Tips on writing a series

[sandree]

I am starting my second book in a series. I am struggling a bit with how to clue the reader in to what happened in the first book and how to introduce the characters to a new reader without being repetitive for someone who read the first one.

I am assuming that even if the book does follow the first, someone should be able to pick it up without reading the first book and be able to understand and enjoy it.

Got any favorite tips?

[DrewMcGunn]

I put a brief "The Story So Far" section at the beginning of each new book. Folks who remember what has already happened can skip a few pages and jump into chapter 1.
But there's not one right way to do it. I've seen some authors who spend the first chapter having someone offer a brief recap and others who just jump right into the story and if you need to figure out what happened previously, then you can read the previous book again.

[PJ Post]

If it's a chronological series, don't do anything special. If the books are stand-alones, then treat each as if it were first in series.

[angela]

If it's a chronological series, don't do anything special. If the books are stand-alones, then treat each as if it were first in series.

Agree.

You'll know you're infodumping too much when the words come too quickly. LOL. It's extremely easy to summarize previous books, whether the current story needs it or not.

What I like to do is pare back the references so they make the other books sound mysterious and exciting, just in case someone's picking up a mid-series book as their first one.

Fun fact: These readers (who aren't authors like us) very rarely start mid-series. Most readers who like reading series will insist on starting with book 1, unless the books are stand-alones with different characters.  Our books don't get sold at airport lounges. They're largely in digital format, where book 1 is always available.

[Anarchist]

I put a brief "The Story So Far" section at the beginning of each new book.

As a reader, thank you. That's helpful.

[Denise]

I am starting my second book in a series. I am struggling a bit with how to clue the reader in to what happened in the first book and how to introduce the characters to a new reader without being repetitive for someone who read the first one.

I am assuming that even if the book does follow the first, someone should be able to pick it up without reading the first book and be able to understand and enjoy it.

Got any favorite tips?

I wrote a book 2 that can absolutely be read without book 1.
4 beta readers and some 5 ARC readers confirmed it. Even if I put a warning that it can be read without book 1, it doesn't sell on its own. My conclusion is that unless I retitle it, don't put a series name, don't let Amazon link the books, nobody is going to start with book 2. It's a pity because 2 is much better than book 1.

Anyway, my tip to you is not to worry because readers will have read book 1. A recap here and there is helpful because sometimes readers take a while before moving on with the series and might have forgotten some details, but don't stress because even if you tell readers that they can read it without book 1, they'll still want to read book 1.

[Jeff Tanyard]

I put a brief "The Story So Far" section at the beginning of each new book.

As a reader, thank you. That's helpful.

I'm considering adding something like this to my current series.  The cast of characters has grown more than I'd anticipated, and characters from book 2 are showing up again in book 4.   

[VanessaC]

I am starting my second book in a series. I am struggling a bit with how to clue the reader in to what happened in the first book and how to introduce the characters to a new reader without being repetitive for someone who read the first one.

I am assuming that even if the book does follow the first, someone should be able to pick it up without reading the first book and be able to understand and enjoy it.

Got any favorite tips?

How much information goes into the later book(s) depends, I think, on whether you want this to be an inter-connected series with an overall story arc, or if they are going to be standalones featuring the same character(s) and / or world setting.

At the moment, I write "closed" series, by which I mean a series with an over-arching series arc that plays out over X number of books.  The series arc doesn't continue beyond the final book - if I wanted to keep writing in that world, I'd have to come up with a new series arc, or do a spin-off stand alone(s).

(As an aside, I was watching one of the short tips videos on the Self-Publishing Formula recently and apparently that kind of series arc means I'm really writing serials - despite the books being 80K plus words - but I think most everyone calls them series.)

For my first published series, I really struggled with the opening of Book 2 trying to work out how much / how little information to put in - I don't think I got it right at all as I feel the opening is really heavy, trying to catch the reader up on where we are.  In later books I kind of gave up, and just dumped the reader straight in. I haven't had any complaints about that.

Personally, it drives me crazy when an author over-explains past events in the current book (there's at least one trad-pub author I've stopped reading because of this), but occasionally you do need to be reminded in a long-running series of where / when something happened.

In some ways, I think standalones might be easier because you know the reader can drop in at any point, and therefore you have to give them some basic grounding every time - I'd have a look at something like the Jack Reacher series which, from memory, doesn't really give a huge amount of background each time.

Not sure that's any help at all - I'm definitely on a steep learning curve with this, too!

Best of luck.

[PJ Post]

Topic adjacent: when it comes to serial series vs 'in-world' series, like Sherlock, it's all about your goals - and your creative personality. Individual books allow you to jump in and out of the pool whenever you like while writing other stuff, whereas a serial is an ongoing commitment and responsibility to your fans - which could lead to burnout. And it's not about success or the right business model. Martin flat out bailed on Game of Thrones halfway through. Given the scope and breadth of that epic, it's easy to see creative burnout being the cause.

Back to the topic: if you're writing a serial, stick to the story and trust your fans to know what's going on - because they will. If you want to get all businessy about it: those fans are your target demographic, so give them a tight engaging story. While a few people, including Anarchist, might like the 'story so far' updates, they are also what Leonard refers to as the parts people tend to skip. He recommends leaving those parts out.

Try to stress less and have fun.

   <-- fun emoji

[idontknowyet]

I have to agree I hate rereading what I've already read. It makes me think I've already read the book and sometimes I put the book down and don't finish it.
There are only 2 reasons I would put some reminder info in the books. First, if its been a really long time since the last book was published 6months or more. Or if you are playing off something that happened in book 1 in book like 5 or 6. Then a very very very brief reminder is good for me. Otherwise I find them more irritating than helpful.

[sandree]

Thanks for your wisdom. 

I’m going for more of a stand alone idea. Same universe but with a different story arc. I think...

I’m still pretty hazy on where I’m going but this helps.

[Simon Haynes]

For my standalones, I don't recap anything.

With my trilogy of fantasy novels, I'm explicit about it. Right at the front I have a page with a list of major characters, with a sentence for each explaining where they were and what they were doing in the previous novel. (Actually, that's how I kept track of the 40+ major characters in my trilogy. I maintained a cheat sheet with exactly that info, updating it after I wrote each scene.)

[Dormouse]

I have to agree I hate rereading what I've already read.

Agreed again.

I can remember reading a first in series that I thought was pretty good and well written, but turned out not to resolve the main mystery and the  last quarter felt as if it were setting up Book 2. OK. Serial. I moved on to Book 2. There the first quarter was recap. Really irritated now. Having been caught before, I checked the last quarter. More setting up. So only 50% really new writing in each book.
Resolved never to read that writer ever again.
Left scathing review.

Most aren't as bad as this, but I still find it irritating.

[Crystal]

Topic adjacent: when it comes to serial series vs 'in-world' series, like Sherlock, it's all about your goals - and your creative personality. Individual books allow you to jump in and out of the pool whenever you like while writing other stuff, whereas a serial is an ongoing commitment and responsibility to your fans - which could lead to burnout. And it's not about success or the right business model. Martin flat out bailed on Game of Thrones halfway through. Given the scope and breadth of that epic, it's easy to see creative burnout being the cause.

Back to the topic: if you're writing a serial, stick to the story and trust your fans to know what's going on - because they will. If you want to get all businessy about it: those fans are your target demographic, so give them a tight engaging story. While a few people, including Anarchist, might like the 'story so far' updates, they are also what Leonard refers to as the parts people tend to skip. He recommends leaving those parts out.

Try to stress less and have fun.

If you're going to publish a serial as you write it, make sure you have the rough plot points and ending planned. There's nothing worse than writing yourself into a corner and realizing you have no satisfying way to end things. There's a reason why most TV shows have weak endings. TV is about the next episode. It's not designed to finish.

It's hard to switch from "the story goes forever" to "the story ends in a satisfying way," but if you don't deliver readers a satisfying ending, they may not stick around for your next project.

If it was me, I'd write everything first, then release, but I'm a pantser, so I really can't imagine plotting out a long serial... or a short serial for that matter.