Series Considerations
The villagers had lots of stories to tell.
My zero drafts of Project Vanda and Project Mandevilla were stand-alone stories. I did not start out with any intention of making a series. And then ideas began to accumulate. One character in another project made an item that shows up in Project Vanda. The item creator had a random encounter with the protagonist from Project Mandevilla. Then Project Vanda became Part A and Part B because a backstory exercise became nearly novel length. I got an idea for a second, then third spin-off story for support characters in Project Vanda. Before I knew it, I had six projects split into two series.
The decision to make a series was reasonable for me. However, as publication of the first book looms I kept running across decision points that affected all the books in the series. While I intuitively (inadvertently) made choices with long-term implications while writing those zero drafts, I had to sit down more than a dozen times to hammer out series wide continuity issues. It’s bound to happen again, so I’d like to share what I learned thus far about planning a series.
1. Timeline maintenance. By happy accident, I wrote the stories onto a timeline that followed progression by year. The Project Mandevilla protagonist had her arc before she met the item maker. The item maker completed her work before Project Vanda began. Plot wise, no changes needed. However, once the timeline detailed by month, then day, I had to tie down overlapping dates. I can’t have the day my characters meet show up as two different days or time in their respective books. I made a spreadsheet to play around with specific years, keeping in mind that some books were bound by technology releases. For example, e-ink devices didn’t exist in 2000. Once I set the timeline for the series, I’ve kept it with minor tweaks by books.
In practice: While I know the overarching timeline for the series, I do not plan to print years in the books. The mapping was good for writing continuity but not really plot relevant.
2. Character names. Hannah, Harriet, Heather. These are names of support characters in Project Mandevilla and Project Vanda. Until two months ago, two of those names were in use in both stories. Because the series takes place in the same fictional town, I didn’t want to take the chance that readers would mistake one side character in one story with another side character in the other. Even if they never meet. Because I am intentionally including “character sightings” in the books, I’m being intentional about names.
In practice: In my character quick sheet for each story, I wrote down the full names of each named character along with their descriptions. It’s a fast way to double-check I haven’t used a name twice or that I’ve described a character consistently.
3. Establishing series constraints. Series ask readers to invest their time revisiting the same world for new stories. The books in a series typically meet the constraints of the world they’re built around. I found myself asking repeatedly, “Can that happen here?” I’ve had to ask myself if certain actions, behaviors, or powers are plausible in the series or the fictional town of Spring Hill. I had to decide what could or couldn’t occur in the series and choose books that could meet the requirements. For example: Thinking you’re extra lucky? It could happen in Spring Hill. Contact with extraterrestrials? Sorry, choose another town and timeline.
In practice: As a reader I expect books in a series to generally have consistent lengths and heat/spice levels. Though not all my books will have an element of speculative fiction, none of the plots or characters break the rules set for the series. (I mean, even in our ordinary world we can consider a person lucky or to have a gift of gab/influence/intuition/). Each story can happen in Spring Hill. I split the series into two for length and heat/spice levels: one for novella length closed-door romance, and one for novel length high heat/spice romance.
4. Series Guidebook/Series Bible. Ultimately there are details that will not change that span the series. Spring Hill and the surrounding towns. The neighborhoods where characters live. A special convenience store. A fitness club location. The way the locals talk about a place. For example, when I lived in New Jersey it was common to hear the “The Jersey Shore” referred to by locals as “the shore.” As each book builds on the setting, language, and culture of Spring Hill I found the need to have one place to gather this information. I’ve started a series guidebook (also referred to as a series bible) to keep track of facts. It includes a style guide to keep track of things like:
spelling. OK, ok, OKAY, okay. I’ve chosen one.
dialogue types. Am I showing what the character is thinking vice recounting what they thought, or “letting them speak”.
dialect. Do they use “soda”, “pop”, or “cola” in this region? I made a choice and it should fade into the background for most readers if I’m consistent. It will also make it obvious when a character isn’t from Spring Hill.
In practice: I included the character quick sheets for each book and a location matrix with setting details. It’s a one-stop reference for my writing, and I plan on offering pieces of it to editors so we can make sure things stay consistent.
As I continue to write the series, I know I’ll come across more considerations to add to this list. But for now, I’m excited by what I have thus far. Only time will tell if the seeds I’ve planted will flower.
Current Sprouts:
Project Mandevilla
This is a novella-length closed-door romance. I’m halfway through my timeline to complete revision tasks for draft one. Wins for the first twenty-two days included incorporation of critique partner feedback, identification of plot holes, plot expansion, and defined rules that guide protagonist behavior and her supernatural gift. In the next twenty days I plan to add descriptions, make the action more purposeful, verify the story and series timeline, and manage light copyediting.
The current word count is 35,892 words.
Project Vanda
This is a novel length spicy why-choose romance. I have an inside outline for Part A of the story. My “light bulb” moment came when I began the inside outline for Part B. Because the characters complete their arcs in Part B, I need the entire story map. The major romance beats where they get their HEA (Happily Ever After) felt unwieldy in the last twenty-five percent of the first book because that’s not where they belong. The revelation that the relationships go through a big loop-de-loop before the ride ends came as a relief. Now I have a better understanding of how to fix the plot.
The current word count is 62,645 words.
Tool Shed:
Scrivener is writing software I use to draft and manage my writing projects. What makes it different from a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Sheets is the ability to:
create custom project templates,
organize writing and research within the same project folder,
break stories down by chapter or scene and quickly move them around (a handy editing tool),
create word count goals by project or document,
track total word and session word counts,
compile manuscripts in different formats for review, editing, and publication.
As a novice user, I found my basic use of the program to be a game changer for my writing process. I like having my research notes, style guides, and ideas in documents included in a separate folder from the manuscript. It keeps me from hunting for the information while I’m writing. I’ve also found that my revision process is easier to manage because I can create a duplicate of a draft, archive the earlier version, and start a new revision round. For example, I’ve rolled back from draft seven to draft four on Project Mandevilla in 2025 and it wasn’t devastating because I could keep copies of each draft intact.
Literature and Latte, the people behind the Scrivener program, offer free webinars monthly to help people learn how to use the software and level up to support the writing process. This is in addition to the tutorial available in the program. YouTube has a plethora of users with walkthroughs and advice to help you get more out of the software.
As of the publication of this newsletter, Scrivener is still a one-time purchase program. After the one payment, you receive a lifetime license for the product. No yearly license renewals! I bought the software in 2019. I’m on my fourth computer and all I’ve done is download the software and use my original license to add to my new machines. This includes when they upgraded from version 1 to version 3 for Windows. I didn’t have to pay for the upgrade.
To learn more about Scrivener, visit https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
Note: Items in the Tool Shed are products, services, and practices I use to grow as an author. This is not an advertisement, nor do I make any commission on the sales.