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One or multi-volume?

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”
- Frank Herbert

I’ve never understood how other writers can look at a story they haven’t completed and know how many books it’ll take.

I’ve seen and heard so many people say their current WIP is going to be a trilogy, or whatever number. How can they know? You learn so much about your characters and plots simply by writing them. Add the shiny, new next story idea into the mix and you have a solid recipe for ending one and moving on. Then there are those ideas which, once executed, can turn into so much more.

You might simply focus on telling one part of a story to the best of your ability & not worry about how many books it’d take for a series. You’ll stop where you’ll stop. The story has no true ending anyway. There could always be more.

Long time, no see. How goes your current WIP?

I didn't know at the outset how long either 'Labyrinth' or 'Empire' would be.

The former was originally intended as a single novella or novelette, but it grew beyond those bounds.

'Empire' was intended as multi-volume, but that was because each location warranted a full story in its own right.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
Thank you, Thinker.

It goes well. I’ll be wrapping up the 3rd rewrite by the end of the year. Then one more minor polish before I send it out for editing.

But, yes. That’s a good example, where the short from a challenge here turned into a full novel with multiple plot lines, a vast character cast, etc. Wasn’t intended that way from the get go. I’m not planning anything beyond for this story, but who knows? I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
But, yes. That’s a good example, where the short from a challenge here turned into a full novel with multiple plot lines, a vast character cast, etc. Wasn’t intended that way from the get go. I’m not planning anything beyond for this story, but who knows? I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.

Which challenge/short story led to the novel?
 

J.W. Golan

Scribe
How do you decide if a story is one volume or two or five or ten? I can see it could be arbitrary.

How many volumes a story is divided into is, ultimately, a business decision - even for those of us who don’t expect to make a living as a writer. Even if we only write as a hobby, because we like to write, we still need to understand who our eventual audience is, how they will receive it, and that makes this a business decision.

My experience and observations are that a series of books is usually preferred over a single novel. Breaking the story down into bite-size episodes makes it more easily digestible for our audience, and also allows us, as authors, to turn out each episode more rapidly. Look for break-points in the story arc, where you might pause and wrap up a novel, and transition to the next book in the series. It keeps your audience hungry for more, without making each edition too large and expensive in terms of either the author’s time commitment, or the reader’s.
 
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