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Massive Series (good or bad?)



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Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:54 am
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LxnderSpeck says...



I've been planning this massive series that I plan to write. A good way to explain it would be like inuyashia. Is this a bad idea to do or can it be acceptable? I plan to have around 6 "Heroes" in my story. So all in all there will not only be 6 different pasts with conflicts of their own (that will also tie in together) but all six will have the same reasons to fight. (a shared evil rival)

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Thu Dec 15, 2011 3:57 pm
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Dynamo says...



It's a massive undertaking to be sure, but not impossible if you're pactient enough to pull it off. I'm almost finished writing the first book of a massive series of my own which I've already mapped out loosely in my head for the span of around seven books.

The trick to pulling off something like this is to have two goals for your character(s), the immediate and the long-term. Using Harry Potter as an example, Harry's long-term goal would be to stop Voldamort, but his immediate goal is whatever crysis is happening in that specific book, like finding the philosopher's stone in the first book. In my book, my main character's immediate goal is to protect his new friend from being kidnapped by a criminal organization for ransom purposes while trying to get her back home, while his long-term is to use a legendary sword to become an avatar of peace and stop as many of the wars that are ravaging the land as he can to prevent the second coming of a deity who wants to destroy the world. The driving force of the series will be the long-term goals, but the immediate goals are the struggles and conflicts the main character has to confront and resolve along the way with each book.

Also, don't try to show your hand right away, so to speak. For a massive series you'll need a lot of different plot elements to keep your readers interested, such as lore, history, political disputes, and even magic if you're doing a fantasy story like me. Don't dump everything on your readers in the first book, just give them a little trickle from time to time to wet their appitite over the long haul. For example, an off-hand comment about a political dispute in a foriegn country in one book may lead to your main character being dragged into a war caused by said dispute in a future book.

Out of all the advice I have, the best I can give is do a lot of research and plan as far ahead as you can. I hope this helps in some way.
Chicken <-- Egg <-- Rocket Powered Fist
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The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.
— Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451