Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (8 of 15)

Of Arcs and Standalones, Part 2: Series Arcs

This is the eighth of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

Last week, we established that every story must have a story arc and we got a basic understanding of what that entails. Now let’s talk about the series arc.

Most series will have an overall series arc (sometimes there are more than one series arcs) along with the individual story arcs specific to a single installment of the series. A series arc is a plot thread that’s introduced in the first book in the series, is alluded to in some way in every single subsequent book, but is only fully resolved in the final book in the series. The series arc is usually separate from the individual story arcs, but both are crucial and must fit together seamlessly. The individual story arcs, as we established last in last week's post, are short-term. They’re introduced, developed, and concluded in each individual book. The series arcs are long-term. As an example, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the story arc is the chamber of secrets plotline. The overall series arc, in the most simplified terms, is good (Harry) overcomes evil (Voldemort)—and that’s true for every book in that series. The series arc runs beneath the individual story arcs in each book, expanding and intensifying through each book. In that way, each story installment has a piece of the series arc to tell.

In my Arrow of Time Chronicles, I actually had a few series arcs. The major one dealt with the warring faction of aliens that intended to conquer every other culture. A minor series arc was an organic phantom energy that's "eating" its way across the universe. A second minor series arc was that all the cultures in the galaxy, despite their outward physical differences and coming from different planets widely scattered across the galaxy, have similar DNA. 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. 

There are two types of series that all series can be classified under. Let's lay down the foundation for them. Once we've established the types, we'll talk more in-depth about Overarching Series and the distinguishing qualities of this unique breed of series and its connection to speculative fiction.

Standalone Series

The most common kind of series that can include series in any genre imaginable is the Standalone. In this type of series, every story within the series can stand alone (hence the name). In other words, readers can read each one separately, potentially even out of order, and still derive satisfaction that way without too much confusion. The individual installments of the series include story arcs that conclude within that particular story, providing the reader gratification necessary at the end of each book.

Standalone Series Subgroup: The Open-ended Series

There is an exception to every rule, and I would be remiss in not mentioning this one. There is a type of series set up and developed almost exactly like writing a standalone story and therefore it's simply a subgroup of the Standalone Series.

An Open-ended Series doesn't need a series arc because no clear end is in sight, and therefore there's less need for a tightly-delineated series arc that must resolve in the final book. In an open-ended series (such as some sleuth mysteries with a single recurring character--i.e., Hercule Poirot and the like), each book in the series is a standalone title. There’s little need to come up with a series arc since the author isn’t planning to have a long-term plot thread running through the entire series that will conclude in the final story. Though the Hercule Poirot Series eventually did end, a series arc didn’t run through each of the stories. Even Poirot’s final case was a standalone (though this case connected to details of the very first mystery he solved). In an Open-ended Series with a potentially infinite number of books, any resolution the author has promised readers at the start of one installment in a series will stem from story arcs at the end of that individual book, not at the end of the series. Those resolutions are the ones that fans are looking for and must be given in order to feel satisfied.

Note that developing a Standalone Series is the focus my previous writing manual on the topic of crafting a series. Originally that book was published by Writer's Digest Books and titled Writing the Fiction Series. It will be reissued soon as part of my writing manual collection under the title Writing the Standalone Series. 

OVERARCHING SERIES

This leads us to the second type of series: An Overarching Series, which will be the focus of my upcoming craft manual to be titled Writing the Overarching Series {or How I Sent a Clumsy Girl to Outer Space}. An Overarching Series is a specialized type of series that requires complex and multifaceted character- and world-building as well as necessitating series arc sequel hook endings in all but the final installment. Overarching Series dominate speculative fiction more so than any other category of fiction, though it is possible for one to be in other genres as well.

In the Overarching type of series, none of the books can truly be standalones because the series arc that's introduced in the first book in the series will run through every installment in that series, expanding and intensifying as it goes, only concluding in the final volume of the series. In other words, it's unlikely that the individual titles in the series can be fully understood without the others in that series. This is true even of the first installment of a series because that one won't and can't be complete on its own without subsequent installments.

In addition to the requirement of being read as a set, an Overarching Series needs to be read in the proper, chronological sequence in order to make sense and to become as opulent and robust, as any series needs to be or otherwise what's the point? While this doesn't preclude the possibility that someone could enjoy the stories separately, it's almost a foregone conclusion that they'll miss a lot in doing so and ultimately might end up confused and even disgruntled.

There's a very good reason why Overarching Series can be complicated to write and read: Reader satisfaction is only partially achieved in each book in this kind of series. The story arcs that are specific to individual titles in an Overarching Series will resolve within their particular book, providing the necessary satisfaction when completing the story, while the series arc almost always produces a less upsetting form of cliffhanger ending called series arc sequel hooks in all volumes other than the final book of that kind of series, where it's finally resolved.

While authors do need to find a natural, logical place to leave the series arc from one volume to the next so the "to be continued" aspect won't infuriate readers so much as build anticipation for what's to come, keep in mind that each volume needs to be assigned its own piece of the series arc to tell in an Overarching Series.

Next week, we'll talk about how to establish your series arcs early in the writing process, including a technique for developing yours.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (7 of 15)

Of Arcs and Standalones, Part 1: Story Arcs

This is the seventh of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

Starting this week, we'll begin a 6-part sequence that goes more in-depth about series and story arcs, how to develop them early in the process, and why standalone stories are all but impossible to achieve in an Overarching Series.

Last week, we touched on story and series arcs in the science fiction genre. These are concepts that most authors could probably give basic definitions for, but I can't be the only writer who (before I did heavy research into both for my book Writing the Fiction Series which will be reissued under the title Writing the Standalone Series soon) was a little bit confused about them for the longest time. Before I wrote that writing manual, these two arcs had been presented to me in multiple ways, and none of the explanations quite “fit” my own perceptions in terms of story building. To really get into a discussion about why these are so important in the science fiction genre, we need to establish what both of these concepts are over my next two blog posts.

Story Arcs

In its simplest form, the story arc is an extended or continued storyline. That’s fairly easy to grasp, right? But when it comes to what this definition actually entails and how it serves its purpose in the course of a novel…well, that’s where things get murkier. In a story, an arc is supposed to move the character or situation from one place to another. Essentially, we’re talking about change here--the quest, the causality of narrative, domino-effect transformations. In a story, this follows a pattern that can be described as ordinary life in balance: The character is brought to a low point and the structures he or she has depended on are removed. Therefore the character is motivated and/or forced to find new strength or situations without these structures, and he faces his demons and triumphs. Resolution ensues, restoring balance.

Now, as I said, this story arc has been talked about a lot in writing circles, and it can come in several different patterns and have more or fewer steps to come full-circle. While all have value, I prefer a much more simplified pattern, which is based on the bare essentials that I feel allows the writer a lot of freedom to tell his story in any way that seems right to him.

Story Arc Pattern

1. Introduction

2. Change

3. Conflicts

4. Choices

5. Crisis

6. Climax

7. Resolutions

Essentially, life as well as fiction is balanced with states of emotion over time. In fiction, the emotion is generally more extreme. It has to be, because what is fiction except a portrayal of life that skips over all the dull aspects? You can think of this within the following equation, which your story will move through from beginning to end. Where you see the arrows, insert the words “leads to”.

Introduction --> Change --> Conflicts --> Choices --> Crisis --> Climax  --> Resolutions

These steps visually simplify the mechanics of the arc that should run through every story. Below, I'll sum up each step.

Story Arc Step 1: Introduction

The introduction into a character’s ordinary life, in which he may or may not be content with things as they are, gets the ball rolling.

Story Arc Step 2: Change

Change is a form of conflict and it should be internal as well as external.

Story Arc Step 3: Conflicts

Conflict is what motivates and forces the character to act. Character and conflicts develop in accordance with the character’s choices and goals and motivations.

