I love a book series! While any good story is a good story, I enjoy sidling in next to characters I genuinely like and following them around for several books. That’s perhaps the only quasi-stalking behavior that’s socially and morally acceptable.

Whether you’re a reader or an author (authors really need to be readers as well) a book series has a lot to offer from a creative and practical point of view. Let’s take a look at some benefits and potential pitfalls of writing a series.

What genres suit a series format?

Any topic that’s big enough, and interesting enough, has the potential to unfurl over multiple volumes. As far as genre goes, some really translate fantastically well to a series while others can take it or leave it. Let’s quickly consider just three examples.

Fantasy

Since fantasy books typically involve a fair bit of world building, it seems a waste to write only one book and then leave it. Fantasy lends itself to a series very easily and gives the author the chance to develop their strange and wondrous world deftly and skillfully. This approach can be far easier on the reader than an overwhelming information dump. They might end up skimming excessive details to get back to the plot.

Romance

For romance, again it can be either. Especially if the romance is real-world and not fantasy, you don’t have to introduce as many new concepts like alien species, or magic systems.

Some authors tie books together by introducing a group of friends or allies in book 1. Then the progressive books each feature a different member of the group. The books are connected, the various characters may appear in the books of others, but the main character typically changes for each book.

Something I don’t personally care for in a romance series is when they span many years. Later books portray the couple from the original book as aging and slowing down. That’s all very realistic, but it kills a little of the joy of the original book for me. That’s just me, though.

If the books in the series are timed close together, I am far more interested. As I discussed in my post on timings between books, I don’t like feeling left behind in a story.

Mystery

When it comes to mystery, a genre that’s obviously quite dear to my heart, I definitely love a series. That’s not to say that I can’t enjoy a standalone, I can and do. But I think a series really comes into its own with this genre in particular. Why do I say that? Consider this, my friends…

The mystery series

Character introduction takes time

When you’re first introducing characters, especially if you’re trying to cultivate and present well-rounded characters, it requires some page time. Sometimes a lot. The more complex or pivotal the character, the more time, space and energy you may need to devote to them. You also need time and space to bring in multiple characters without your story turning into an inscrutable jumble.

A good mystery plot also takes time

When you’re trying to weave a good mystery into the lives of your characters, you have to find room for both. If you have a comparatively limited span of pages to do this in, that may clip your wings a tad. You may not be able to develop characters and relationships as thoroughly as you could in genres where relationships are the main drive of the story.

You don’t have to be thorough with both, of course. I’ve read many books that surface skim one point or the other. You can end up with a character-driven story with a shallower mystery element. Or a more intricate mystery but the main characters lean towards the typical and borderline cliché specimens. I don’t say that as a criticism!

You have to allow that some authors are stitching together two major elements, character-building and mystery-building, into a single volume. There’s only so much space to work with so some facets might end up taking a hit. If the resulting story is still enjoyable, then it isn’t a problem.

And I’m not saying that you can’t develop some meaty characters in the span of one book. Of course you can, and especially if it’s a longer book. But if you have 3, 5 or 10 books to work with, you’ve got far more room to grow and incorporate interesting mystery themes. And you can do it at a comfortable and graceful pace.

What a little more space can do for you

When you have a series, you can build your characters slowly and surely. The readers will get to know their key quirks and attributes so you don’t have to fully explain it again in every single book. That gives you time to bring in new events, reactions and nuances. You have room to add complexity and growth to whatever extent you choose. There is a significant ‘but‘ attached to that, however, and I’ll talk more about it in a moment.

Series types

Elements of a lighter series

There’s a time and place for fluff and easy reading. Stories that progress according to reader expectations, and characters that fit the popular molds and do the required deeds to make everything turn out okay. In those cases, they may not have deep-seated insecurities, dark secrets, serious relationship issues or twisty and perilous turmoil. Quite often, the more emotional chaos has happened before the reader even meets them.

The lead characters in these stories are more likely to be the young woman whose high school sweetheart dumped her. Or the later-in-life divorcee whose husband ran off with a younger woman and somehow got to keep all of their money. Maybe an aspiring actress that tried for a career in the big city, flopped completely, and heads back to her hometown to start over.

A lot of cozies fall into this general area

Typically the female lead has had some sort of confidence-sapping experience and needs the healing power of friends and smalltown warmth to help her rebuild. It’s one of many time-tested and beloved tropes. They are tropes because they work and people know what to expect. The names are changed and the hobby or food-service establishment varies, but you essentially know how it’s going to go down.

It’s like having a smoothie instead of cooking a more involved meal. There’s a certain amount of pre-chewing that’s been done for you. That’s actually a pretty gross analogy. I’m sorry.

Curiously, a LOT of cozy mysteries run as a series. Even though the main character may not have or need a particularly compelling personality. And sometimes even the mystery element is a bit thin. How does that work?

Fluff. Glorious, safe, makes-you-feel-good fluff. A lot of people want to sit down with a book they can trust not to horrify them. They may not want graphic depictions of situations that would take years of therapy to try and cope with.

Elements of a deeper series

I do enjoy some light reading, but if I want to get lost in a book, I need something with more substance. While some people think of cozies as knitting and tea shops (nothing wrong with those) there is a deeper end of the pool. That’s also where my books tend to float about. We need new terms to differentiate and further segment the cozy genre but that’s a topic for another post.

