Of
Arcs and Standalones, Part 3:
Establishing a Series Arc Early in the
Writing Process
This is the ninth of fifteen posts
dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science
fiction series.
In the initial
part of this 6-part article, we started defining story arcs followed by series
arcs. This time we're going to start laying the groundwork for the series arc before
we do the same for story arcs with a technique and examples. This is something
that it's always preferable to start as early in the writing process as you
can--ideally, long before you actually begin writing the first draft. The
series arc is the umbrella all your story arcs will fit under, so it makes
sense to do that first.
The
easiest way to discover your overall series arc is to know what connects all
the books.. In this way, you can make sure the series arc runs its proper
course through each book in the series until it's resolution in the last book. Establishing the basics for each book in
the series can give you countless insights for far-reaching possibilities as
you prepare to write each new installment.
The first
step is to blurb the series. The series blurb should tell readers how all the
books in that series are connected. Most series blurbs range from one to four
sentences. Science fiction, fantasy, and historical books in a series may well
require longer series blurbs. That's because the series blurb has to make sense
of whole worlds, cultures, events, and conflicts, which, in many cases may seem
vastly different from those a modern reader is accustomed to. If readers don't
understand the premise of your series in the series blurb, they may not bother
reading the first book.
When I come up with a series, I almost always have what some
writers would consider a freakishly good idea about what will happen in each of
the installments. Just prior to the summer of 2018, when I started advance
research on my sci-fi series, I had more than enough details at that point to
be able to blurb my series arcs filling in the blanks of this worksheet:
Who
_____________________________ (Series Main Character{s})
What
_____________________________ (Conflict or Crisis)
Why
_____________________________ (Worst Case Resolution Scenario)
In
the previous post, I talked about the three series arcs in my Arrow of Time
Chronicles, one of the major and two of them minor. All three of these series
arcs were introduced in the first installment in the series, touched on in
different degrees over the course of the middle two books, but only resolved in
the final story in the series. Nevertheless, although I knew they'd all be
important within the individual stories, I felt like adding the third series
arc to the series blurb overcomplicated it so I left it out. Here's the form
filled out for Arrow of Time Chronicles:
Who
Mankind (Series Main
Character{s})
What
When mankind realized Earth would
soon become uninhabitable, Humans formed a cooperative central nexus in order
to save themselves from certain extinction. Together, they built and
transferred their population to massive space habitations in orbit of their
planet and as many as possible revolving around the other planetary bodies in
the Sol System. Only fifty-eight years into their desperate struggle for
survival, a hostile enemy with Napoleonic ambitions emerges as a yet another
threat to not only mankind's survival. (Major Conflict or Crisis)
A cataclysmic organic menace is beginning
to be recognized, ensuring the total annihilation of every living thing in the
universe if, together, they can't find a way to stop it. (Minor
Conflict or Crisis)
Why
The peace mankind has begun to forge
with allies from other planets around the galaxy is jeopardized as questionable
agendas and hidden motives are unveiled. (Major Worst Case Resolution
Scenario)
Why
The organic menace threatens
the total
annihilation of every living thing in the universe if, together, mankind
and its allies can't find a
way to stop it. (Minor Worst Case Resolution Scenario)
Below, you'll
see the Arrow of Times Chronicles series blurb I eventually modified and
refined the worksheet components to come up.
Arrow of Time
Chronicles
by Karen Wiesner
A timeless
universal truth: No simple solutions, no easy answers, and nothing is ever
free…
When mankind realized Earth would soon become uninhabitable,
Humans formed a cooperative central nexus in order to save themselves from
certain extinction. Together, they built and transferred their population to
massive space habitations in orbit of their planet and as many as possible
revolving around the other planetary bodies in the Sol System. They also constructed
spacefaring "liveships" in hopes of traveling through the galaxy in
search of new homes. Unbelievably after almost a hundred years, their
communications sent out into the farthest reaches of the universe to discover
other intelligent life secures an audience. Their first allies arrived in
mankind's solar system in 2073 and shared their knowledge, technology and
resources to not only power their liveships for swift navigation through space
corridors that fold space and time but also provided the scientific
advancements necessary to eventually heal their dying planet.
Though mankind has
a brand-new shaky start, strong potential alliances, and hope for tomorrow,
only fifty-eight years into their desperate struggle for survival, a hostile
enemy with Napoleonic ambitions emerges as a yet another threat to not only
mankind's survival, but also that of their associates who have faced the aliens
in times past. Abruptly, the peace the allies have begun to forge is
jeopardized as questionable agendas and hidden motives are unveiled. In the
wake of these very real, immediate threats a cataclysmic organic menace is only
beginning to be recognized, ensuring the total annihilation of every living
thing in the universe if, together, they can't find a way to stop it.
Next week, we'll talk about how to establish your story arcs early
in the writing process and use this same technique in an example.
Happy writing!
Based
on Writing the Overarching Series (or How I Sent a Clumsy Girl into Outer Space): 3D Fiction Fundamentals Collection by Karen S. Wiesner (release date TBA)
https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/writing-reference-titles.html
http://www.writers-exchange.com/3d-fiction-fundamentals-series/
Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 140 titles and 16 series, including the romantic science fiction series,
ARROW OF TIME CHRONICLES
https://www.writers-exchange.com/arrow-of-time-chronicles/
https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/arrow-of-time-chronicles.html
http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor