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Young Writers Society


Book series or stand-alone books?



Which do you prefer?

Book series
73
29%
Stand-alone books
24
10%
It depends
155
62%
 
Total votes : 252


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Mon May 26, 2014 12:11 pm
Demeter says...



Do you prefer a story that stretches through several books or books that have an independent story between their covers?

I imagine having a book series would made me want to grab the next book easier because I want to know more, but sometimes separate books are better when the author isn't trying to make the story last longer.
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Mon May 26, 2014 12:18 pm
Dreamy says...



Stand alone are better for many reasons. Series makes you want to know more but they are kind of braggy.
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Mon May 26, 2014 12:22 pm
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crossroads says...



I think my favourites would be serials in which each book can stand on its own - those that share the world, characters or something, but each has its own beginning, middle and end.
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Mon May 26, 2014 12:24 pm
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Nargles says...



It depends. Series are good when the author knows they are going to write a certain amount before they actually start writing and stick to that set amount (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Inheritance Cycle etc.) but can be horrible when the author is just dragging the story on because they know it will sell (The Mortal Instruments and The Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus).
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Mon May 26, 2014 1:48 pm
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ExOmelas says...



I don't know how long the Gone series was meant to go on for but the stories definitely flowed into each other and it definitely worked. That may because I read them all continuously over the course of this study leave...but still!

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Mon May 26, 2014 1:52 pm
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BrumalHunter says...



I definitely prefer a series over a stand-alone novel. Do not misunderstand me, I have nothing against stand-alone novels, they simply end too quickly. Besides, with a series, the characters and the plot have more time to develope.
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Mon May 26, 2014 2:17 pm
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Cole says...



I tend to find that stand-alone books are the best-written books.
  





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Mon May 26, 2014 2:46 pm
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WritingWolf says...



I enjoy reading a series when each book still is it's own book, but kind of carries on a sub-plot that slowly becomes more and more important as the series goes on. (like the Hunger Games starts off being about Katniss surviving the games, but slowly as the trilogy wears on it becomes more and more about overthrowing Snow, until you get to the last book where that is the main plot)
But I do find it easy for a series to just be a single idea that gets stretched out for all it's worth. In which case it's not quite as enjoyable.

Stand-alone books are nice because it causes the author to think more about the plot and character growth, because they have less time to develop them. So usually stand-alone books are better written, because the author is forced to think about it more.
But sometimes a stand-alone isn't very satisfying. Sometimes they get so caught up in moving along the plot that you don't get to know the characters very well, or vice-versa.

So I think it really depends on the author. I know some authors who are amazing at writing series, but really shouldn't write a stand-alone. While other writers have epic stand-alones, and very poor series.
It also depends somewhat on the story to. I'm going to use Warriors by Erin Hunter as an example. I think that the original series really needed to be a series, it was really good that way. But then you get into all these other Warrior books. The more Warriors they wrought, the more it looked like they where trying to beat a dead horse (I was glad to see them start writing Seekers and Survivors).
That is a slightly bigger example. Usually the comparison would be between a single book and a series, rather than a series and multiple series. But it still portrays what I'm trying to say.

So in essence, it depends. Who is the author and what is the story?
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Mon May 26, 2014 5:17 pm
CesareBorgia says...



I'm currently writing a series though, so I prefer them.
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Mon May 26, 2014 6:02 pm
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dragonfphoenix says...



For the longest time I would have said "series" hands down, but I've grown to realize that some of the best stories I've read are stand-alone (hats off to Mr. H. G. Wells and George Orwell). I've found, as has been said several times already, that the more planning a series has, the more enjoyable it is, and it's nice to have a story go on and develop over time. And I love finding out all the minor details that would be impossible to fit into a stand-alone without quickly nose-diving into Tolkienism, Bulwer-Lyttonism, or Hawthorneism (similar variations of the same disease). If a story was only planned to be one book, then that one book is often amazing and the rest never match up (typically). But that doesn't mean "sequels" to stand-alones are always bad.
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Tue May 27, 2014 12:16 am
StoneHeart says...



Series. Series. Series. End of story.
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Tue May 27, 2014 5:47 am
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Lumi says...



YWS has a serious issue with neutral third options.
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Tue May 27, 2014 7:16 am
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Apricity says...



Frankly, it really depends on the author and the book. Can you imagine a sequel to The Fault in our Stars? Or An Abdundances of Catherines. Some books are destined to be stand-alones. Others like Harry Potter and GoT are set out to be a massive long story.
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Tue May 27, 2014 10:33 am
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SirenCymbaline says...



I like books that are set in the same universe, and are linked with each other, but are still stand-alone novels in their own right. Like the Discworld series.
But I like chronological sequels too, example Artemis Fowl.

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Tue May 27, 2014 3:32 pm
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Cole says...



I feel like all writers these days are trying to write their very own epic fantasy quartets, sagas, and trilogies. It's almost becoming a cliché.
  








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