Plot Structures for Books in a Series

Never Assume That Your Reader Is Familiar with Book One

Writing a successful literary series isn't easy;
luckily, Scribendi.com's editors are here to help.

Our manuscript editors deal with plenty of writers who try to "explain away" the holes in their plots by claiming, "This is a book from a series. That character was introduced in Book One." This, however, is not an excuse for turning out a manuscript that is full of gaps in the plot. Each book in a series must have its own mini-plot that is concluded within its pages. Every character must be introduced properly. Never assume that a reader has read Book One—odds are that she or he hasn't, and your current volume will leave her or him confused and frustrated. Even if your readers have read Book One, it may have been years ago, and they might not remember all of the details. While you don't need to—and shouldn't!—rewrite every single scene, you should include references to previous plot points in logical places that will provide enough detail for readers to follow along.

Before you begin writing, create an overview of your entire plot

Whether your series contains three books or 30, one of the best ways to stay on top of your plot structure is to create an overview of the entire storyline. This way, you'll be able to clearly define the topics that will be covered in each volume of the series, as well as recognize which aspects of the plot from prior volumes will need to be referenced and re-explained. Our manuscript editing experts have crafted the following fantasy plot example here, since science fiction and fantasy commonly feature massive, multi-book series.

The story starts with a young hero who is working on a farm. One day, an old witch comes up to him and tells him that he must save the world from Black Bart, an evil wizard who wants to plunge everything into chaos. Only the hero can do this because he is the bastard son of a king whose royal blood is needed to work the necessary magic to defeat the evil enemy. This is the overarching plot.

• In Book One, we see the young hero's quest for the magic sword he needs to make the magic work.
• In Book Two, we see the hero overcome many trials to claim his father's vacant throne so that he is in a position to do battle with Black Bart.
• In Book Three, we see the hero maneuver his now-loyal subjects into war with Black Bart's armies. Meanwhile, the hero takes the magic sword he got in Book One to do battle directly with Black Bart.

Each of the three volumes has a specific complication and resolution; our manuscript editing professionals thus see them each as novels in their own right.  In order to act as a stepping-stone toward the resolution of the series' overarching plot, each new volume will need to reference complications from preceding plots. If our writer neglects to reiterate the hero's genealogy in Book Three, new readers will miss one of the defining features of the entire trilogy!

Keep a close eye on your plot structure, regardless or your chosen genre

This approach to series writing applies to other genres as well. If you are following in the footsteps of someone like Sue Grafton and writing multiple mysteries involving the same detective, you are going to need to introduce your detective and his or her world within every new installment. Follow this up with a good, tight sequence of events to solve the case, and your plot structure will be seamless. While you often don't see an 'overarching plot' between volumes in this type of series (each is usually a stand-alone novel), you can still have threads that tie back to previous complications. Good examples include having the relationship between long-time characters evolve or having past events come back to haunt a character. For a further example, let's look at Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries: in one novel, Cadfael discovers a son he never knew about; in a later novel, he must decide between protecting this son or continuing his peaceful life in Shrewsbury Abbey.

Don't let your plot remain static

Characters and underlying plots in a multi-book series don't need to, and shouldn't, remain static; if they do, your readers will get bored and abandon the series. The perfect novel series must strike a balance between new developments and previous information. Have you reiterated important plot points from previous novels? Are these points spaced logically throughout the new volume, or clumped at the beginning? Achieving a state of literary equilibrium isn't easy. Luckily, our manuscript editing experts are here to help. Submit your series today for a professional opinion.