Story Arc Step 4: Choices

Goals are those things the character wants, needs, or desires above all else. Motivation is what gives him drive and purpose to achieve those goals. These evolve throughout the story as the character modifies his actions in response to conflict.

Story Arc Step 5: Crisis

At the crisis point, the character is faced with obstacles that seem too numerous, too monumental, too impossible to overcome but he must find the strength and motivation to continue.

Story Arc Step 6: Climax

Following the crisis, the climax comes. The character must act if he has any hope of triumphing and bringing about resolution.

Story Arc Step 7: Resolution

The character wins, resolution ensues, and balance is restored although the character has gone through a radical life alteration that may or may not lead to a happily ever after ending.

A story arc is introduced, developed, and concluded within that particular story. There may be many major (plot) and minor (subplot) story arcs in each story depending on its particular length and complexity. Story arcs add complexity, substance, and three-dimensionality to all aspects of the story. Story arcs must mesh and bond in a way that makes all threads inseparable, in a symbiotic relationship. Many times, a plot or subplot helps the author control the pacing of the story, placing realistic, necessary obstacles in the hero’s path and preventing the climax from coming too soon. Additionally, story arcs must advance the story--expanding, enlarging, and intensifying as the tale unfolds.

In a series story, a story arc is short-term because it may be neatly tied-up in a single book within the series. That might sound strange, but this will make more sense when you realize that the series arc is the long-term thread running its course through every book until the series concludes. In a few weeks, I'll show a technique and examples for developing story arcs.

Next week, we'll talk about series arcs.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (6 of 15)

Surprise #4: Of Deliberately Limiting Story Potential Development

This is the sixth of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

The fourth thing that most astonished me about writing in the science fiction genre is that writing a series with this enormous scope forbade me from getting to know my characters, settings, and relationships in the depth I usually do in each book. Almost exclusively, my books have no more than two to five point-of-view (POV) characters so I can really get to know each main character down to intimate-diary-details in the process of writing them. Settings and relationships are directly related to those main POV characters so expanding those was never a hardship that felt like it was getting out of control. Even in my mystery series stories, where I do have a larger cast of characters than most of the other genres I write in, I've never felt inhibited about development the way I was with my sci-fi series.

There are two major reasons for this need I felt to deliberately limit the story potential development in this particular series:

1) Information Overload: When Too Much is Too Much

Arrow of Time Chronicles had more or less 30 POV characters throughout the four installments, with about seven different characters "telling" their specific portion of the story in each installment. Additionally, I also had to create numerous homeworlds and cultural lore for all the alien races (which I called "cultures") in the galaxy featured in the series. If you missed it, check out my previous blog posts about the overwhelming research required for this series and how I went about building all those necessary aspects.

Now, don't get me wrong here, my research and developmental methods created fully fleshed characters, settings, and relationships. The construction of all three of these in this series was a lot of fun to imagine and expand upon. There was simply no way to use everything I came up with without overloading the books to the point of spawning side stories left and right (kind of like the A Song of Fire and Ice Series does--albeit pretty effectively in that case).

2) Overarching Series Focus: Serving the Needs of the Series Arc

Early in this article series, I talked in-depth about what an Overarching Series is. In this type of series, none of the books can truly be standalones because the series arc that's introduced in the first book in the series will run through every installment in that series, expanding and intensifying as it goes, only concluding in the final volume of the series. Another defining characteristic of the Overarching Series is that the primary focus has to be serving the needs of the series arc, though the individual stories are each allowed a certain amount of flourish when it came to character, world, and relationship development. It's best to use the individual story arcs so the amount of development isn't overwhelming in each volume.

With Arrow of Time Chronicles, I had to focus on the series arc first and foremost, narrowing character, setting, and relationship development for specific story arcs in each installment because I knew so much of the "extras" I came up with weren't critical in this particular series. Doing anything else would have ruined the series arc I was building over the course of four novels.

