Stories Within Stories

[Androxine Vortex]

I really like the idea and main plot I have for my novel series. The only thing is that I can see so many opportunities to write seperate novels set in the same setting, just maybe not 100% directly related to the main story arc. So I was thinking of writting my main novel series but then also writting a seperate collection of novels (or short stories) directly related to the setting/universe of the main storyline but not directly related to the actual plot.

To give an example let me use a hypothetical suggestion. Harry Potter. The main storyline would be of Harry but what if Rowling made a seperate series about an Auror hunting dark wizards and witches? Let's say she named it "The Auror." So the "Harry Potter" series and the "Auror" series wouldn't be directly related by plot but by setting.

There is a lot going on in my plot and the setting is vast in scope, involving many different countries. So do you think it would be a good idea if I made a sort of central "universal setting?" This way, the main novels and storyline would still be the cental focus but also allowing me to branch out for more creativity and novel opportunities. I'm not sure if this has a defined term or anything.

(And I'm not sure if I would want the seperate series to be actual novels or collection of short stories yet. I think the concept of a novel would be better because you can go into far more detail but as for now it's just an idea)

[JCFarnham]

Reading the title I was expecting a discussion on Metafiction, hehe, but since it's not I'll get on with it

This concept is widely used across genre fiction (at least SF&F any way), in fact I bet if you picked any series of books published recently and another couple of stand alones by the same author you would find they involve the same setting. Brandon Sanderson does it. Orson Scott Card does it. Iain Banks. And to be fair Tolkien did it. Well, I could list some more but it would get very long very quickly.

I personally can't come up with a rich setting WITHOUT thinking of every possible story nugget it could yield. I'd even say it is our duty as writers and authors to do this.

Stories within stories isn't the right term for it, bit misleading, but you know I can't come up with anything snappy. Surely "stories set in the same universe" would do?

Banks for example has written a lot of Scifi novels he tags with the phrase "A Culture Novel" - because in general they involve a far spanning intergalactic group called the Culture, even if the books themselves have wildly varying plots and even genre. Go figure :P. If you want or rather need each seperate story to be equated in people's minds it might be worth coming up with a general name for it.

[myrddin173]

Like JC said a lot of authors do this. Pratchet does it with his Discworld, Terry Brooks too, though his series are spread out through time. Michael Scott, author of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, has a new series planned that occurs in the same world but goes into an aspect that his current series only touched on briefly. I don't believe there is a specific name for it, but we can always make one up.

It is one of my goals someday to create a world where I can do this.

[JCFarnham]

I find if one creates a simple setting with one or two main "premises" then you'd be surprised how many stories can be pulled.

Here's an example from my own work (and I never mind sharing!). I have an urban fantasy project whose setting is more or less real world, modern Britain but in a fairly predicatable way, oh look Fae and demons and Otherworldly Lovecraftian monsters exist. This would have been pretty boring on its own granted, so I added a complicating faction - in this case the idea that if someone doesn't believe in the existance of the supernatural they project a kind of "veil" of disbelief within which magical beings have trouble living (ie, cities would be totally impassable to Fae).

This is a pretty simple premise, but those two points have the potential for a lot of different kinds of conflict.

For me, creating the setting first lends itself more to these kind of multistory worlds whereas character first seems to limit me more to one.

Hope you can draw something from that :s haha

[Androxine Vortex]

I tend to just use the term "universe" and for my definition it just means the setting and combined lore. So if there were hundreds of novels written involving the lore, and characters, and setting of LOTR, they would all fall under the "LOTR Universe."

[myrddin173]

Another example of this is the Star Wars novels, usually referred to as the Extended Universe, though this is written by many people while the previous examples were just one person. Another example, that I can't believe I didn't think of before, is the Mythic Archipelago project. The goal of which is to create a world where many different stories can take place. (yes that was a shameless plug )

[CL Mozena]

I agree with everyone. Using your 'Harry Potter' example, if J.K. Rowling came out with an 'Auror' series, it would be a big hit simply because it's a part of a well known (and well loved) universe.

I've read books that all took place in the same setting although they were different stories. It was really exciting when the MC from one story bumped into characters from a different story line.

[Leif GS Notae]

Sounds intriguing, but it is a good way to get lost in the stories that might not be worthy of a series. I'd always thought to write my world's major changes in novel form and touch on other areas in my flash fiction writing and perhaps some novellas. Yes, everything is important, but you want a story to have value and connect with people too.

It seems as though you have a good idea though and I hope it all works out. Just keep in mind, don't stray from the hard hitting stories! Good luck and I look forward to reading it.

[Androxine Vortex]

Sounds intriguing, but it is a good way to get lost in the stories that might not be worthy of a series. I'd always thought to write my world's major changes in novel form and touch on other areas in my flash fiction writing and perhaps some novellas. Yes, everything is important, but you want a story to have value and connect with people too.

It seems as though you have a good idea though and I hope it all works out. Just keep in mind, don't stray from the hard hitting stories! Good luck and I look forward to reading it.

Thanks for your advice and support, and dont count on reading it anytime soon lol

[Caged Maiden]

I Love my world as well (though it is nothing really special). It's tempting when you've put so much time and thought into creating cultures, places, countries and kingdoms with history..... Who wouldn't want to use it again? I say if you like it, use it! I have used my world over and over again though some of my stories are stand-alone, really.