How do you decide if you're going to write a single novel or a series?

[ThinkerX]

I should say knowing how long your story is going to be from the moment you've thought of it would have to be almost intuitive. It depends what it's about. Also a series with a continuing story, or even 'episodic continuing' as someone said before, requires a lot of plot structuring before you can even get started. J.K Rowling for example spent five years plotting out Harry Potter before writing the first novel.

I chose to make mine a trilogy because it's a 'quest for the macguffin' style story in which there are four identical macguffins, so each book could be about the pursuit of one at a time. It's taken me years to plot it out too, there's so much to think about in advance. There were always going to be three, but I've another project that'll definitely be a one off, and another that will be better as a collection of shorts

In that case, I am a massive failure at the intuition thing.

'Labyrinth' was originally intended to be 10-15 K. First draft hit 44K. Went back, cut a lot of stuff, added things to fix characters and plot, and...62K. Then, I decided that some of the cut stuff was too good to leave out, so 'Labyrinth' became 'Labyrinth: Journal' and I wrote the sequel, 'Labyrinth: Seed.'

Then again, I did do a bit better with 'Empire.' That was intended to be a series of short, 60-70K novels exploring the changing scene in the Imperial Heartland. Thus far the first three books in that series (six or seven total) are all right around 60K, and once I finish the rewrite, book 4 will probably be about 70K. However, while each book tells a story, that story is part of a greater whole.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

They do claim to want stand alone... with series potential. Heh heh. The series is just a financial no brainer, but in the case of new authors it’s still easier to take a risk on a stand alone. My tendency is Epic, so I don’t pay much attention to stand alones.

One of the main advantages of a one-and-done story is that you don't have to really worry about world building as much since you should be only including information that is relevant to the characters so as to cut out unnecessary fluff.

For a series where continuity is important then like the others have said, you have to take more time setting things up so future events feel organic when they occur and not require retcons which most readers dislike.

But that's easier said than done. Being able to weave a lot of world information into the narrative and not have it come off as an info dump that hurts the pacing of a story is more of an art than a science and takes a lot of practice to do well. This is also one of the main markers between a novice and a experienced writer.

All that said though, are publishers even interested in stand alone novels these days, especially in the fantasy genre? It seems like everything that gets published is part of at least a trilogy or longer.

 

[skip.knox]

No brainers pretty much describes the traditional publishing industry. There are exceptions, but only if they're exceptional.

 

[Darkfantasy]

I don't always know. I'm hoping my current work will be a series but I'm writing this one as a stand alone book.

 

[LordWarGod]

When you began working on your books and planning out the plot, how did you decide if you would make a single, duology, or trilogy? Did you know from the start or did you change your mind as you progressed?

I originally started out trying to write my own novel and as the years went by, my plans changed. First, it was just one novel then I planned to write three and now I've decided to do something completely different. It all depends on what I'm working on.

 

[Ewolf20]

actually, is it normal for your first novel to be bad? the reason i'm reluctant on hopping on one is first the word count and so how i can manage to fill the required number of pages to be considered a "novel".

the reason i seem to like short stories is mostly because I don't end up bored 30 pages in and although they're are exceptions, the majority aren't to my taste. really how a write is short scene followed by short scene which not only makes the pacing feel off bu does not allow for slower scenes, which requires a lot words i feel are unnecessary but are a necessary evil to showcase a slower paced scene.

it's ultimately how you go about starting a novel that it goes from really not feeling like writing it, to actually enjoying it despite it feeling really bad.

 

[ThinkerX]

actually, is it normal for your first novel to be bad? the reason i'm reluctant on hopping on one is first the word count and so how i can manage to fill the required number of pages to be considered a "novel".

the reason i seem to like short stories is mostly because I don't end up bored 30 pages in and although they're are exceptions, the majority aren't to my taste. really how a write is short scene followed by short scene which not only makes the pacing feel off bu does not allow for slower scenes, which requires a lot words i feel are unnecessary but are a necessary evil to showcase a slower paced scene.

it's ultimately how you go about starting a novel that it goes from really not feeling like writing it, to actually enjoying it despite it feeling really bad.

The rough guide.... (from lots of reading through the decades).

1500 to 7500 words is a short story (many publishers want under 5000, more tolerant types up to around 10,000)

7500 to 15,000 words is a novelette (15-20,000 is a 'void' of sorts)

20,000 to 45,000 words is a novella. In print world, novellas are the stories that eat up most of a magazine, or are centerpieces for anthologies. Used to be novellas were not all that popular, but they are making a comeback of sorts, especially among indy writers. 35,000 words is very roughly 100 pages.

50,000 - 70,000 words = 'short novel.' Popular length for mysteries, YA, and a lot of old line SF/Fantasy pulp novels. Present day publishers regard them as to short. Also a popular length for present day indy SF/Fantasy authors (I blame NaNo - write a 50 K novel in a month, manage that, salvage the story in the rewrite, and there you are.) 70,000 words is around 200 pages, give or take. The old school pulp novels often checked in at about 150-180 pages.

90,000 - 125,000 is the length SF/Fantasy publishers are looking for.

 

[MrBrightsider]

I think it's pretty important to make sure that, sequel-potential or not, each story you write is a complete and finished work. At the very least, all problems started by your story should be wrapped up by the time that story concludes, even if you're planning on a sequel. Of course that has some leeway too it--although Voldemort is defeated by Harry in the Sorcerer's Stone, Dumbledore hints at him not being gone forever. However, for the purposes of the story, "bad guy was defeated". I think if there had only been one Harry Potter book ever, most people would have been satisfied by that ending. The fact that a sequel followed the first was a happy, if unnecessary, coincidence. And again, in the following book, the problems started by the Chamber of Secrets are resolved within the same story--bad stuff happens, Harry saves the day, rescues future waifu, defeats evil snake (who was technically the main antagonist).

 

[EMoon]

When you began working on your books and planning out the plot, how did you decide if you would make a single, duology, or trilogy? Did you know from the start or did you change your mind as you progressed?

You don't have to know that. When I started what turned into my first three books, I thought I was writing a short story. 75 pages in I knew it wasn't a short story. But for once I kept going because I really wanted to know what next. Somewhere around 200 pages (I think it was--that was, um, a lot of years ago) I realized it wasn't going to shape itself to fit into one book. I plowed on. 400 pages. 600 pages. 750 pages...and we were still in what felt like the early stages of the story. Sure enough, when it finally came down to an end, it was three fat volumes. And I realized that I was not a short story writer...or only occasionally a short story writer.

So write on...and on...until the story finishes itself. Later, when you've written a lot of stories (long, short, in between) you'll have a better feel for what new idea will probably end up as a standalone, or a group or a short story. I realize that's like setting out in the car for a drive in the country, not knowing if you'll be back for supper or end up all the way across the country years later...but that's what writing is. Or that's what it is for me. Let go of the security of knowing what you're doing, and just take off into the story.

 

[EponasSong]

Mine is pretty simple, I let my story tell me. If the concept is big enough and is too large to fit into one book then I go with a series. To me a series is just one long story cut into different books. Like chapters are in a book.