The Challenges of Writing a Series by Raine English

Although every novel has its challenges, writing a five-book series has some whoppers. Conflicts, motivations, and emotions all have to work together to make the stories believable. With my new sweet small-town contemporary series, Love Always, that’s especially difficult because it has three heroines. Each heroine has her own set of characteristics, along with those of her family and friends. Trying to keep all those traits straight—remembering eye and hair colors, ages, jobs, and all the rest of the character information—can be a huge issue, so I put together a stylesheet that I refer to constantly. Without it, I’d be pulling my hair out.

Another challenge that is unique to a series is keeping the main theme running. It needs to be woven into each book along with that particular story’s individual plot, but you don’t want to repeat too much information from earlier stories because you might bore the readers. You need to find a way to make it seem fresh and new.

Some series are written to be read in order and can’t stand on their own. However, I chose to write the Love Always series differently. Each book can stand on its own, yet each one still maintains that core theme. In book one, CHASING HAPPINESS, all three women are featured so that the reader gets to know them and their problems. Books two, three, and four focus on just one heroine and the chaos in her life as she searches for love. The final book gives equal time to each heroine again and provides an overall happily-ever-after.

Despite the challenges, I loved writing a series, and I’m already planning my next one.

What are your thoughts on series? Do you enjoy reading them?

USA Today bestselling author Raine English writes sweet small-town contemporary romance, along with steamier paranormal and Gothic romantic suspense. She’s a Daphne du Maurier Award winner and a Golden Heart finalist. CHASING HAPPINESS, book one in the new sweet series, Love Always, is available for pre-order and will be released on August 11. It features three childhood friends who’ve opened a flower shop in Maine. As teenagers, they made a pact to be married by twenty-five. However, finding love isn’t as easy as they’d thought it would be. To receive information on it and all her new releases, you can sign up for her newsletter, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

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