Can Familiarity Breed Content?
Authors and the Continuing Series Character

By JUDITH BLACKWELL MYERS

"As a reader, I've always loved series books best -- books that present characters who are so alive, one book cannot hold them or say all that has to be said of them."

In those words, science fiction author Lois McMaster Bujold gives voice to the strong affection which many readers reel for series fiction, an affection which translates into a considerable market demand. From Sherlock Holmes to Spenser, from Horatio Hornblower to Luke Skywalker, limited and open-ended series continue to generate a large and loyal following. "Readers get interested in good characters," reasons Anne McCaffrey (creator of half a dozen successful series), "and want to read more about them, past, present, and future. They relate in some way to the character and can't bear to give him or her up, or the world which they inhabit."

But what of the author who generates such works? Is the creation of a successful series character the key to a happy and lucrative writing future, or is it destined to become a golden ball and chain? What are the liberations and limitations of "going steady" with your principal fictional creation?

To find out, I surveyed a number of Novelists, Inc. members who have written series novels in such fields as mystery, science fiction, romantic suspense, and fantasy. Thirty percent of the respondents publish series fiction exclusively; of the remaining seventy percent, most divide their efforts between single title and series work, while a few have made only isolated forays into non-series fiction. I posed a number of practical and philosophical questions to them regarding series work and their attitudes toward it. Her is a sampling of their replies.

Did you originally plan to write a series?

Jean Auel: "I did not plan a series. I actually started out to do a short story--that was a million or so words ago! However, I knew it would be a series before I finished the first book. The 'short story' led me to do some research; the research fired my imagination, and the wealth of material made me decide to write a novel. The first draft turned out to be more than 450,000 words and fell into six parts. On rewriting, I realized each of these six parts was a novel in itself. I have used that rough draft as the outline for the series."

Diane Mott Davidson: "I'm doing a series because that's a popular option within the mystery genre. Once the first half of Catering To Nobody, the first in the Goldy the Caterer series, was done, I'd had ideas for several more, and couldn't wait to start them."

Patricia Gardner Evans: "What has become a series protagonist (character Quinn Eisley) was never intended to be one. The character simply took on a life of his own, something which I had heard other writers say happened, but had never really believed until it happened to me. He was actually supposed to be a thoroughly unlikable jerk, my petty revenge against a thoroughly unlikable jerk from my first profession, but even in the first book he wasn't. I still got my revenge, however, since he has already earned me a tidy sum."

Randy Russell: "I had not planned on the first book being the start of a series. I had already completed a second novel on contract to the publisher and been paid for it. Upon the first book's receiving favorable reviews, the publisher asked me to revise the second book to become a sequel to the first by changing the protagonist of the second book to that of the first book. I offer this information as evidence of how strongly publishers want/ed to do series. Because the second book had already been accepted and I'd already been paid, and because the second book was third-person and the first was first-person narrative, I declined their offer to revise. The publisher declined, in turn, to publish it and let me keep the advance. Meanwhile, the publisher contracted me to write two more mysteries using the protagonist of the first book. The first book received a nomination for an Edgar award and the publisher bumped the next two books, by supplemental contract, to hardcover. (I did rewrite that second book as a Rooster Franklin mystery and sold it back anew to the publisher, and it was brought out in hardcover as the fourth book in the series.)"

Anne McCaffrey: "Only the first two Dinosaur Planet books were done with a series in mind. My Pern series began as a 7,000-word short story. Two million words in thirteen full novels, plus three reference books later, I have not yet stopped a series that I hadn't intended to write in the first place."

Ann and Evan Maxwell: "Fiora, the ex-wife was the victim in the first book, but she was to disappear from the pages. She had a walk-on role in Book 2 but by the time we got to the third story, she had barged back onto the scene and would not be dislodged. So, instead of serial monogamy as in Travis McGee, with Fiddler as the only continuing character, we ended up with two continuing characters who personal story plays out in the confines of the books. In other words, we set out to write a series but it wasn't the one we eventually wrote."

William Bernhardt: "It was my editor at Ballantine who, after reading the first book, inquired whether I thought this could be the first of the series. Needless to say, I did. It is not until the second book, Blind Justice, that I think it begins to feel like a series. In Blind Justice, I made the point of introducing a more substantial 'supporting cast'--additional characters who could recur from book to book."

Have you experienced a change of editor during the course of your series? If so, what effect (if any) did it have on the project?

