ASK THE AUTHOR: What goes into your decision about whether a story is a stand-alone novel or a series? Do you prefer writing one over another?
The simplest answer is that I don’t make a decision, the story makes the decision for me. Of course, that feels a little like a cop out answer. Please allow me to explain.
Remember when I told you that The Ugly Truth was written first (I thought it was going to be a stand alone novel even after the initial idea of it being a trilogy)? I rewrote that book and couldn’t get the ending to work; I just thought it was because I was a terrible writer and the ending stunk. About two years later, the other two characters (Abby and Gabe) began talking to me. It dawned on me that I needed to write their stories too. I remember thinking that they would be stand alone novels like The Ugly Truth, companions to one another, except then as I finished Abby’s story, Swimming Sideways, and it ended with a cliffhanger, it was like one of those flashes in a movie where everything clicks into place. I knew why the end to Seth’s story wasn’t working and I knew how to fix it! I hadn’t written stand alone novels; The Cantos Chronicles was a series. It’s just that it didn’t fit within my preconceived idea about what I understood about series and stand alone novels.
I was a greener writer then (even if I’d been writing for years), I didn’t know what to look for initially to determine if I was writing a stand alone or series. Since I was writing YA Contemporary, I didn’t think a trilogy was at all an option (I know better now. Just look up Jenny Han and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before people). Now, having read a ton of YA novels both series and stand alone, and having written both a series, two stand alone novels with a third and fourth on the way, I think I have a more holistic understanding of the question. The cop-out answer still works. The story and my understanding of that narrative will dictate if I’m telling a stand alone or if I need more time and space (i.e., multiple books) to wrap the story from beginning to end.
Turns out, I’m not alone in this perspective because our visiting YA Authors have a similar view:
Piper Bee, author of Joy’s Infinite Summer Playlist summed it up nicely by reflecting that, “The main thing that helps me decide if a book should be a series is if I can finish the main plot within the inner journey or not. If the plot is bigger than the main character's struggle, as in they figure out their solution before I can finish telling the story, then I would make it a series. The solution to the inner struggles of the characters is what makes a book to me.”
Likewise, Brandann Hill-Mann author of The Hole in the World series added, “For me, it depends on where the characters want to go. After I finish the story, is there more, meaningful story to tell about them? Can I think of beats to fill it? Would it make a better adjacent short story? The Hole in the World was going to be a standalone, until it wasn’t. The third book in the series was going to be the last, and now I’m not sure.”
Julia Scott, author of The Mirror Souls and it’s follow up novel The Anahata Divide expressed that, “When I plot the overall story concept I ask myself, can this fit into one book or would it need more than one to do it justice? I knew that I would have to write a trilogy to fit in everything I wanted to for The Mirror Souls, whereas the next book I’ll be writing will be a standalone because I know it only needs one book to complete the story. Writing a series/trilogy as a debut is hard work, and writing book two is no joke - it’s hard to step into a fresh new book that has to have continuity from the previous one!”
Sophie Fahy, author of Through Her Eyes shared, “I’ve not written a series yet, I’ve begun one, but I'd say the following books to Secrets Come From Whispers are more companion novels. They’re based on characters in the first book, but stand alone. My debut had to be a stand alone because [...] the ending came to me like that [...] To be honest, I don’t think it’s a decision you consciously make, I think it depends on where the characters take you.”
But there are authors like Ally Aldridge, author of Ocean Heart , who expressed that a series is in her wheelhouse. “I’m writing a series. It suits me because I have always struggled with ending my novels, I always have more to tell. Now I’ve published book one, I feel the pressure and demand for the rest. With a series, I need each book to be so good the reader remains invested and wants to come back for more.” Or the author who feels the stand alone is what works best for her like Rayna York, author of When Life Gives You Lemons Instead of Lattes, who shared “I write standalone novels because I’d go crazy writing the same concept over and over. I already do a ridiculous amount of revisions, so when I’m done, I’m really done, and don’t want to hear the characters in my head ever again.”
Hopefully, that sheds some light on the question.
BONUS QUESTION
I asked our authors: Favorite Series and/or stand alone?
Sophie: My hands down favourite series at the moment is Amo Jones The Elite Kings Club. HANDS DOWN perfection. I like a book to be a bit dark and gritty. Because sometimes life is exactly that. When younger, The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead made me want to become an author. It’s still one of my favourite series, but it was such a long time ago I delved into that world. Most recently All The Little Lies by Sammi Sylvis is brilliant. Stand alones are hard, there’s so many. Courtney Summers will always be my favourite author of all time. She’s the queen of YA.
Piper: Oh man. I wish I was a more prolific reader, since I do love books! Of the classics, my favorites are The Hobbit and Pride and Prejudice, and not just because they're iconic. I had true feelings when reading them. Modern books, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo was so fun, imaginative, and her writing style wowed me!
Brandann: I’m such a mood reader that I get all over the place. My answer is going to change depending on when you ask, and it could probably be different by the time this is actually posted. I adore the Kushiel’s Dart series, but this past year I also read [Maggie Steifvater’s] The Raven Cycle, which is an entirely different genre. It’s definitely one of those two. As far as standalone, I’m still hungover from Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Before that it was Morganstern’s The Night Circus. I think Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic fell in there for a time, but I was on a horror binge.
Rayna: I have a lot of favorite books, most recent are: Where the Crawdads Sing, The Painted Girls, and Nora Roberts’ last four books.
Julia: I much prefer duologies/trilogies over standalones because I love the feeling of being so invested in characters and then getting to carry on journeying with them in a second and third book. However, a few of my fave standalones are The Chaos Circus by Renee Dugan, The Dark Wood by Sydney Mann and The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Series wise it would have to be Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas, the Starless series by Samantha Heuwagen and the Unraveled World series by Alicia Fabel.
Ally: I loved Poison Study by Maria. V. Snyder, and all the other books in that series. I usually prefer series as I get invested in characters but struggle for time to read them all. I enjoy fantasy set in the real world like Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom. A stand alone I recently enjoyed was And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando, it’s a perfect example of how YA can deal with difficult topics. Another great stand alone I just finished is a YA mythology fiction, Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten.