By Michele Chiappetta

 

Writing a series of novels is demanding. How do you make each book satisfying on its own while still serving the larger story? How do you tie those books together so that the plot connects and builds? How do you ensure readers are thrilled to get their hands on the latest installment?

The answer: a solid series arc!

A well-crafted series arc connects each book so that together, they form a cohesive, dramatic, emotionally satisfying tale. It ensures that every book plays a vital part in the overall story plot and your characters’ evolution.

The result is a series finale that’s fully satisfying because you’ve been building and building to it like a bullet train on a track to Successville.

So how do you get to Successville with your series?

 

Let’s get real: series arcs matter more than you might think

Series arcs matter precisely because you have a big story in mind — one that requires several books to completely unfold. This takes planning at some level. It’s like creating a map from the depot to Successville, knowing there are a lot of stops in between. No matter what genre you’re writing in, you’ll benefit from laying the train tracks solidly before the train leaves the station.

Planning a series arc doesn’t mean you have to know all the answers. You don’t need to sketch out every scene in your 10-book series before you start writing book 1. You don’t even have to give up your love of pantsing. (At least, not entirely.)

But it’ll make your travels easier if you know the major stops on your train’s journey. You want, at least, to have the rails nailed in place so the story doesn’t get derailed.

 

Series arcs help you clarify characters, not just plot

Stories of any length are about a character evolving through the situations they face. Read that again, because it’s super important. Crafting your series arc isn’t just about plot. It’s about how your characters evolve over time, so that by the end, they’re able to save the world, catch the murderer, or have their happily-ever-after.

In other words, it’s crucial to get clear on the growth arcs of your characters and how that interacts with the plot. Having this clarity for the entire series is just as important as planning each individual book. Without that broader perspective, it’s easy to wander off course, lose momentum mid-series, or wind up with a series ending that doesn’t deliver the emotional payoff your readers deserve.

Let’s look at how to lay a strong set of rails for that train of yours.

 

Step 1: Define the Beginning and End of the Series

You may want some freedom in your story’s development over time, and that’s fine. But at lest have the story’s overall bookends firmly in mind. Snap a picture for yourself that captures where your story begins in book 1 and where you want it to end in the final book of the series.

You don’t need every scene mapped out, but you do need a clear understanding of your protagonist’s starting point and destination.

Here are a few examples, some old-school, some more recent—all stories you can easily find copies of if you haven’t consumed them and want to study them:

• Star Wars (the original trilogy): When we meet Luke, he’s a restless farm boy who dreams of adventure, but doesn’t see how it’s possible to achieve it. He doesn’t even know he has power. By the end, he turns into a Jedi Knight who redeems his father, puts an end to the evil emperor’s reign, and frees the galaxy.
• The Lord of the Rings: We meet Frodo when he’s living a carefree life as a hobbit who enjoys hearing adventure stories, but would be content to stay at home and enjoy his village’s peaceful existence. But when he finds himself facing a call to be courageous, he’s willing. He ends up as a worn-down hero who sacrifices himself to save Middle Earth because no one else wants to carry the burden of destroying the Ring of Power.
• Fifty Shades of Grey: The two lovers, Christian and Anastasia, start off as people with some issues to work out, to say the least. Christian has been wounded by past traumas and abuse, so he’s emotionally broken. Anastasia is naive and uncertain about romance and life, and she doesn’t know her own inner strength. By the end, both have faced their issues and built a life together that holds the promise of happily ever after.

Series like these work because they bring their protagonists full circle. The beginning and end of the entire series mirror each other, making sense of everything that’s happened. and provide satisfying closure. When you know your beginning and your ending, you create a story that provides satisfying closure.

 

Step 2: Identify the Core Conflict

Every series has a central dilemma that drives the entire story. It’s the big-picture, key issue that characters have to grapple with, again and again, until they finally win out. Every book in the series ties into that big conflict and gives it depth and nuance.

In Star Wars, Luke’s core conflict isn’t just about getting off his home planet (so far from all the cool stuff happening elsewhere). And it’s not just about defeating the Empire, even though he joins the Rebellion. It’s not even about learning to use The Force, though that seems like a pretty cool set of abilities.

The real heart of the Star Wars original trilogy, though, is about Luke’s relationship with his father, which is at the core of who he is as a person. It’s about how he wrestles with his father’s identity and actions, so that he can decide who he wants to be in light of the powers he discovers that he has. Each film in the trilogy adds new layers to this issue: Who is Luke, and who will he decide to be, given everything he learns about the world as he goes along?

We could say that the heart of The Lord of the Rings is how Frodo will manage to carry the weight of giving up power he never expected to have in his hands. It’s also about how easy it can be to lose yourself in the onslaught of tremendous difficulties, and how our connections to others give us a lifeline when nothing else will.

And we could say that Fifty Shades of Grey is about the idea that sometimes, we don’t really know who we are or how to find freedom for ourselves until we’re in relationships with other people who push us to be clear on what we’ll say no to, and what we’ll say yes to. And it’s about understanding that boundaries matter, and our yeses and noes are crucial to building healthy lives.

The bottom line is this. When you identify your series’ core conflict — and make sure it remains at the heart of every book in it — your overall story will stay on track. It’ll feel like it all goes together. You’ll create the sense that where the characters end up is inevitable, because of who they are and how they respond to what they face. This is where the emotional satisfaction of your finale is going to come from.

 

Stay tuned for part 2 in developing your series arc…

In the next article, we’ll look at ways to set up each book as a stepping stone, so that each builds intentionally on what comes before it and after it. And you can do this without giving up your freedom or your creative juices.

In the meantime, wand some personalized help with your series planning? We coach for that! Contact us to find out more.