When writing your first book, you may be undecided about whether it should be a standalone story or part of a series of books.
You may decide to write one, then two books, and later settle on a trilogy. The appeal to expand more into the world of your story might increase, and readers might demand more.
More excerpts, more short stories, a prequel, a spin-off, and before you know it, you might have an expanding world of stories, with the ever-present desire to write more.
With this, of course, come certain challenges.
How do you prevent the stories from becoming repetitive?
How do you advance character arcs to entertain old readers while attracting new readers?
How do you keep track of timelines, characters, and plotlines while managing readers’ expectations?
If you’ve ever had these concerns, then you’re in the right place.
We will be considering J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series and learning how to emulate her recipe for success.
Who is J.D. Robb?
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
J.D. Robb is an alias/pen name for the literary heavyweight, Nora Roberts.
Nora Roberts is one of the best-selling authors of all time, with a minimum estimated sales record of 145 million books. Her books have been translated into various languages, appealing to a wide range of readers and consumers.
In her illustrious career, Roberts has used pen names to categorize her writings.
Under her name, she typically writes contemporary romance, while the pen name, Jill March is most associated with historical romance.
J.D. Robb is Roberts’ name of choice when she writes about crime, especially about Eve Dallas, a policewoman dedicated to solving crimes in the futuristic cityscape of New York. Under this pen name, Roberts has written over 60 novels, making the Eve Dallas stories an enduring book series.
With so many novels written, how does Nora Roberts keep the series going, fresh yet familiar and intriguing?
Let’s consider 3 major ways.
The main character - Eve Dallas
The success of any story, standalone or otherwise, is largely dependent on the main character. Your main character must not be likeable or relatable, but they must be striking, able to capture and retain the attention of your audience.
Whether this is confined to a single book or spread out over a long book series.
Eve Dallas is just that: striking, attention-grabbing, and continuously intriguing.
A complex character, Eve uses her wits, personality, and emotional intellect to track down and put away notorious criminals.
Over the book series, we have seen Eve transform from a detective to a lieutenant in charge of the NYPSD homicide team. From being emotionally reclusive to seeking out therapy. From being romantically aloof to being happily married.
Throughout the book, throughout the changes, however, Eve remains more or less the same. Throughout the book, Eve remains reluctant to attend social events, slow to adopt new tech, averse to what she considers dressing up (anything more than the usual shirt and trousers) and remains on unfriendly terms with her butler, Summerset.
Yes, despite the changes, Eve remains witty, dedicated to her job, and the people she cherishes.
What can we learn from the best-selling author?
If you want to write an enduring book series, write an enduring main character.
An intriguing main character is necessary for the success of any book, but even more important for a long book series. Your character should not be constant; instead, it should be enduring. They should remain true to themselves, so the character remains familiar even if a reader picks up book 3 or book 19.
The storyline
This is the most complex part of writing a long book series.
How do you keep things fresh while repeating/reusing the same themes?
In the case of J.D. Robb’s In Death series, the situation seems a little more severe.
There is a murder (or murders). Eve is called to investigate. She goes through the motions, gathering and analyzing evidence, narrowing down potential suspects, until she gets the guy.
That’s it.
So, how do you transform this “simple” premise into over 50 books while keeping each one unique and appealing?
Tweak one thing.
Make the victim different.
Make the crime unusual.
Make the suspects unexpected.
Make the stake higher.
Hamper the investigation.
Make the main character struggle.
Change the location/setting.
Make the investigation personal.
Basically, take the formula of the story and tweak something. Make one or two changes such that the entire story remains familiar but the circumstances become unique.
This is what Nora Roberts does expertly, allowing her to maintain a steady readership for over 3 decades of writing.
In “Visions in Death,” Eve gets unwillingly involved with a psychic, who provides shockingly accurate visions of the circumstances surrounding the murder Eve is investigating.
Eve, a logical person, appreciates and utilizes the information but remains staunchly skeptical about the so-called psychic, and her skepticism becomes richly rewarded when further investigation links the medium to one of the crimes.
Twists like this keep the book series enticing even after so many books, allowing it to remain familiar: still a murder investigation series, but a new mystery every book.
The supporting characters/the setting
The reason why I group these is that they serve a similar purpose in a long series.
The police station, the mansion where she lives with her husband, her colleagues, her resolute police commander, her peppy partner; each of these characters/places is like a landmark in the readers’ mind, reminding readers of certain plot points and development.
Eve’s perpetual cold war with her butler; her appreciation/bewilderment with her enthusiastic partner; her love and admiration for her husband; her quiet respect for her commander; her reluctant yet tender relationship with her therapist.
These interactions, anytime they recur in a series, preserve familiarity and can also be transformed into variables to help give each installment a new look. They offer the author a channel through which the author can thread in a new plot line.
Conclusion
Once the decision has been made to write a long book series, the priority of any author should be maintaining the identity of the story while ensuring to evolve characters and plot lines.
The characters, the plot, and the setting are the variables through which authors can control the narrative.
Thanks for reading.
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