Should My Fantasy Novel Should Be Written Into A Chronicles Series?

[Wishes Are Children]

I'm currently working on an epic/ swords and sorcery fantasy novel in first person/multiple view point. I keep running into the same problem...having more backstory in each chapter than I know what to do with. Then I got an idea: rewriting my prologue and some of my backstory into a separate, first book or chapter as a means of creating empathy for my culture/characters and showing the downfall of a kingdom, rather than beginning with the results of the downfall . Does anyone have advice as to when/how to break a story down into a chronicle series? (Think the Chronicles of Narnia, etc if you aren't sure what I'm trying to say.) Or, if you don't think a chronicle series wouldn't work well for me, what do you think I should try instead?

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

It might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black here because character development is one of my weak areas, but I think you should try to develop each character as you go. If you have too many to do that with then be brutal and chop them, but don't throw away the material because in later months you might need them again.

I also think you should write the post - downfall book and complete it before you get distracted by prequels. Getting one novel, especially an epic, finished is a major challenge and it would be a shame to end up with lots of part - finished stories and no novel.

Eyes on the prize

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, sometimes people do start out writing a story in the wrong place. It may seem to readers that all the good things happened in the past, and what is happening in the present story is not nearly as good. If you suspect they would be right, then that is one thing to take into consideration. But does the downfall interest you more than the story you are writing now? Are there characters in that backstory you would rather write about than the characters you are dealing with now? If so, then I think you should try writing it and see where it leads you. If the answer to those questions is no, if you are just worrying because you are having trouble with info dumps, then that is something you are going to have to figure out how to deal with eventually, but not necessarily now. If this is a first or second draft, it's perfectly all right if the book has too much backstory. You may need it now to help you figure out where the story is going, and when you have that clear in your mind and it all fits together, then you should know what is worth keeping (because it is relevant to what is happening in the "present" and to your characters) and what you can cut out and put aside just in case you want to write a prequel.

 

[LittleStar]

Its not much help, but I think you need to start where the story starts. If your characters arc starts during the downfall, or before, then that where you should start. To (hopefully correctly) use your Narnia example in Magician's nephew, I don't think we learnt anything about why the witch was all turned into a statue and in a destroyed world. It wasn't relevant to the characters really, so the author left it out.

As Kerry said, you should aim to finish one complete story before thinking about extras. It might be that your story then has many bits that are relevant to the prequel/sequel rather than the first installment, and you already have them started, or you might find that it actually fits into the single piece.


EDIT: Ooh, I don't think I would have thought of that Teresa. I would have just plodded on with it. And so I continue to learn

 

[Brian G Turner]

First of all, welcome to chronicles.

Then I got an idea: rewriting my prologue and some of my backstory into a separate, first book or chapter

I've constantly struggled with putting in too much backstory, but the fact of the matter is that I've had to learn to accept that most shouldn't appear in the story at all. The reader usually only needs to know what's immediately relevant - and long histories usually aren't.

One "trick" I've used to try and help with cutting out backstory is to put notes together for a "prequel" novel - which can provide further explanations of so many things, by showing those events as they happened in the past. This way, my characters in the current work can refer to these events, without having to explain much about them - because they are already explained in the "prequel" and therefore don't need to be explained again.

Whether I'll ever actually write the prequel is another matter - but by putting my notes and explanations down for that, I can also ensure consistency in the character backgrounds and events that shaped them.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mouse]

As a reader, I'm never interested in backstory.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Yes I'd add to the more negative side of the chorus about backstory - by it's very name it separates itself from the 'story'. You'd really be taking an excursion that would break up your plot and if you, the author, are wandering about, then you should expect readers to wander about and potentially get lost.

To give a practical example. How much back story is there in Star Wars? Off the top of my head Ben Kenobi gives Luke a few lines of his past, enough just to set up Darth Vader as the big bad guy and introduce us to the Jedi. Or what about Leia being caught by Vader - we get the very basics, just a lick of words to paint the plot perfectly. Basically tiny amounts. Taking the latter example if we cut from Vader interrogating Leia to a five minute flashback explaining how Leia has been secretly operating in the senate to aid the rebels what would happen to the film? It would very probably kill it dead.