Not all authors follow this advice, and I bet you can name quite a few of those authors off the top of your head. Most books these days include many POV characters…many, many. The trend of including so many characters in a single book isn't one I can get on board with. The biggest reason for that is because every main character, every plot, every setting, and every relationship has to be three-dimensional and fully-fleshed out in that story. How can any of these things achieve that requirement when the only way to effectively cover the three dimensions (past, present, and future) of character, setting, and relationship development--and that for each main POV character--is to write a 200,000-word novel or a series of 200,000-word novels? If you want to know more about 3D writing, the reissue of my writing guide, Three-Dimensional Fiction Writing, will be available soon.

I was about halfway through outlining Book 3 of Arrow of Time Chronicles when I realized there was no way I could resolve everything the way it needed to be if I used that particular book to try to tie everything up. Ultimately, there was no stopping myself from adding a fourth book to the series, not without feeling like I was truncating the series for the sole reason of keeping the word count manageable. While I think there are reasons why an author might decide not to develop a potential subplot in a series, if it's organic and the series is less complete and satisfying without it, there's no way to turn away from getting down to business.

As authors, deliberately limiting the potential for a story to expand so far beyond what a series arc can handle might just be our obligation as the overseers. In most stories written these days, the main characters and their settings, conflicts, and relationships aren't three-dimensional because there simply isn't room to make them so, unless you're George R.R. Martin, for instance, who does a thorough job of this. The question is, will we ever see the epic conclusion? I, for one, continue to hope so.

As an author, though, ask yourself when approaching an Overarching Series: If you don't limit your development or rein yourself in at all, will you be able to complete what you started? Might it be better to focus on the series arc as much as possible to allow manageable installments? Additionally, instead of putting everything in one series, why not leave yourself the possibility of writing smaller miniseries within the overall series to focus on other aspects of the characters, settings, and relationships?

I do realize that some authors don't feel like they have a lot of choice about all this, just like I didn't when deciding whether to add a fourth book to my series. Mainly, authors just go where the story seems to be leading them. In my case, I felt like there was a chance I couldn't make all the series characters, plots, settings, and relationships fully fleshed out if I let myself run wild on tangents but also knew when I had to make an exception and let development expand organically. Only marginally was I concerned that I wanted each book in the series to be around 100,000 words (no more than that, if I could help it), but I really was interested in finishing the series in a doable amount of time. In fact, I did it in about 2 years for all four books. They were published in 2020, one after the after in a fairly short span of time, which I think an Overarching Series with cliffhanger installments absolutely requires to keep fans invested.

Next week, we'll begin a multi-part sequence that goes more in-depth about series and story arcs, how to develop them early in the process, and why standalone stories are all but impossible to achieve in an Overarching Series.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (5 of 15)

Of Research and Developmental Tool Requirements, Part 2:

Surprise #3: Developmental Tool Underwhelm

This is the fifth of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

In the previous part, I talked about the overwhelming of amount of advance and in-the-process-of-outlining-each-book research I needed to do to write my science fiction series. Here in Part 2, we'll talk about the lack of available developmental tools I required for my project.

Figuring out how to begin the buildout of my unique galaxy and all who populated the various settings in Arrow of Time Chronicles was one of the biggest shocks I got in the process of trying to learn how to write in this genre. Despite the sheer number of books I bought and websites I scoured in my desperate search for the promised assistance, finding developmental tools to prompt areas I needed to focus on expanding were so scarce as to be nearly nonexistent. I could hardly believe how much trouble I had finding anything I could use. If you're a writer, you may feel the need to send me links and suggestions about just this, but I have a strong feeling anything suggested to me was actually something I located while I was working on my sci-fi series and none of it provided what I was really needed. I have three ideas about why that was the case:

            1) My series was simply too complicated that generalized help was useless or alternately, the specific help wasn't generalized enough to be what I needed,

            2) the resources I needed are so well-hidden it's a crime,

            or

            3) the development tools I needed simply don't exist!

