Happy New Year
Idea Farming—growing your plot #last – Mega Farming (the book series)
This is the last blog in the
series on Idea Farming. In this one, I’ll finish the discussion of the methods
involved in story writing with a look at Mega
Farming (the book series).
When you are a fiction writer, the question, “What’s your
next book about?” is a common one from those around you. How you answer that
question reveals much about you as a writer. Three possible types of response
are briefly defined below.
Complete
Evasion. In this response, you talk about just about anything but
your next project. This might be used when you don’t want to talk about what
you’re working on. It might also be used when you don’t have anything in mind.
Heming
and Hawing. Although similar to the first option, this response
provides an ebb and flow of information about the project you are, indeed,
working on. Suspiciously absent, however, are details on… well, everything
about the next book. It commonly leaves your reader with “Chinese take-out
syndrome”—they feel full of information immediately upon finishing their talk
with you, but minutes later realize they are hungry for actual data.
Direct
Answer. Probably the best approach, in this response you provide
enough factual information for the listener to appreciate what you’re working
on. You might even include some hint as to your hoped for time of completion.
However, regardless of which approach you use, if you don’t
have your next project in mind, you’ll never be a mega-farmer.
Most mega-farming authors are concentrate on a single genre
within the field of fiction—science fiction, fantasy, detective, romance, and
the like. Since ideas on writing a novel have been described in previous blogs
in this series, the remainder of this blog will focus on the book series.
The list of science fiction authors with book series is
legion. I’ll list three of my favorites.
Edgar
Rice Burroughs: John Carter’s Martian books. Growing up, I read and
re-read this series. Each time I was absorbed in the action and romance of
Barsoom.
C. S.
Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia. These, classic tales of children in
a mythical kingdom are excellent reads when taken literally. However, they also
provide the reader with a chance to explore the symbolism Lewis employs.
Isaac
Asimov: The Foundation Trilogy. Arguably the cornerstone of influence
of at least one entire generation of sci-fi writers, these three books are an
example of a book series at it’s finest.
A look at some aspects of the book series provides insight
into what it takes for an author to become a mega-farmer. The paragraphs that
follow are not listed in any particular order of importance—all are critical to
you becoming a mega farmer yourself.
Mega Farmers might grow a single crop year after year on
extended acreage. They might be equally successful growing variations of a single
crop over a number of years. Or, depending on the location of the mega farm,
several different crops might be rotated across the same acreage over the
years.
Similarly, a book series must have a 1) continuation of storyline, 2)
a continuation of characters, 3)
both 1 and 2, or 4) stories all from
a specific time or place but with no overt connection beyond that. Any of the four
options will work.
When an author decides a book series might be a good idea
varies. For some, it happens with the realization that there is no “good way to
end the current story and wrap up all the loose plot threads in a single book”
or even after a book is out and readers are clamoring for more. For others, the
plan for multiple volumes is a given from the start of the writing process. If
those are both ends of a continuum, there are limitless decision points in
between those extremes. However, once the decision is made…
1.
Always think ahead. What’s in the next book? Will it be
the last of the series? Intentionally include plot points that will be major
emphases in future books. Be sure to keep a file of outline ideas of each plot
point you think will be in the next, or subsequent, books. Jot down specific
thoughts as soon as you can—retrieving ideas that have escaped your brain is a
lot like herding cats in zero gravity.
The original Star Wars trilogy is a
very good example of this. Remember, at some point in time, you will have to
decide how much more good writing you can do in the universe you create—AND HOW
YOU’LL END THE SERIES.
2.
Consider your branding. One common way to do this
is by the covers of the books in the series. In each of my examples, cover art
through the series, in the editions I have, are similar. Below are examples
from the Narnia and short story anthology series.
In my Traveler’s
HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort series, the first two covers
have a similar feel with a retro Traveler’s HOT L sign prominently displayed.
Branding is common in nearly all
products from a parent company that are offered for sale. The namesake on the
label instantly identifies Green Giant products. What will your brand be?
Of course, like just about anything,
too much of the same can lead to issues as well. The Jolly Green Giant from my
childhood looks like a distant relative of the current iteration. It’s the same
with the Forest Service’s Smokey the Bear—now Smokey Bear. Those two examples
are offered to show that too much of the same thing can lead to serious
issues—farmers who grow the same crop year after year often end up in ruin as
the soil is so depleted of the nutrients that particular crop requires that the
cost of fertilizer drives them into bankruptcy or foreclosure.
The whole concept of what a brand
is, and when to alter your brand, is articulated exceptionally well in the
paragraph below.
As writers evolve, they often want to try something new. It is so easy
to get "typecast." Think Grisham's legal thrillers. Every once in a
while he comes out with a work of straight literature. He has a name so it gets
published and the stories are good so readers appreciate them. Had he not
become famous for his legal thrillers, he might not have been able to publish
the new work—so timing [of the new genre release] was critical. Also think
Harry Potter series. Rowling finished the series, and then she brings out a new
book under a new author name. She gets a publisher because the story is good,
but [books sit] sit on the shelf... until it was revealed who wrote the book
[emphasis mine]. Then the stores could not order enough [books] to keep up with
demand. Branding is good at the beginning but it is also bad unless it can be
used to extend the creative spirit of the writer, if they want to do something
a little different. We have almost become a society that makes decisions on
what is good or bad based on what others tell us is "good" or
"bad"—and by name recognition.
Back to the farm.
For centuries, successful farmers have rotated crops on their lad—two years
corn/one year soybeans, etc. A thousand years ago, no one knew why what
Zeke—who rotated his crops because he was bored by the same thing over and
over—did so his crop-yields were much better than other farmers. Today, farmers
know that different crops require different combinations of nutrients—and that
come crops replace nutrients lost to other crops.
By rotating your crop of stories in a different
genre on occasion, you will find that your stories improve as well. The different lens required to focus your writing
in a good detective story is just different from your normal writer’s lens that
new ideas are added back into the soil of your mind.
3.
Set up your next book. Along with thinking ahead
for storylines, you need to be planning on how, if at all, you will set up the
next book. Traveler’s
HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort books
end with a cliffhanger story. That story is completed as the first story in the
succeeding book.
If your series is written along the
lines of stories from one time/place without significant interconnections, this
point is less critical. But, be absolutely sure of your long-range plans before
you kill off a character. The producers of Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid found out too late that reincarnation or
prequels are not nearly as compelling as a well set-up series of stories.
4.
Don’t promise more than you can deliver. It’s a
good idea not to promote any more than the next book in the series. Even the
hint of “upcoming volumes” can be a burden that drags the quality of your
writing down if you pad a storyline with unnecessary verbiage just to extend
the series to another book. Your readers will know when that happens and
revolt.
That’s the end of the series on Idea Farming. May your
crop yield be abundant!
Next blog: Miscellaneous
Musings on The Business of Writing
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