However Teresa's comment makes a lot of sense to me. The urge for you to put 'backstory' might actually be your subconscious telling you that the plot isn't quite right and we need some of the insights from the past (hence shifting the plot timeline backwards). Even then there are ways of putting in just the relevant plot and character info in, in a very economical way - a surgical flashback or two perhaps.

At the end of the day you are still twitchy that you must have these character biogs or infodumps explaining the culture and why the society is falling apart, than I suppose there is no harm in just writing these in separate chapters and see what comes out* - it will mean you're working longer on the draft, but if it makes you feel happier about the writing process, then fair enough . It should then be easy to pull them out in later drafts if they just don't work (as the saying goes though, you have to be ready to kill your darlings.)

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* It may suggest other complete stories to tell, for example.

 

[HareBrain]

How much back story is there in Star Wars?

As it turned out, three whole films of the stuff. The quality of which rather proves your point.

 

[Venusian Broon]

As it turned out, three whole films of the stuff. The quality of which rather proves your point.

Not quite what I meant, but very good

 

[Toby Frost]

I pretty much agree with the others. Without wanting to comment on your own work, a lot of backstories, especially in fantasy, are so similar that they probably don’t need to be explained in any detail. It doesn’t really matter where Emperor Palpatine or Sauron came from to me – they’re just Dark Lords, and unless something very different is revealed by the back story (and that doesn’t include that they were once people and were corrupted) there’s no need to say any more. And unless that comes up in the actual story, it’s probably irrelevant. A lot of fantasy stories have a background that involves an ancient evil being defeated but not destroyed; a prophesy that the events of the story will happen or the rise of an evil force, often a cult, which is now a threat. Most of this is so familiar that you only have to hint at it before the reader knows what they’re dealing with. It’s like saying “They’re elves who live in a forest”.

Also, in practical terms, there’s a lot to be said for getting one book done – and knowing that you can get a novel written and finished – before embarking on a vast set of books.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

By all means do have lots of separate files on places, characters, food, drink, religion, government, clothes, flora & fauna, travel, places, history/timeline/events etc. Very useful for you as author. But don't publish them or use them for prequels. Lucas's Willow is a timeless classic because the backstory isn't really spelled out. The initial "magic" of Star Wars was progressively destroyed by Lucas explaining stuff.

Sometimes the readers own imaginings of the backstory works better than a clumsy attempt. Also this is why it's really hard to do a story with no humans, or unknown fantasy creatures instead of Giants, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins etc. A shared background culture and stereotypes make the story richer, more alive to the reader often than an invented backstory shoehorned in.

 

[Michael Colton]

Sometimes the readers own imaginings of the backstory works better than a clumsy attempt. Also this is why it's really hard to do a story with no humans, or unknown fantasy creatures instead of Giants, Elves, Dwarves, Goblins etc. A shared background culture and stereotypes make the story richer, more alive to the reader often than an invented backstory shoehorned in.

Derivative creatures can also work well for the reader. So a faerie but that author's particular version of a faerie or the wide variations of giants that exist. One can use standard fair but make it your own.

 

[Chris Cousins]

I think what you could do with all of your world-building material (such as history, place information, and cultures) is to use the "iceberg" method. I heard this from Brandon Sanderson and he's a similar type of writer where he would write a lot of back-story information. But his method is that you explicitly show the reader only some of what you've developed about your world and hint at the rest. That way it doesn't become a boring chunk of info-dumping and keeps the world vibrant and interesting. Also it's always good to keep some mystery about the world.

Just look at Lord of the Rings. Does anyone (except for the super-fans) really have a clue how Tolkien's magic system works? It's hinted that there's some sort of rule set and history to the magic and why Gandalf uses it sometimes but not others. But it keeps you interested and curious about how it works.

Another example would be that in A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin hints at the history repeatedly about previous wars and battle, but he doesn't explicitly explain everything about it. He sprinkles it through the books given an impression of a rich, fully-detailed history to the world.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

It might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black here because character development is one of my weak areas, but I think you should try to develop each character as you go. If you have too many to do that with then be brutal and chop them, but don't throw away the material because in later months you might need them again.

I also think you should write the post - downfall book and complete it before you get distracted by prequels. Getting one novel, especially an epic, finished is a major challenge and it would be a shame to end up with lots of part - finished stories and no novel.