Frustrated, I turned to videogame and Dungeons & Dragons guides. Of all the materials I bought or found on the internet, those items had the most helpful development tools. I took what I needed and could use from all these references, though quite honestly even those didn't have everything I needed and they simply weren't specific and/or generalized enough. 

Because I had no other choice, I came up with my own worksheets and tools for my world- and character-building for this series. These worksheets were a crucial help to me in fleshing out this series, and I feel they're just specific enough to be generalized (and vice versa). Basically, anyone could use them and modify them to what they need them for. My upcoming book Writing the Overarching Series (or How I Sent a Clumsy Girl into Outer Space) will include all of them. I had a binder with profiles for every single culture, planet, and main character with these worksheets expanded upon for easy reference. I also found pictures on the internet to help me visualize everything and thereby allow descriptions to form in the detail needed for writing the story and individual scenes.

In the back matter of every book in the series, I included simplified versions of the worksheets I filled out, which I included for all the cultures. Using that template, I was able to brief provide a snapshot of each of the alien races for readers who a) needed some refresher from one book to the next, b) required immediate explanations while reading, and/or 3) were simply fans of devouring back matter (as I am). We'll talk more about back matter in an upcoming article.

Next time, we'll talk about deliberately limiting story potential development in writing science fiction. And, yes, you read that right--deliberately limiting.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (4 of 15)

 Of Research and Developmental Tool Requirements, Part 1:

Surprise #2: Research Overwhelm 

This is the fourth of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

The eye-openers I had while writing my sci-fi series will be presented in two parts. This week we'll deal with the research overwhelm while Part 2, coming next week, will cover my underwhelm with the developmental tools I found available.

The second surprise I had in learning how to write in the science fiction genre was the sheer amount of research required. In advance of writing a word of my Arrow of Time Chronicles, I spent the entire summer of 2018 doing massive amounts of research, some of it the Standard Operative Procedure stuff I mentioned in my post last week. Talk about overload. These items I researched were all things I wanted to mention in the first book of the series as they came up, thus setting down the SOPs in my unique galaxy. Basically, I wanted them to be planted deeply there so I wouldn't need to dwell on any of that in future volumes. I filled five medium binders and one enormous one with everything "foundational" I would need to write the series.

In terms of research, that summer in 2018 was only the beginning of what was required. I call that my advance research stage. During that time, I accomplished only the establishment of the SOP foundational aspects of my series. For each outline that preceding the written draft of what eventually became the four books in the series (originally, I intended it to be a trilogy), enormous amounts of research were a necessity. There were times I worried the research would take over so much I'd never get to the point of actually writing the story itself.

Book 1 started the process of outlining the story scene by scene, and, while I outlined, I also performed all the necessary research each scene required. Let me tell you, it was intense. Seriously, things authors never have to think about to write a book set in modern, uncomplicated times came up all throughout outlining and writing these novels. Here's a taste of some of the countless considerations I had to come up with plausible explanations for--and somehow make talking about them brief:

            How do you take a shower on a space ship, and how often? Is every day allowed or are there limitations because of resources, etc.

            If something's wrong on a space ship, is there a human resources department you can complain to?

            When constructing a space habitation, where do you get the building materials?

            For one of the cultures (which is what I called the alien races), I decided to make the way they measure time a little different, considering the unique orbital and tidal functions of their planet. So this became the standard in all the books:

A revolution is 1 year (i.e., 80 revolutions is 80 years).

A tide cycle is 12 hours, two tide cycles is 24 hours, half a tide cycle is 6 hours.

A spin is also a way to reference one day's time.

An age can refer to an undefined but "long" amount of time.

Believe me, trying to remember to write a "spin" instead of a "day" whenever characters in that culture spoke could have presented quite a consistency issue if I wasn't diligent.

