I have a question regarding how I should proceed with my series. I have a series that, as it stands, is going to be four books long. Each book is going to be broken into four smaller parts (Part 1, 2, 3, and 4 obviously). Now, when I first began plotting for this series, I only had the first four "parts" worked out, though they were separate books at the time. These four parts have become the first book in the series. As it stands now, each of these parts, while contributing to the overarching plot of the first book, have fairly standalone storylines. Now for my question. Is it wrong to write the series this way? Should I split them up and basically have 16 books in the series? Or, should I go back and try to make each book only one-part (like most chapter books)? Sorry for the long post. Hope this isn't too confusing. I feel like I didn't explain it well.
So basically chapters having massive chapter? Yeah that makes sense. But it would only make sense if you have multiple books that are above 500 pages long.. But that is my opinion. Which can be taken with a grain of salt.
There is one practical thing to consider in my opinion. How long is each part (word count)? If each part is really long, then it might be better to turn each part into a separate novel. Other than that, how you write it is up to you.
That's what I was thinking. If they got too long, I would obviously have to split them up again. As of right now (1st draft of Book 1 Part 1 is done) and it is 95 pages about. I was aiming for around 100 per part. Not going to stretch or cut on purpose just to reach 100, but that was a simple number to shoot for on a 1st draft.
How many words is it? The publishing industry talks about length using word count because the number of pages can depend on things like font size and page layout.
The average first novel is between 60k and 100k words depending on genre, with the lower end being young adult fiction. So if your parts fall in that range, consider turning them into separate novels (or consider having 2 parts = 1 novel). Of course, there's a little more flexibility if you decide to self-publish, but that word count range is a good guideline to consider.
Really? Okay. That is a useful bit of information. Thanks! I am going to look into this more. Never knew that word count was a better judge of length than page count (though it makes perfect sense and I am not sure why I never realized it before).
I am writing my book in three parts -and the whole book is going to be the first in a trilogy. Now, each part of book one equals close to 21 chapters, each chapter equaling to around 10 pages or four thousand words. I haven't checked the total word count for a while now since im doing a lot of edits, and the book is around 42 chapters now (going to be in the sixties by the time i finish it i think ) soooo... yeah and that's just the first book. I already have the other two planned out and then my brain had to give me reason to make another trilogy after it -and it is a perfectly reasonable idea actually even though the first trilogy could be stand alone. Blah blah blah yeah i talk a lot -but the point im making is you can do books in parts. I've read many that are structured that way. But then comes the age range. Are you writing for young kids who are starting their chapter books, or are you writing for YA? If younger kids, then i'd suggest breaking it up into smaller books. If YA, we can handle a big book. In fact, i favor them. (also, if anyone thinks having around sixty chapters is extreme, look at Eragon)
I don't think you've told us enough to offer an informed guess. You say each part "contributes" to the plot. How critical is each part's contribution? How would the plot suffer if one or more of the four parts were omitted? Without knowing a lot about the content, we couldn't possibly say. As to length, you may be getting ahead of yourself. Yesterday I was at a book event with eleven other authors. The man at the table next to mine was telling me about his book. The first draft ran 155,000 words. He submitted it to a publisher who liked it very much and wanted to publish it, with this proviso: Make it 55,000 words. The author at first thought this was impossible. Instead of trying to cut that much from the original MS, he simply started over and wrote his story in 55,000 words. The book is now in its third printing and doing very well.
I second DKT above: are all 4 parts crucial to the story? are they like 4 subplots connected somehow or are they four different stories that could be told separately? in the last case, I don't think it's right to call them parts of a novel rather than separate novels. We need to know this before we can answer.
Well, each part has its own storyline with the overall plot sprinkled in here and there. Each part ends in a cliffhanger. The whole book (the series actually) follows four brothers as they become involved in a growing war between Werewolves, vampires, and humans. For example; Part 1 is about the four brothers dealing with a particularly vicious werewolf pack and, through the pack, learning about a vampire who is looking for a journal that supposedly documents many aspects of werewolf lore. The Part 1 cliffhanger involves one brother seriously injured in the hospital (Dying?) and the youngest brother missing after an attack. The two unhurt brothers are looking for the missing sibling. Part 2 mostly centers around the youngest brother as he adjusts to being a werewolf and having to join a pack. Part 3 centers around a major "play" by the villain vampire and his coven to locate and steal the journal. Part 4 is about the youngest brother's pack suffering a "sickness" due to losing their Alphas, and the attempts to steal the journal back from the villain vampire. The way it is now, the first book revolves around the journal as the main plot. The 2nd book involves the discovery of vamp/wolf hybrids. The 3rd revolves around a number of other Werecreatures coming onto the scene. The 4th book is about the arrival of the Apex Werewolf (1st ever Werewolf). Each of these books has separate storylines from each other but are affected by previous installments.
I think it depends on your style and whether the style of book can pull off being broken down like that. One of my own books is written and released in episodic format, which works quite well for it I think. It allows me to get better, quicker feedback on my work and alter the story/plot/characters to better suit both the story and the target audience without worrying so much about structure and syntax.
