Series vs. Stand Alone
A series character vs. A stand alone
I’ve discussed this many times on our radio show, Suspense Radio. I’ve always been one that loves a series character, BUT as long as the series doesn’t get stale. In seeing more and more authors and publishers going the series route, I caution both of them to tread carefully. Now I could name many authors that have written a series character that has gone its course. Many times authors let the series go probably 4 or 5 books too long, losing fans and the ability to be creative and an author. I’ve fallen on the side of a stand alone, for the simple reason that the author needs to be creative in every book. Let’s look at it this way. When you write a series, it is very important to progress the main character’s lives just as it is important to keep the plots and story lines fresh all the time. Many times there are books in the series that fall flat, for a couple of reasons. One reason would be because the author has to spoon feed the direction or expansions of the character, falling short on the plot of having them do the same thing over and over. I read on the back of the book “This is the most ruthless killer, xxxxx, has ever faced, will they make it out alive?” Now you can only write that so many times before it gets very old. If you look at a TV show that had this problem, 24, they did it a different way. You knew that with 24 all characters except Jack Bauer was safe within the series, but at the finale anything goes. You never knew if Jack would actually survive. When you write a stand alone novel, each time you have to bring in a full main character and sub characters, along with weaving a plot inside the story. Now you have to create something new every time. When you write a series, you already have the basis of the back story and character creation, that you simply must progress the character and try and put them in a new situation. Two authors, off the top of my head, did something great with a series character; they had an end in sight, which builds the suspense of the final book wondering if anybody will be safe. JK Rowling and Steven James are the two authors. Now JK Rowling just came out and said her plan was to kill Ron Weasley, but if you remember the build up to the final book, nobody knew if Harry would survive. That was the hook to get millions of people picking up the book. What JK and Steven have in common is that you know where the ending of the series is. With Steven he will end his Patrick Bowers series with “Checkmate” and I’ve had some conversations with Steven about the end, and he still hasn’t decided on which way to go. Does he kill Patrick or keep him alive? This is what natural suspense is all about, the build up that leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering, not only the story, but with the main character and their future. You know when you see another series book without a hard ending; you are probably going to get the same thing that happened in the last ten books.
The main question is which is more satisfying for a reader. For me I’m leaning towards books or series where I know they have a hard end. I love the suspense build up and look forward to the next book in the series, especially when I know the end is coming near. It is very difficult for an author that has spent so much time on a character to simply kill them off and start over, which I completely understand. We have had many conversations on this and I will say that not everyone agrees with me. Another argument is will the author hurt themselves with fans if they kill off the main character? I feel that if you write that way and stop becoming an author and write just to please the fans, you fall stale. Fans might be pissed at an author for a while, but when they bring out a new brilliant book that is brand new, they will come back and possibly respect you more for taking the huge risk and it is a huge risk, which is probably why none of the big authors have taken that plunge. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, just simply leave your comments or email me at editor@suspensemagazine.com
Posted on December 8th, 2011 at 8:09 am
Very interesting! I have been thinking of which way to take some characters, and I like your opinion on the matter. I agree that series characters are quite challenging and I am not sure I am ready to take that route without following the Skippyjon Jones or Llama Llama series. I will continue to work on my “I Worked Hard For You!” collection, and will save the series for a later date when my characters have developed to series-worthy status. Thank you for your thoughts!
Posted on December 8th, 2011 at 8:14 am
Great topic. I love reading serials and am in the process of writing one. I only plan on 5 books withthe main character so this is a subject I have given thought too. In reality people die or get killed but that is hard when readers want the character to continue so I have given myself the option of moving the character to a different arena.
I see police officers become attorneys, soldiers become security experts, senators become president so why not do the same with my character. I have a protagonist who is a detective yet early enough in the series we know he has a law degree but became a cop rather than pursue passing the bar. The five books all a re leading to a particular ultimatum so rather than have him get promoted or move to a different department I plan on writing about his life post-police work as a lawyer… if that catches on perhaps he wuill get elected judge.. all of a suden my 5-book series could be 15. Hang around and find out.
Posted on December 13th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for a very interesting post. I developed my story with the idea of it becoming a franchise. It may have something to do with the fact that I had developed the story and characters over several years and it simply evolved beyond one novel. At any rate, I love both series and stand alones. I do agree that some authors take a series too long and the characters become either too predictable or stale.
Posted on January 8th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
I love that you address the question of what makes a series get stale. The idea that we always know the main character will come out victorious can really get old, as you say. Of course, some of the charm of a series is that you WANT the character to come out okay, because it’s sort of therapeutic to watch someone you can identify with defy all odds. However, it can get old pretty quick, especially if the character is not growing in any way.
I think the dark parts of a character/story are essential to any genre (even romance, where “happily ever after” is so sought after) to make it a meaty, believable read. And those dark parts, where a character is irreparably changed, can be just the right spots for freshening up a series.
Thanks for this post!
Posted on January 8th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Every one of the books from my series is a stand alone book, no need to start from the beginning. As a reader I find it annoying to have to read through references to old cases having occured in previous books from a series. And I promise to stop writing my Dorothy Parker Mystery Series (I’m currently writing the fifth in the series), as soon as I find it hard for the characters to say anything entertaining. If I’m bored, rest assured the reader will be!
Posted on January 8th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Wow, John! I have a new story that I’ve been debating on releasing as a series and it’s good to hear this. I’ve wrote my Future Imperfect thriller series but needed a Happily Ever After because it was via a romance publisher. I’m not complaining because it was a great experience but I prefer darker endings most of the time. I love cliffhangers and use them a lot and try to work out the most intense ending I can find that leaves a bit of hope–though I’ve never taken a series to the point of ending that series with a dead character. Hearing that you like it on occasion gives me something major to think about.
Patti
Posted on January 8th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Apologies on the “I’ve wrote” error, LOL! Yeah, I’m a writer…you need an edit icon here…
Posted on January 9th, 2012 at 7:44 am
Ed McBain never got tiresome, even though you knew his main hero, Steve Carella, was probably not going to disappear from the series. I say probably because there were so many interesting detective characters in his series, there was always the possibility that he might. His stories were so strong that even if Carella never died off, the series was still exciting right up to McBain’s death. Had he lived longer, he could, in my opinion, have continued the series forever. Incidentally, McBain said in an interview ages ago, it was not his intention to keep Carella alive, but that his publisher insisted on it. The 87th precinct was, to McBain, the hero. If you read his first book of the series, “Cop Killer” I think is the title, you’ll see that Carella effectively was killed, since he had a mortal wound.
As for my own series character, I plan to have him last for as long as one novel.