Diane Mott Davidson: "At my first house, I had four different editors, but the main editing job was done by the first one, a very clear-thinking woman. I had no 'change of philosophy' in the course of the first novel, as that woman's successors all understood and partook in her vision. Similarly, the editor at my next house, a brilliant woman who has edited the four succeeding books, understands Goldy very well. She read and was enthusiastic about the first published book in the series before ever deciding to buy the series."

William Bernhardt: "Joe Blades at Ballantine bought my first book and every book I've written since. I consider myself very lucky in that regard. He's a first-rate editor."

Carole Nelson Douglas: "The Sword and Circlet fantasy series changed houses (because of an abusive editor) in mid-stream, and I ended up with three editors on it, all unsatisfactory. I again had a destructive editor for the Irene, Louie, and Taliswoman series, and made a change much for the better. I resisted as best I could while still having to work with [the previous] editor, and don't feel the books have been significantly affected, although I certainly was strained by the uneasy political position of having to fight the person who was essentially paying my salary by buying my books. Changing editors did not affect house support for these series, fortunately."

Lois McMaster Bujold: "I've been lucky with editorial continuity. I've been with Baen Books, which is owned by Jim Baen, from my very beginning in 1985. I've only had one change of sub-editor in all that time. This has had excellent long-term benefits for the Vorkosigan series: unlike most of my colleagues, I can brag that every one of my books is still in print, still selling (and cross-selling)."

Ann and Evan Maxwell: "The series has had six or seven different editors. Thankfully, for reasons ranging from intelligence to indifference, they left us alone to develop the series in our way, at our own pace."

In series work, what special challenges do you face concerning character development, new plot lines, and/or secondary characters?

Diane Mott Davidson: "It's not difficult to come up with new plots or secondary characters; it's only challenging in successive books to weave in some of the characters already introduced who live in the town where Goldy works. These characters feel real to me and others, and occasionally I can feel them clamoring to get on stage."

William Bernhardt: "Ben Kincaid has changed significantly since his initial outgoing. I intentionally chose to make Ben, in the first book, a young, inexperienced, somewhat naive lawyer. Over the course of the five Justice books, Ben has matured, become more competent, become more capable. This evolution of character is just as important as plot, and in truth, although I sometimes have to struggle to come up with a new storyline, I always know 'where Ben is' at this point in his life. There are, as you may have noticed, other courtroom books on the market right now, but I do believe that the Justice books, principally because of the Ben Kincaid character, the humor, the examination of moral and ethical issues, and a few other factors, have a distinct flavor that some readers respond to favorably."

Jean Auel: As new developments in the story (or the research material--such as the discovery of new painted caves in France) arise, they fall into place as the story progresses." Carole Nelson Douglas: "When developing the Midnight Louie cat character, I planned his mystery incarnation as a long-running affair: 15 to 20 books or more. To permit this, I developed a romantic quadrangle of human characters who would provide complications (and satisfactions) for the readers in the long run. Each of the two men and two women are from backgrounds or occupations that allow them to function as a primary human detective in tandem with the series star: cat sleuth Midnight Louie. I have in the back of my mind that if I 'wear out' the human quartet after X number of books, I can simply move Louie to another cast of humans.

Why do you enjoy writing a series?

Lois McMaster Bujold: "Since the thing that fascinates me most as a writer is character creation, and since series give the creation of character the most scope, I expect I'll always have an innate predilection for series."

Diane Mott Davidson: "I enjoy doing the series very much, and it gives me a context in which to look at themes I find intriguing."

Carole Nelson Douglas: "At first, I found the idea of a series intimidating, but I've come to love the breadth and width of character development and long-range plotting possibilities possible, and necessary, for series. I prefer the long-range story-telling rewards of series. If you bring mainstream issues and approaches to a series, I think it will serve you and your career well."

Anne McCaffrey: "There are many science fiction writers who deplore the series writers: too much waffling on about too little substance. Perhaps, but I like to think I'm doing the Chekhovian thing: a slice of life, pulled out of a time which exists both before and after the events described. You know far more about the character or place you're writing about, and you yourself wish to explore the possibilities that cannot all be crammed into one book."

If you've ended a series, why did you?

Randy Russell: "Despite much early promise, the series did not sell well and the publisher discontinued it after four books. I was in shock. It took me a year to realize I needed to write something else...and I had been almost literally dragged kicking into doing a series in the first place."

Do you have a preference for series writing over single title work?

Randy Russell: "I am currently writing non-series fiction, for which I do confess a preference. I like working with a protagonist who may or may not remain intact at the end of the story."

Patty Gardner Evans: "I prefer very loosely-tied spin-offs or stand-alone books because when I finish a book, I am generally finished with the characters, as well."

William Bernhardt: "Having published both series and non-series books, I think it's important to alternate them. I've found that my approach to the Ben Kincaid character and the Justice books is much more fresh and inventive if I do not go straight from one to the next." Jean Auel: "I've been working 17 years on this project, and I want to do something else--maybe a mystery, or a thin little literary science fiction book, or something. But, I admit, I've learned a lot. I love the research. I can't think of anything more fun than learning anything I want and earning a living writing about it the way I want to."

Ann and Evan Maxwell: "We both continue to do non-series books. They are different flavors so we probably won't give up either approach."

And the potential pitfalls?

Diane Mott Davidson: "For me, the most challenging part of writing a series is remembering the many, many details I have set up in the previous books regarding the characters' lives. Recently I was asking the homicide investigator I work with here in Colorado about weapons and what kind of holsters a cop would wear with each one. He told me what kind of holster would be needed in the circumstances, and reminded me that Tom Schulz, the continuing homicide investigator in the Goldy series, carries a .45. That I would not have remembered this detail panicked me; I am now in the process of rereading all the previous books!"

Ann and Evan Maxwell: "Every fact you use about the characters' backgrounds comes back to haunt you in the most inconvenient way. Then there is the necessity of finding a fresh new way to impart some of the old back story. Fiddler has to describe some of what happened in earlier books so the new readers aren't lost, but he has to find a different way of saying it or the old readers will get bored. (Not to mention the old writers.)"

Anne McCaffrey: "A writer cannot always predict which characters will become popular. You must hit the right note that makes the reading public desire to know as much as possible, to devour all words relating to that character and what s/he does. The proof is always in the sales figures and the durability of the novels in question. The first novel I wrote thirty years ago is still in print. It continues to earn almost twice its original purchase price and occasionally triples it if I have a new generation of readers who like what I write and want 'all' my titles."

Lois McMaster Bujold: "I took particular care, when writing the early books, to make them stand-alones, just in case my series plans didn't come off. I also deliberately, and from the very beginning, set up my series structure to side-step several of the pitfalls of series work. I contract them one at a time; I am never 'stuck' writing one series book too many. Since they all stand alone, potentially any could be the last, and I could walk away at any time, or take a break and do something different for one book or several. I do not necessarily write them in chronological order, though writing a 'prequel' is rather challenging. So, I hope, the reader will always get the best Vorkosigan book I can think of, not necessarily just the next Vorkosigan book I can think of."

In Closing...

Series writing is not for everyone. Your great idea for a series may fail to strike a responsive spark with the necessary editors or readers, or may only succeed marginally, satisfying your publisher but failing to live up to your personal expectations. Then again, it may be that the very notion of dealing repeatedly with the same primary character(s) causes you to break out in hives and exhibit signs of creative claustrophobia. But for those writers who feel so inclined and are willing to take the risk, it's a field which offers numerous potential rewards, including a chance for the leisurely exploration of a complex network of primary and secondary characters in a detailed and evolving fictional world.

As Carole Nelson Douglas pointed out, "It's possible to become trapped in series that go nowhere. Many writers plow the series furrow because it offers regular if unspectacular money, and may mire their career in the backwater of publishing as a result. But it's also possible to break series out to the Big Time. Series can enslave you or free you, depending on how you build your multi-book world and how you tend it."

Author's Note:

My thanks to the following Ninc members, who took time out of their hectic schedules to respond to the questionnaire upon which this article was based: Jean Auel (the "Earth's Children" pre-historic fiction series); William Bernhardt (the "Justice" mainstream series); Lois McMaster Bujold (the "Vorkosigan" science fiction series); Diane Mott Davidson (the "Goldy the Caterer" culinary mystery series); Carole Nelson Douglas (the "Irene Adler" adventure/historical mystery series, "Midnight Louie" cat-detective mystery series, "Sword and Circlet" high fantasy series, and "Talisman" high fantasy series); Patricia Gardner Evans (the "Eisley and Company" romantic suspense series); Ann and Evan Maxwell (the "Fiddler and Fiora" mystery series); Anne McCaffrey (the "Pern," "Dinosaur Planet," "Crystal Singer," "Talent," "Petaybean," and "Brain and Brawn" science fiction series); and Randy Russell (the "Rooster Franklin" mystery series).

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