Sunday, October 8, 2017

Long Term Series - Managing Those Big Arcs and Dangling Threads

We're to get a freeze this week, so I'm savoring these annuals and their intense color. Bittersweet to say goodbye, but I also know I love them partly because they're temporary.

And I like the cooler weather, having a fire in the fireplace and associated coziness.

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is weaving in overarching plot lines in a long-term stories, and how to keep those dangling, to-be-continued threads from dangling so much that they distract from the simpler arc of a particular book.

The thing is, you're always going to have readers (YOU PEOPLE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) who are going to bitch complain about dangling plot threads. This is a good thing. If readers of long-term series - and we all know I'm one of them - don't come away at the end of the book hungry to find out what happens next, then the author hasn't done her job right. At the same time, there's a delicate balance between that and the cliffhanger so egregious that the reader throws that expensive eReader against the wall.

Or not even a cliffhanger, but taking TOO many books to get to some promised event. There was a famous author (*cough* LKH *cough*) who burned up so many books with her characters NEVER getting a ball that was only a day away to begin with, that I know someone who literally threw the book against the wall in rage - and gave up on the series.

#ProTip: This is BAD and not the reader reaction we want.

Now, I know I'm an offender in the "but I thought we'd get to the big conflict already" category in more than one series. Still, I'm really trying to steer clear of LKH-level offenses.

The key to managing those big arcs and keeping them from distorting the individual stories lies in both ends. The individual story arc must be complete and the overall arc should be simple.

Complete individual story arc

This is where LKH ran afoul. Each book needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. I know this is basic stuff, but stick with me. The protagonist needs to change in some way and accomplish a key goal. This goal, ideally, should be one piece in the larger arc. If all of these things happen, then the reader will feel satisfied at the end - with at least THAT story.

Simple overall arc

The simpler the overall arc, the less it distracts from the individual books. The example that springs to mind is George R.R. Martin's monster epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The overall arc is SO complex and overriding, that the individual books are really just installments in one massive story. He's a brilliant writer, and his genius lays in the subtle weaving of this complex arc - but it's so overwhelming that there really is no complete arc in the individual books.

What say you, readers - do I have this right? I'll entertain arguments.

11 comments:

  1. I gave up on both LKH and Martin for the reasons you give, although I gave up on Martin for other reasons as well. Tolkien, I think, is a good example of what you are writing about re: overall arc...defeat Sauron (and dispose of the ring to do that).

    I think that sometimes writers, to compensate for the simple overall arc, then complicate individual books/stories with too many subplots.

    And I, too, have thrown books who cheated the individual story for one reason or another. I've stopped reading number of writers for that reason.

    Paula

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    1. Good points! I'd argue that Tolkien - at least with the LOTR "trilogy" - really wrote one long book broken into three pieces. Totally agree on too many subplots! That's when it really starts spiraling down the drain. But yes, we really have to guard against cheating the individual book to serve the overall arc.

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  2. I don't mind a natural cliffhanger so to speak, but I have a cliffhanger that's totally a set up.
    Example one: story is concluded, but there's an extra (unnecessary) chapter that leaves you with a new sudden development.
    Example two: in the last couple of chapters a totally new character is introduced that just screams love interest! Love triangle in the next book!!
    Those things annoy me immensely.

    So far all you've done is make me eager for more, so you're doing a good job ;-)

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    1. Hopefully you don't have one! Tee hee :D And yes - absolutely agree on the contrived "BUT WAIT..." extra ending. I'm happy you think I'm doing it well - yay!

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  3. I gave up on Martin when I realized that I was happy with the end of the third and didn't want to be frustrated by the brevity and foci in the fourth. A writer who does a wonderful job with overall arc vs individual book arc is Nalini. She is amazing. I have found your books to flow well, too, and they keep me coming back. Plus, I have found that the true test of this skill is the fact that both of you have very re-readable series.

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    1. That's a great example! Nalini is meticulous in knowing her overall arc and still making each book be its own story. Doing a different hero/heroine pairing in romance/romantic elements series really helps with that. And wow - I'm so flattered on the re-readability! :D

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  4. I am not big fan of cliffhangers. I expect an ending for each book that makes sense and the rest of the books need to lead up to the end of that overall arc without making me think the author lost it somewhere.

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    1. Oh yes - that's awful when you suspect they've lost the thread!

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  5. I once became very frustrated with a series that didn't have enough of an overall plot arc. Each book dealt with a different brother and his romance--and the romance arcs were well done--but the over-arching series plot was three failures in a row at the same goal followed by success in the last book. I wanted things to either PROGRESS or GET WORSE and neither happened.

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    1. Oh, I think I know what series this might be! Yeah, there really needs to be a sense of motion akin to the three-act structure. The overall arc needs to have beats in the same way. Otherwise it begins to feel listless, like you describe. And like the author is simply milking it with no clear destination in mind.

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