This is exciting because reaching the ending of a series is new for me.
Back in 1997 or so, I was sitting at my desk at my job with nothing to do.
What work I had was done, and I had created as much other work as I could come up with. (At the time, I was the sales manager for an itty-bitty audiophile record label).
A vision of a sorcerer hit my brain. He stood atop a rise in a large flat field, facing down a hundred soldiers intent on taking him out.
Summoning all his power, he rolls the earth – and tosses each of them away. But this is too much for the sorcerer, and he collapses – only to awake with his sorcerous abilities untouchable.
I wrote that scene – and from it sparked what would become my Source Chronicles fantasy series. Granted, it went through multiple permutations, my first professional edit, and the above-mentioned scene was removed from the introduction and only partially shown in a flashback. But this began my love of writing series.
In 2011, I was presented with an opportunity to get a short story published. I set down the Source Chronicles and wrote A Treacherous Stone for the Rum and Runestones anthology of pirates and magic. Then, 6 months later, I wrote The Vapor Rogues for the Spells and Swashbucklers pirates and magic anthology.
The worldbuilding that went into the Vapor Rogues was detailed and intense – and inspired a new Steampunk series. I wrote 2 novels for this series.
However – neither the Source Chronicles nor the Vapor Rogues series’ have been finished. Finder – book 2 of the Source Chronicles – was published in 2015 and Clouds of Authority was published in 2016.
Two series with no ending in sight.
Hence why getting to an ending is new for me.
New approach, new possibilities
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, I decided it was time to do more fiction writing. Along that line, it was time to begin more self-publishing.
In September of 2015, I had an idea that would let me return to writing my first love – sci-fi. I had a very broad idea for the characters and situations of the story – but initially no set plot. As I started writing by the seat of my pants – like the pantser I’d long been – the story grew and grew.
In time, I found the plot. I kept writing – not yet thinking about how to set it up for publishing.
When I decided to do more self-publishing in 2020, I determined that I should break up that sci-fi story into a series of books around 200-300 pages each. I had enough completed material to assemble 3 novels – and The Void Incursion series was born.
As a self-published author, one idea many others have employed is to offer a broad catalog of work. Another idea came to mind, and I took a new approach to it.
I made a plan.
Writing as a pantser most of my life, becoming a planner offered some unique challenges. But I had an idea – and laying it out felt amazing.
I had long thought that planning was limiting. However, I’ve since learned how wrong that sentiment is.
I laid out a new 4-novel sci-fi series, set 550 years into the future, featuring clones and colonies, called Forgotten Fodder.
Each novel of the series was plotted in advance. As I moved from plotting to the writing of the chapters, I was amazed by how my creativity flowed.
All four books were written in less than 6 months. As of the end of November, they’ll all be published, too.
One series ending, one nearing its ending
Before the end of 2021, I will have a full series completed from its beginning to its ending. All available in Kindle, paperback, and an audiobook.
I recently published the 4th novel for the Void Incursion series. Meanwhile, working from this new approach as a planner, I plotted out the 5th and final book of theseries. I intend to have it completed and ready for publishing in 2022. In fact, I am using NaNoWriMo to get work on it done.
Why has getting to the ending been so challenging for me previously? The short answer is writing as a pantser.
That’s not to say that I don’t have all 5 books of The Source Chronicles worked out. I do. They aren’t planned chapter-by-chapter – bit the general concept of what they will contain has been put down. I had completed book 3 – Harbinger – before I started A Treacherous Stone. But it languished while I took on other projects.
When the Vapor Rogues evolved into a full-length concept, I wrote Clouds of Authority and the next book in the series – Clouds of Destiny – more-or-less back-to-back. But, even with a well-evolved and detailed world I’d built – I didn’t fully realize my plot until completing book 2.
It’s been years since I published books for Source Chronicles or the Vapor Rogues. Will they ever reach their endings? For the former, yes – for the latter, maybe. I am completing another round of my edits on Harbinger – and intend to get it to an editor so that I can publish it in 2022.
However, I can’t deny a new problem. With this shift from pantser to planner – as well as almost 7 years of evolved writing and self-publishing experience – returning to older, incomplete work is challenging on multiple levels.
Planning and the ending
The logical conclusion I can see is that planning makes finding the ending much easier.
It’s not that I didn’t conceive of the 5 Source Chronicles books without an ending – but because I’ve never planned them out, they remain incomplete. Truth be told, I started book 4 – Guardians – in 2009. When I stepped away from it, it was less than half completed.
Forgotten Fodder was planned from beginning to ending before I started writing the books. And because I love the concept, characters, and other elements of this story tremendously, I’ve plotted 4 more books (another complete story-arc) for this series. Initial ideas for 1 or 2 more arcs have been written down – but not plotted. Yet.
Another sci-fi idea came into my head. For it, I plotted out what I thought would be a 4 or 5 books series. Turns out, while I planned and plotted, Savagespace evolved into 6 books.
This is not in any way a dig on writing as a pantser. I still write my blogs mostly by the seat of my pants. But for me, to more easily get to the ending, I need the formality of planning.
It is exciting to be at the ending of one series while nearing the ending of another. I love the potential and possibilities that this represents.
What will my writing future hold? That’s an ending I can’t envision finding anytime soon.
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