Over the years I have toyed with the idea of writing a book/series coming up with ideas then discarding them for other projects. However recently I have had a great idea I want to work on. While still very, very rough the idea is as follows: Earth can no longer support human kind and all attempts to restore the planet have failed. To preserve humanity, three interstellar voyages leave earth behind; each with a different star system as the destination. A little about the setting these stories take place in. The year will be between 2150 and 2200, about 130-180 years from now. Space travel between the moon and earth is common(as the moon is international and weapons free). There are also 5 space stations in earths orbit. I have not come up with a reason Mars was not a target planet for human settlement(other than wanting three fresh worlds to work with). Now to the main issue I want to settle before I start the initial design and planning: Should I write the three missions in the same book, or in three separate ones? Currently I am leaning towards the latter as the first option limits the amount I could write in each part before it risks becoming a mess and overly confusing. With that I am not sure how to structure the books. One thing that inspired me was Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow". You have the main story from the point of view of Ender(and his family), then in the other it is from the point of view of Bean. Both books take place at the same time. In my case I am thinking of writing each mission as its own series all in parallel. Later I am to include interactions between each mission. But before all that I plan to write a short story to introduce the setting and set the tone. TLDR; I need advice on writing three books(possible series) that happen in parallel, linked by the same setting and short story, and will come together at points in each series. Sorry if this seems to be a wall of text(or in the wrong section),
If you think you can write three stories without just retelling the same story, go for it. I'm a bit disappointed you're skipping Mars. Who doesn't love Mars?
The reason I skipped Mars is that it has nothing living on the surface meaning the only things I could use for a discovery would be subterranean archaeological finds and the only challenge would be to set up bio-domes like they did on the moon. Still I plan to use Mars, but not for human survival. Maybe human kind already has locations on Mars, but it still would take to long to form long term colonies. Still brainstorming ideas on how Mars will play a role, but not a central one(at least not yet).
