Writing a Series
Today I'm very pleased to welcome Arrow saga writer, Maisie Thomas, onto the blog. I first came across Maisie's name when her novel, The Railway Girls, was recommended to me by a friend who knows how much I enjoy books set in WW2. I loved the novel and was delighted to find it was the first in a series; I would get to know more about those remarkable women and the role they played during the war. Series of stories have always interested me from a writing point of view. How do you ensure they are novels in their own right and stand-alones without having to start reading at book one, for instance? I contacted Maisie to see if she would like to write a blog post about it. Delighted that she accepted the offer, I'll hand you over to Maisie.
Maisie, welcome!
Many thanks, Jan, for
inviting me onto your blog to talk about my experience of writing a series. Cassandra
Di Bello, who at that time was an editor for Arrow, came up with the concept of
a saga series about the women and girls who worked on Britain’s railways during
the Second World War. I was asked to put together a proposal for the series,
including details about characters and plots, and after that came the offer of
a contract. The whole process happened very quickly – in less than two weeks.
concentrate on. These are Joan and Mabel, who are both in their early 20s, and Dot, who is in her 40s with two sons serving in the army and two young grandchildren. Cass also wanted me to create strong and enduring friendships between my characters and I had to decide how to achieve this. I could, for example, have given them all the same job, so that they spent their days working alongside one another; but I didn’t want to do that, because I wanted readers to get a sense of the vast number of jobs that women were required to do. Instead I have my group meeting regularly for a cuppa in the station buffet and that’s how they get to know one another.
To me, the most important
aspect of writing a series is the planning. I started with a detailed synopsis,
which was broken down first into books and then into scenes.
Something that is very
important is keeping track of what each character does and doesn’t know about
what has happened to the others. Although I have three POV characters, my cast
is larger than that and I can’t afford to trip up over who knows what and when!
The Railway Girls series
is written around real events, such as Dunkirk, the Christmas Blitz and other
Manchester air raids, so all my fictional events have to fit in with and around
these. I don’t mean this in a general way – I mean that I worked out the dates
of all my fictional events.
If you are thinking of
tackling a series, the best advice I can offer is: plan, plan, plan!
The more planning you do
in advance, the better and stronger your series will be and you won’t end up
painting yourself into a corner!
Thank you, Maisie. That's a fascinating insight into how you went about writing your series and I'm sure it will be of great interest to writers and readers alike. I was full of admiration that the whole process, from proposal to contract, took less than two weeks. Wow! You have shown clearly why and how planning is at the heart of writing a series. Thank you for that advice. I wish you huge success with the series. Book 2 is nearing the top of my TBR pile - I can't wait to reconnect with Joan, Mabel and Dot and see what life holds for them next.
LINKS:
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maisie-Thomas/e/B07ZMFVYH2?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1602833825&sr=1-1
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Maisie-Thomas/e/B07ZMFVYH2?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1602833753&sr=1-1
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MaisieThomas99
Thank you for reading. I'd love to know your thoughts about writing and/or reading series of novels. Writers, do you plan thoroughly as Maisie does? Readers, do you always start with book one?
You may also follow me on @JanBaynham and on my Jan Baynham Writer page.
Interesting insight into the planning process of a saga. I planned my novel thoroughly but it changed as I got to know the characters. Did you ever digress from your plan? Do I need to be tougher with my characters? Jessie.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad to hear your comments on planning, Jessie. I would consider myself to be a definite plotter and have found it essential when trying to write a dual narrative but like you find that the detailed plans change as I got further into the story and got to know my characters better. I learned a new term in the Cariad Chapter meeting this morning. ‘Plantser’ so perhaps that’s what we are... along with other writers whose plans change. We enjoy the freedom of digressing on the instructions of their characters.
DeleteJessie. This is a message from Maisie who is having internet problems at the moment:
DeleteYou raise an interesting point, Jessie. It's true that things do develop in the writing. If you have veered off your plan, then the main question is - is what you have written better than the plan and do you want to keep it? The way I avoid this is that when I'm planning, I consider every plot point from the point of view of each character's personality, hopes, ambitions, secrets etc, so that plot and character are closely entwined. I hope this answer helps.
Fascinating article, Maisie, Jan.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing serieses (if that isnt a word it should be) and I found keeping track of the details from book to book quite difficult. Do you keep a series bible? On paper,spreadsheet,whiteboard?
Thank you, Elin. I’m pleased you enjoyed it. Here is Maisie’s reply:
DeleteHi, Elin. Thanks for your comment/question. It's essential to keep track of various things along the way. I have a file (ie an A4 ringbinder, not a computer file) that contains such things as the personal details of my characters - so I always have to hand a note of someone's colouring, age, family details etc, including her clothes, since I'm writing about the 1940s and people didn't have anything like as many clothes in those days as we tend to now. I also keep the calendar of events that I mentioned in my reply to Jessie. I'm very much a pen and paper girl, not a spreadsheet person. Keeping notes on paper makes them feel very easily accessible to me, but that's just my personal preference. It's important that you do it in whatever way best suits you. Thanks for raising such an important point. I hope my reply is useful xx