Those are some of the less "major" items I had to come up with plausible, brief explanations for, but if you can imagine nearly scene I outlined had endless little questions like this that needed to be answered before I could continue to tell my tale. These are the things that helped me understand the world I was building into each and every installment (and, don't be surprised, but I filled binders and binders with this stuff I cataloged so they were easy to grab if I needed to look something up while I was working).

In any case, the continuous research I had to do for this series felt utterly bottomless from start to finish. But those little questions I was forced to think about, design a creative solution for, and present in intriguing brevity are the very things that gave the series stories such vibrant flair and color.

In Part 2 of this article coming up next week, we'll talk about my underwhelm with the developmental tools available to write science fiction.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (3 of 15)

 Surprise #1: Of Not Having to Reinvent the Wheel For Everything

This is the third of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

In the first part of this series, I mentioned that one of the fundamentals I was told about the "right way" to write science fiction was by adhering to what seemed to be to be the cardinal rule of the genre: That all science fiction stories have to include a concept of legitimate science or technology that can somehow be applied to fictional theories or ideas that could become future realities. Without fail, every single writing manual and article I read about how to write science fiction included this regulation. This is in the same vein as "write what you know" but of course is it really necessary or even ideal for a writer to limit himself in such a way? [Read Margaret L. Carter's February 10, 2022 post about just this if you want a unique look at this theory: https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2022/02/most-writers-are-writers.html]

I don't dispute that scientific and technologic realism are important so much as I wonder how much it can be bent. We are writing fiction, after all. In his Biographia Literaria, William Coleridge coined the phrase "suspension of disbelief". In this "poetic faith" state of mind, readers voluntarily ignore obvious untruths and fantastic elements in order to enjoy the story unfolding before them. So, if an author can legitimately make readers believe something that's impossible in the real world is actually happening in the fictional story, anything goes, right?

When an author goes into writing science fiction, there are a lot of "Standard Operating Procedure" facts that have to be established and explained about this time period and their unique world or universe--in a way that readers are able to suspend belief and just go with it, regardless of how implausible in our current world and time. For example, if your characters travel through space on a regular basis, you usually have to explain how they're doing it.

Luckily, many amazing authors have already written about fascinating concepts based on scientific principles and existing and experimental technology, such as using wormholes, folds in the fabric of space, or some other creative explanation that provides the means of skipping, folding or warping space to allow jumps across great distances--all that do factor in the theory of relativity, time dilation, and interstellar travel. I call these "established knowns", and they provided one of the first surprises I received when I started writing science fiction. Namely that I could use these "established knowns" because they're basically plausible explanations that are already accepted by the majority of science fiction readers who devour extremely popular science fiction books, movies, and television series like Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect, and The Expanse. Cool! I needed to hear the good news that there can be some shortcuts in this complicated undertaking. But keep in mind that most writers don't want to and shouldn't use them verbatim. That would be copying and could lead to all kinds of moral and legal issues. However, simply basing your tech and world principles on established knowns is allowed. You have to find a way to creatively adapt established knowns to make them unique to your story and series.

Since my series was set in the not-to-distant future, I really did have to have an explanation for how Humans got their technology to travel through space. I creatively used some established knowns to explain their space travel and communications, as well as coming up with realistic, futuristic orbital habitations, credible revelations about dark energy and matter, and legitimate reasons for what might force Humans to leave Earth to explore and find homes in space or on other planets. All of these were treated as Standard Operating Procedures for my series. Rather than reinventing the wheel for all of these things, I laid down my foundations as simply and believably as I could based on creatively adapted established knowns.

The surprise that I didn't have to reinvent the wheel for every single scientific and technical aspect was certainly one of the most welcome I had. It saves so much time and energy to utilize the concept of established knowns. I realized almost from the start that forcing myself to come up with brand new, exciting and extra creative ideas to explain the "SOP" of my series would have been overwhelming not only for me as the author (having to figure all this out when I'm most definitely not a scientist of any kind in the real world!), but also overwhelming for the readers who would have to hear endless and overly complex and potentially boring explanations about how everything worked from A-Z here in my particular galaxy. I've found over the years that the science fiction stories I like following the **least** are the ones that spend way too much time trying to explain to me the Standard Operating Procedures for their universe. I don't think I'm that different from other sci-fi readers: In a fiction book or series, I want to be impressed by the creativeness of the story, not scientific theories.

