To Write a Series or a Standalone?

For many of us writers, trying to decide what to write is the hardest decision we face. A story pops up into your head, maybe you plan it out or maybe you just roll the idea around in your head. In the end, you have to decide what the end goal of that story is... and frequently, it comes down to this: "Is there enough here for a series, and is a series the best way to present this concept?"

            I myself have had this dilemma many times. Any story I can come up with invariably grows legs in my mind. What may start out as a simple story about a Native American saving his tribe from destruction can easily turn into a fully fleshed out world with multiple societies and a cast of hundreds, each character offering up an opportunity for more storytelling. To date, I have never had a story end at a point where I truly felt the story was over. It's not because I'm bad at crafting an ending. It's more of a result of the fact that, short of killing all of your characters off, life goes on. Though the book is over, the characters in my stories, who have become almost real in my own mind, continue their lives even after the monster is dead. Knowing when to continue and when to stop is one of the hardest aspects of writing, especially when you grow to love your characters.

            It is at this time, that the author must ask themselves, "Is there another story here?" Do readers want to see these characters pick up the pieces and dive into another situation that is probably going to be very similar to the one they just navigated. But most of all, they must ask themselves, "Do I want to be trapped under the weight of my own creation."

            Ask George R.R. Martin if he isn't a little bit sick of being the Game of Thrones guy. Ask the now-dead Robert Jordan if maybe he wished he had ended his story just a little sooner than he did. A series is a prospect of never-ending joy and income... but you have to have an end to it. If you don't have any idea where the story is going or how it's going to end, then it's best to treat every story as a standalone novel, with the potential for expansion if you really desire it.

            Let's take a look at why someone would choose to write a series. First off, and this is no small reason, there is the income potential. While a standalone novel takes time and needs love and exposure to grow, a series sort of builds on itself. Fans of the first book are likely to buy the second book, and perhaps even heckle the author until they produce the next installment. So, the longer your series goes, the more money you get out of it. With a standalone novel, you get what you get up front, and hope that the book finds its audience, which it well might if you catch some good word of mouth, seek out reviews, and constantly whore your novel like it's the next coming of the Bible. Of course, that approach takes a lot of time and effort away from what you probably want to be doing, which is writing more stories.

            The second reason to gum up the world with a series is one that I hear often. "Publishers are more likely to be interested in a series." I have no idea where this idea came from, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Publishers are interested in good stories that are well-written, whether it's a part of a series really has no bearing on if they are going to like it or not. Exhibit A: My own series of zombie novels, "This Rotten World." While it was written well and definitely enjoyable to read, the book sort of left off on a cliffhanger-ish type of ending, meaning that it had an ending that didn't conform to a traditional plot structure. Despite the fact that it was good, publishers took a pass on it because of this fact. (Later on, I published part two and realized that if I had sandwiched part one with part two that I would have exactly what a publisher wanted as far as a potential series might go. But it was too late; I had already self-published, and there are not very many publishers out there who are worth a damn who even consider publishing work that has already been self-published.) Though it was good, thought it was a series, they still passed on it because they didn't judge it as a good story.

            The only other reason to write a series is because your stories are so convoluted and involved that it's simply not feasible to put it all into one gigantic tome. To this I say, "Get over yourself." Learn to edit and cut out all that extra crap that you think is so cool, but which readers actually find boring. I'm looking at you "dream sequence" people and you people that feel like you must spend a whole page describing outfits and heraldry. If, after you've stepped back from your own butchery of your story, you find that it is still much too large for a single book, then by all means, start a series, but make sure you know where it's going to end. Do not go into a series without a clear-cut ending. I can count the number of series that I've read that have concluded in a satisfactory fashion on one hand. Why? Because the authors made it up as they went. You must have an end-goal to be working towards, and then get there in a reasonable amount of time. Also, just a personal pet-peeve, if you kill someone, make sure they are dead. Don't bring back characters later and ask us to believe that they magically survived an explosion that destroyed a whole building but not the character in question. Don't lead your audience on in the name of the dollar. Besides, if you do this there's a chance you might die and never finish your story, as so many authors before have... which is what I like to call karmic justice. The number one commandment of writing is "Thou shalt not rip off your readers."

            For myself, I find that I am enjoying alternating between writing episodes in my zombie series and then writing standalone novels with series potential. Alternating allows me to write about new things so that I don't get tired of writing the same story over and over. It also allows me to take advantage of that burning moment when a new idea pops into my head. For those whose sole intent is to write a series, I often wonder if they are just doing the same thing over and over because they don't actually have any new ideas. 

            In addition, alternating novels allows you to give your series more thought between installments. Sometimes space is a great thing. Anyone that's been married for any stretch of time knows this. Giving yourself some space and breathing room from your series does a couple of things. It gives you perspective and allows you to mull over the story, trying on different endings and scenarios. The pressure of continuing the story is never there. When you go back to it, you'll feel fresh and invigorated, and you'll come up with a better product as a result.

            In the end, I suppose all I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't feel compelled to write a series, especially not if it's going to hurt your writing. Though elitists like to say, "It's not all about the money," for some of us it is. You have to live to write. With that realization in mind, in order to make a living off writing, you have to do what best complements your abilities, series or not. For me, that means I wrote zombie stuff, followed by original novels with series potential, and then back to more zombie stuff. There are also some screenplays mixed in there, but that is a story for another day. 

If you liked the article, considering checking out the newest book in my zombie series, This Rotten World.

Click the link to go there. It's free for amazon prime members: http://www.amazon.com/This-Rotten-World-Fall-Down-ebook/dp/B00Y5X8H62/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432924759&sr=8-2&keywords=this+rotten+world