Eyes on the prize

Character development is my strong point. I don't think I have too many characters (I have 4-5 main characters, and several supporting characters) its just that I'm introducing several and one time, and it feels a bit like an information dump. This is a YA novel. I'm thinking that each book would be shortish, maybe 200-300 pages tops, so I don't think it would be too difficult to write 3-4 books.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

Well, sometimes people do start out writing a story in the wrong place. It may seem to readers that all the good things happened in the past, and what is happening in the present story is not nearly as good. If you suspect they would be right, then that is one thing to take into consideration. But does the downfall interest you more than the story you are writing now? Are there characters in that backstory you would rather write about than the characters you are dealing with now? If so, then I think you should try writing it and see where it leads you. If the answer to those questions is no, if you are just worrying because you are having trouble with info dumps, then that is something you are going to have to figure out how to deal with eventually, but not necessarily now. If this is a first or second draft, it's perfectly all right if the book has too much backstory. You may need it now to help you figure out where the story is going, and when you have that clear in your mind and it all fits together, then you should know what is worth keeping (because it is relevant to what is happening in the "present" and to your characters) and what you can cut out and put aside just in case you want to write a prequel.

The present story is what interests me most and is what I want to focus on. One of the characters I'm introducing into the present draft is the cause of the downfall of the kingdom, since she is the villain, so I feel that if I wrote her a chapter or book to explain how she became evil /what her relationship to one of the other main characters is, then my audience would understand her and her internal struggle a lot better.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

As a reader, I'm never interested in backstory.

Hmm...okay. As an avid watcher of shows like Lost and Once Upon A Time, the backstory is often the reason that I watch the show. Lol. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I loved seeing how Rumple became the Dark One. He's such a complex character, often having several emotions at once or being Rumple and the Dark One at the same time. (The Dark One is basically an evil entity that allows someone almost unimaginable power while causing him or her to do things that he or she wouldn't normally do.)

 

[Chris Cousins]

The present story is what interests me most and is what I want to focus on. One of the characters I'm introducing into the present draft is the cause of the downfall of the kingdom, since she is the villain, so I feel that if I wrote her a chapter or book to explain how she became evil /what her relationship to one of the other main characters is, then my audience would understand her and her internal struggle a lot better.

I've had the same temptation with one of my characters. But I wrote a short piece solely for my own benefit and hinted towards it, letting some details spill through. Generally origins of villains are best to be kept brief as it may happen that readers could sympathise with and like the villain more that the protagonist. That situation would take away from the protagonists story as readers would be more focused on the villain.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

First of all, welcome to chronicles.



I've constantly struggled with putting in too much backstory, but the fact of the matter is that I've had to learn to accept that most shouldn't appear in the story at all. The reader usually only needs to know what's immediately relevant - and long histories usually aren't.

One "trick" I've used to try and help with cutting out backstory is to put notes together for a "prequel" novel - which can provide further explanations of so many things, by showing those events as they happened in the past. This way, my characters in the current work can refer to these events, without having to explain much about them - because they are already explained in the "prequel" and therefore don't need to be explained again.

Whether I'll ever actually write the prequel is another matter - but by putting my notes and explanations down for that, I can also ensure consistency in the character backgrounds and events that shaped them.

Hope that helps.

I definitely think that its relevant. I'm thinking about writing the chapter or book to go into more detail about my villian, who doesn't start as a villian, but is possessed by an evil entity against her wishes. I would explain her downfall and how she caused the downfall of the kingdom while introducing some of the characters that I'll use later on. It may be that I need to simply hint at her internal struggle, and perhaps have her lash out at whomever was involved in her conversion.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

Derivative creatures can also work well for the reader. So a faerie but that author's particular version of a faerie or the wide variations of giants that exist. One can use standard fair but make it your own.

I'm actually thinking about adding a werewolf later in the story. I think it would be cool pov wise. I'd like to add some other magical characters as well, but I'm not sure what I want to do yet.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

I've had the same temptation with one of my characters. But I wrote a short piece solely for my own benefit and hinted towards it, letting some details spill through. Generally origins of villains are best to be kept brief as it may happen that readers could sympathise with and like the villain more that the protagonist. That situation would take away from the protagonists story as readers would be more focused on the villain.

Interesting/good point. I was actually more worried that one of my characters that interacts with her would come off as being the protagonist and would get more sympathy than the main character. I guess I'll try to start developing her and my other characters more and try to hint at what went on.