In Arrow of Time, the space travel and communication SOPs weren't exactly the same as for any other series, and I think that's important because, to me, just saying my characters have warp drive, like in Star Trek, felt like cheating. What I did was figure out what's been done already and what's plausible, and, from there, I played around with the concepts until they fit my series and made sense in it. Creatively utilizing established knowns, I could put my SOPs in place as briefly and intriguingly as possible and then I could roll out my story.

Another reason for not reinventing the wheel for every little aspect of your science fiction story is that these things you labor to create can easily become focal points. If that's what you intended, great. But if it's not, you went to a lot of elaborate trouble to develop and explain them yet they're not factoring greatly into the storyline somehow. That doesn't make sense and could be frustrating for readers. In my series, those SOP aspects weren't majorly important. I wanted them to be legitimate and credible, but I didn't want them to call more attention to themselves than was necessary. All I wanted was for the "poetic belief" to kick in for readers so I could move forward with the storytelling.

Over the course of the next two weeks, we'll talk about research and developmental tools in writing science fiction.

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

Karen S. Wiesner: SURPRISES IN THE COURSE OF LEARNING TO WRITE A SCIENCE FICTION SERIES (2 of 15)

 Of the Overarching Series and Its Connection to Speculative Fiction

This is the second of fifteen posts dealing with surprising things I learned in the course of writing a science fiction series.

 A timeless universal truth:

No simple solutions, no easy answers, and nothing is ever free…

In last week's post, we talked about why science fiction, especially those in a series, is debatably the most difficult genre to write in. Another reason this type of series is so complicated is because it's part of a rare breed of series that I'm calling the Overarching Series that requires complex and multifaceted character- and world-building as well as necessitating series arc sequel hook endings in all but the final installment. Overarching Series dominate speculative fiction more so than any other category of fiction, though it is possible for one to be in other genres as well.

In the Overarching type of series, none of the books can truly be standalones because the series arc that's introduced in the first book in the series will run through every installment in that series, expanding and intensifying as it goes, only concluding in the final volume of the series. In other words, it's unlikely that the individual titles of the series (except perhaps the first) can be fully understood without the others in that series. Nearly always, they need to be read as a set, in the proper order, to make sense. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't enjoy the stories separately. You'll just miss a lot doing so and ultimately you might end up with a fair amount of confusion.

To be clear about this, a cliffhanger ending is most always referring to when a book ends in the middle of an unbearably intense or emotional bit of danger. Instead of concluding at the place where the scene would reach a natural end, the action is truncated prematurely, leaving the reader hanging when it comes to resolution. Readers have no way of knowing what actually happened unless or until a sequel to address this dangling thread is released and addresses the previous situation satisfactorily (and sometimes the explanation for how the danger was actually averted can be less than gratifying). Frequently, readers consider employing this technique as outright cheating because they've been purposely deprived of the unspoken promise of a proper resolution.

Kind of a downgraded definition of a cliffhanger ending is any thread left dangling. In the case of series arc thread, writers generally provide story arc resolutions within the individual volumes of the series while holding off on resolving series arcs until the final volume. For the purposes of my upcoming writing manual, Writing the Overarching Series, I'm calling these not-quite-a-cliffhanger endings "series arc sequel hooks". While readers maybe shout "But what happened to--?!" upon reaching the end of any series installment, the place each particular volume ends should feel natural and not an affront or trickery employed to avoid genuine resolution. 

