they don’t move the story along. They won’t get why they matter to you so much.

They’re usually the darlings that should be cut. And you’ll do that. Most of the time. But that doesn’t take away your memory of pouring your heart onto the page. Just writing those darlings helped you, even if they don’t make it to print.

It’s because you care so much that reaching the end of a series makes you feel lost. Suddenly, this thing you’ve been working on for so long has ended. You don’t need to think or write about these characters and places anymore. This may come as a relief. It may come as grief. It may make you question if you can write anything else.

Take that time. Work through those emotions. It might not seem like it to others, but your book is a big deal. No one else knows the fears, emotions, tears, and happiness that went into it but you. There was a point when you gave everything to those pages, and no one else would celebrate it or grieve its end like you.

It’s okay to feel lost, silly, and weird. That just means the book helped you express what you needed to, sharpened your skills, taught you all the lessons, and gave you firsts, like completing a book, series, rejections, and failed publishing contracts. It taught you just as much about writing as it did about yourself.

Hold on to that as you move forward. And even though it might not feel possible, you will start the next book. You’ll also know how to bring it to life because of the secrets writing a series taught you.

— K.M. Allan

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