Writer’s Digest is not my favorite source for writing
advice. Actually, the magazine and companion website are not even on my radar. I
have found Writer’s Digest articles arcane
or commonplace. Sometimes they are downright wrong. Recently they published “5
Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Fiction Series” by Rachel Randall, the
managing editor for Writer’s Digest Books. Since I write a fiction series, I looked up this article. It pulled off the difficult task of simultaneously being arcane,
commonplace, and wrong.
The “5
Mistakes” were commonplace, but the advice on how to avoid them was often
arcane. Like everything in this magazine, it is writing by formula. It’s all
about the mechanics. This may work for their readership, but not for me.
Calling the
article wrong is probably an overstatement. The content is correct. The problem
is omission. The “5 Mistakes” have nothing to do with why readers adopt a fiction
series. Readers pick up the next installment of a fiction series because they
want to learn what happened to the characters in the story. Readers must be
invested in the characters. In fact, I believe characterization is the sole key
to a fiction series.
Writers need
to know their characters. Thoroughly. If a writer truly understands his or her
characters, many of the “5 Mistakes” will be avoided automatically. Characters
have a personality, a backstory, and a network of friends and acquaintances.
They do not behave inconsistent with these characteristics. Like real people, fictional
characters don’t change willy-nilly—they constantly change and/or grow,
but the reader must witness this challenging process. (Breaking Bad is a good example.)
The “5
Mistakes” article misses the greatest mistake in fiction series—poor character development. A great
deal of series fiction puts too much emphasis on technological wizardry, relentless
quests, or slow revelation of a mystery. These authors forget to populate their
plots with characters that readers care about. And in the end, that is what
matters most.
