Dariel's Feature: So You're Writing a Series? Tips and Pitfalls by Mia Darien

Yesterday, I shared my reviews of two of Mia Darien's "Adelheid Series" books with you. Well, today she's back with me to share a few pointers about series writing...

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As I'm here today promoting my paranormal suspense books, the Adelheid series, I've been asked to talk about that: writing a series. As lots of writers today are writing books into series, it's a good topic, I think.

I'll start at the bottom, so to speak. Pitfalls. I think the single biggest issue with writing a series is continuity. You've got to be consistent! If you take breaks in between your books, and we writers have to lest our heads explode, then you're going to lose some details from your memory. We are, after all, only human.

But if you want to develop a following, and that's of course what we're all after, readers are going to notice if you change something. If one character had blue eyes in book one and brown eyes in two, someone is going to notice and point it out. ;)

So it's important to either re-read your stuff, or keep cheat sheets. Personally, I do something in between. I keep story folders that have pertinent history details, and if I can't remember (with certainty) some other detail, I go back into my book and I find if I said it.

Now, my Adelheid stories are short novels, so it's not too hard to go back. If you write epic length tales, seriously consider more cheat sheets! Also have beta readers with good eyes and good memories.

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Honestly, if I had one piece of advice for anyone writing a series, it's this. And it's not just about the color of someone's eyes or what year they were born. It's about the character and the stories: be consistent in their growth. What you do them in Story A is going to change them and how they are in Story B, so show that. Make sure that your events flow and make sense between book to book.

If you can do that, make the plots and the characters remain consistent and move forward, then it's going to feel more real to your readers. And even if you're writing left-field fiction, if you can make it *feel* real to your readers, than they'll keep coming back book after book.

Biography: Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn’t miss the snow.

• Website: http://www.miadarien.com/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.miadarien
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MiaDarien
• Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/mia_darien

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