Concurrent stories?

[Winnie]

I have a question about writing concurrent stories. Apologizes if this is placed on the wrong spot of this forum!

I am developing a new series with three main characters. I wanted to do three different novellas, one for each characters. As I started planning them out, I realized that two of the stories are going to play out durning the same time and at the same location. While the do center around the same event (a wedding) and will share a few same events, the stories are completely different. I really don't want my characters to have to share their book - but I'm worried it might be confusing for readers or that readers will be annoyed they weren't combined?

Any thoughts, tips or cautions?

[Jenn]

That shouldn't be too hard. If you don't want your characters to 'share', make sure the main character stays the main character and keep the other two in the background. Drop hints and references to the other two's activity if you want, just don't let them be the star.

For example: say one character is the groom at the wedding and a second character got into a huge fight near the chapel. Maybe the groom noticed some yelling just as he entered the church, but didn't investigate because he would be late at the wedding if he did. In the other story the character's busy fighting and noticed a man in a suit glance in his direction before going into a church.

Also, don't create plot holes. Don't put a character at one location in a story then another place at the same time in another story.

I'm far from a professional, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. :)

[Rachel Annie]

I can give a suggestion based on my preferences as a reader. I don't care for overlap and rehashed story lines.

Sometimes authors will switch POV and retell the same scene from the viewpoint of another character. I'm not a fan of this; I feel it puts the brakes on the flow of your story.

So my advice would be, keep it linear. But that's my opinion and will without a doubt differ from others.

: D

[Tara ♪]

I'm actually doing the same thing with one of my books. Personally, I'm giving all four characters their own book and then I'm writing one more where they all come together. I think this works best when the characters don't really know each other until the big event. In other cases, a combo would probably be the way to go. If you do decide to separate them, subtly introducing dates would probably help.