FAQ - Writing a Series

Q:. What are some of the special problems in plotting a series with ongoing characters?  How do you keep from getting confused?

A:   Oh, I get confused, all right. But yes, there are, indeed, lots of things to watch out for in a series.  The following are some things I've learned:

1. Keep a list of characters and places mentioned.  With each addition to the series I add any changes to characters e.g.. hair grayer, cut off dreads, house burned, etc.

2. For ongoing characters, I've found it useful to construct family trees.  You never know when the odd uncle or cousin will come in handy.

3. Keep a time line --I put events in real time (Vietnam War, Great flood of 1916), in bold; events in fictional (Miss Birdie born, Sam dies) time in regular.

4. Remember with each new book you have to reintroduce everyone all over again -- without boring faithful readers. I keep a small check list - describe Elizabeth, her house and farm, her family, her dogs, her back-story.   

5. Be careful about how many ongoing characters you have-- it can begin to feel like you're pulling a heavy load, working everyone into every book -- or at least accounting for their absence.  (Lee Child avoids this by having Jack Reacher constantly on the move -- new places, new faces in every book. )

6.  Make sure your protagonist continues to evolve, to learn new things and reveal more and more of him or herself in every book. (My editor is really big on this one.)

(The leaves are all from the same pear tree. Such variety!) 

FAQ- Milk It!

Q: You're always talking about how much you've learned from your editor -- can you give us an example?

A: Oh, yes! One of my favorites is 'Milk it!' (This week's assignment in my writing class, as a matter of fact.)

I first saw this comment on the edit of  Signs in the Blood.  My protagonist Elizabeth was in a scary situation and needed to stop her car and get out. So that's what she did -- in about two sentences.

In the margin, Herself  penciled "Milk it!" meaning that I should wring every last ounce of tension possible from the scene. So there were sweaty palms and fumbling with seatbelt latch, yadda, yadda, till the escape had been effected -- maybe two pages later.

Here's a hypothetical example of a moment of high tensions being prolonged.  Suppose you have a character who is running away from someone, don't just write "She ran along the road and flagged down a passing car with friendly people who who gave her a ride home."

Too short for tension to build - it's over before it's begun. 

Instead, in this scene, the character should run, slip and fall, get up, run some more -- always aware to the footsteps growing ever closer. She should try to flag down a car only to have it zoom past her; she should keep running, slowing because of being out of breath or a stone in her shoe or something. 

All the time, the pursuer is getting closer. Maybe she passes a house and sees someone in the front yard but when she calls to them, that person scurries inside and slams the door shut. And the pursuer is getting ever closer.

This could go on for quite a bit (I'm sure you  could think of more stumbling blocks in her path) before the friendly car comes along. When it does, it could slow and she would think she was saved. 

Then it could speed back up and go on. And she would despair. Then at last, she could see its brake lights go on and it would back up and the driver would ask if she wanted a ride.

That's milking it!