A mystery series can incorporate some more emotional and even sinister themes without tipping over into the gratuitous and traumatic. Bad things can happen, really bad things, but they don’t have to be major trigger topics.

There can be deeper and more complex friendships, family relationships and romantic bonds as well. There’s room for all those things and it can provide a very satisfying reading experience. A series gives you that space as long as you use it well.

Poo piles that a series can land itself in

A series needs continuity

Here comes the ‘but’ I mentioned earlier. You need to keep this in mind unless you want to run the risk of frustrating your readers. Don’t assume that everyone who reads book 2 or 3 in a series has already read book 1. Certainly don’t imagine that they’ve memorized all the regular characters from a previous book.

Even if someone enjoys your series and follows it, you’re not the only chicken in their coop. That is to say they’re likely reading other books too. If you open a story assuming that the reader knows exactly who your characters are, but they don’t, it can be awkward.

Case in point, I started reading book 3 in a culinary cozy series that I started a while back. In the first eight pages it featured or referenced 11 different characters with very little discussion of who they were. 11 people in 8 pages.

I did happen to remember the main character and her friend, and they feature in the opening of this book. But it would have taken only a sentence or two for the main chick to have an internal thought about knowing the friend since she moved to town or since high school and she hadn’t changed a bit, etc. It would have quickly established the nature of their friendship without that much effort.

You can hit the ground running, but you still have to land somewhere

Bear in mind that, particularly in a cozy mystery, the town itself is almost its own character. But whatever the genre, your story needs a setting and it needs some kind of a mention. At least throw in the name of the place, and maybe what state or region it’s in so people can get a sense of the climate and such.

The tighter setting is very important, it’s also a valuable source of atmosphere for the reader. The building or the room that your characters are in can add to the story if you describe it well. That’s not specific to a series, standalones need good descriptors as well. But there’s a greater danger of forgetting those things in a series, because you may have already introduced these places in previous books. And you won’t need to go into great detail every time, but don’t assume everyone remembers as clearly as you do.

The book I’m referencing here was quite vague on some points that could have been really cool. The setting is hinted at but not clearly defined; no mention of sights, scents or textures that could have brought the scene to life. And since, from what I gleaned, it was a theatre preparing for a pirate-themed show, there was great potential.

The point is that a little bit of input can quickly bring the reader up to speed enough that they know where they are and who they’re with. It doesn’t take much but it stands out if it’s skipped over. Remember that every entry in a series has to do at least a little re-establishing.

Remember who your characters are

What I mean is that you need to keep your characters consistant across the series. That doesn’t mean they can’t expand or change (more on that shortly), but they need to remain recognizable to the reader.

If you want to significantly alter a character, be realistic about it. If you don’t, your readers will think you aren’t paying attention to your own writing.

For instance, if a side character was always a timid little fawn in her personality, she probably wouldn’t turn into a confident dynamo overnight. Not even if it would be an easy way to advance the plot. Ease her in and create good reasons for the change. Think of how real people change, that will help you keep your characters approachable and relatable.

Embrace the opportunities to grow

If you’re writing a series and you want to go a bit deeper with it, you have the opportunity to add some extra dimensions to your characters. Here are a few suggestions on ways to do it.

Give them a complex problem that won’t be solved quickly

Show them grappling with it throughout the series. Do they grow stronger and overcome it? Or do they have to accept new limitations? Either choice can drastically change how that character behaves and it may resonate with some readers.

Give them a glaring flaw

Some personality trait or tendency that they can’t just expect everyone else to put up with because it’s them. Let them work on that problem over the series, let them have successes and relapses. It can be very humanizing and interesting.

Unleash hell

Take care in what you inflict and how bad it is, always consider your audience. But you could have something bad befall someone within the series. Maybe they have to close a business, or they lose their job and start a business. A friend might move away or their great-great Uncle Herschel might die. Whatever it is, let your readers be there beside them and see it through with them.

Let the problems haunt them

This is something I did in book 3 of my series, Pretty Little Princesses. I won’t give major spoilers but my main character has a very close call and it affects her in some of the successive books. Without it turning into crippling trauma, I tried to give a realistic look at how an ordinary person would be affected by a terrifying event.
You don’t usually find those ongoing consequences in lighter books; they keep it light. But you can dial it up without alienating readers as long as you don’t go too far with it.

Break up relationships

I’d be very careful with this one because you’ll almost certainly cheese some people off. If you’re feeling brave enough to try it, consider making sure there are significant flaws obvious in the relationships. You want readers to be in some state of agreement that the couple is better off apart. Or give clear reason to hope that the breakup is temporary.

You don’t want them screaming at you via angry emails or reviews because you broke up their favorite couple. Remember reader expectation and don’t rip their hearts out.

Readers and authors win

A series is a beautiful thing all the way around, and particularly in the mystery genre. Even though some like the self-contained nature of standalones, a lot of us love a long run of connected books.

A series frees up authors to put more energy into their mystery plot because their setting is established. Which means they don’t have to invent a whole new town etc. So, whether you want to keep it light or try delving deep, if you aren’t writing a series, give it some thought. There are many benefits waiting to be enjoyed.