The story arcs that are specific to individual titles in an Overarching Series will resolve within their particular book, providing the necessary satisfaction when completing the story, while the series arc almost always produces a less upsetting form of cliffhanger ending called series arc sequel hooks in all volumes other than the final book of that kind of series, where it's finally resolved. The reason for that may be obvious but I'll state it anyway: The series arc can't be resolved until the last book of the series. While authors do need to find a natural, logical place to leave the series arc from one volume to the next so the "to be continued" aspect won't infuriate readers so much as build anticipation for what's to come, keep in mind that each volume needs to be assigned its own piece of the series arc to tell in an Overarching Series. Some well-known Overarching Series book series, TV series, and movies are The Lord of the Rings, Divergent Series, Harry Potter Series, Twilight Series, Supernatural, Grimm, and Star Wars.

Another interesting thing about Overarching Series is that an Overarching miniseries (or more than one) can exist within an existing series of stories that could otherwise be considered series standalones. In literary terms, a miniseries is most accurately referring to a finite set of stories told within an existing series. Both the Star Wars and Star Trek series have quite a few Overarching miniseries along with standalone stories. Star Wars original miniseries included three stories in a trilogy: Star Wars (sometimes also called A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Rogue One and Solo are individual stories within the series. Star Trek has a host of miniseries within the Overarching Series, including but not limited to The Next Generation, Voyager, and Discovery. In my Woodcutter's Grim Series (fantasy/paranormal/mild horror), I have two miniseries that qualify as Overarching Series within the overall series. One of the Overarching Series is untitled and deals with the Shaussegeny Curse (Books 4-7). Another is called Bridge of Fire, Book 10, which has three separate novel parts. Books 1-3, 8, 9 and The Final Chapter could be considered standalone titles within the series.

Perhaps the most defining factor of an Overarching Series is that the individual volumes could easily and maybe even should be ideally packaged as a single work if cost and reader acceptability weren't factors.

You might have noticed something very specific about all the Overarching Series titles I mentioned above: They could all be included under the Speculative Fiction umbrella. Speculative fiction is particularly well-suited to the Overarching Series structure. While it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that an Overarching Series could fit in other genres of fiction, they do crop up most often in speculative fiction. All the techniques and strategies I employed in the process of completing my Arrow of Time Chronicles are actually ones that could work just as well for any fiction genre as well as for any type of series.

Let's talk more about the speculative fiction before we get into why these particular genres work so well for an Overarching Series.

There are a lot of different definitions for speculative fiction (or "spec fic" as it's sometimes called). Basically, the definition I'm using here is the one that's most likely to come up if you put the words "speculative fiction" into any search engine: "A genre of fiction that encompasses works in which the setting is other than the real world, involving supernatural, futuristic, or other imagined elements." The spec fic umbrella would cover (but isn't limited to) science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, science fantasy, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, supernatural and futuristic or any combination of these along with other potential offshoots too numerous to mention. The point is, spec fic almost always has enormous requirements when it comes to:

            1) World building. You might need to come up with a variety of environments either all in one location, like a planet, or sprawled across great distances--maybe an entire universe--that you have to figure out how to traverse. Most if not all of these locations have to be unique and complex enough to be believable while still retaining some semblance of realism capable of luring current readers.

            2) Character building. In these genres, not all your characters will be human. In fact, a good portion might be from an alien culture or some kind of supernatural creatures that the author has to construct from the ground up. You're not just describing and personalizing living and breathing, sentient beings. You're figuring out who and what they are, where they came from (their history, present day situation, and the future are yours to formulate!). You'll be required to explain how their family life, culture, government, religions, monetary systems, and countless other structures work in their very individual worlds.

Overarching Series are frequently utilized in genres under the speculative fiction umbrella. However, not all speculative fiction series are Overarching Series. The reason for that is because you can easily have standalone series titles in a speculative fiction series. Trust me, we'll figure this all out in the next few months and it'll make perfect sense when we're done. We'll also talk more in-depth about story and series arcs, types of series, and standalones, and cliffhangers in later posts.

Next week we'll talk about my very first big surprise in writing a science fiction series.

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