Writing a Successful Series- Gary Smith

When I decided to write my first novel, the plan was not to start a series. I was going to write a novel to see if I even had a voice. After it was published, people loved the love relationship between the two main characters. I got many requests from readers asking what happened to the couple. I decided to write a second book to answer that question. Then, as with the first book when it was published. Readers wanted a third book. Then again, after the third book, readers were attached to the characters, and the series was born. Now the series is up to eleven books. After finishing a book, I always think it’s the last in the series. After living nine years every day with a group of characters, I begin to miss them and wonder what trouble they are getting into, and start another book in the series to find out.

The hardest part of writing a series is the first three chapters. Raymond Chandler was quoted as saying, “When you are in your head, you are thinking and not creating.” Writing the first three chapters, I’m always in my head. How much of the back stories do I put in the new book, so new readers don’t get confused? Too much and it’s boring, and you lose those who have been following the series. Then there are the characters. If your characters are believable and memorable, your readers will have favorites and will be waiting for them to appear. When they appear and how is important. By the third chapter, all that is behind me, and I can begin to create and allow my characters to take over and give the story a chance to take off.

To keep a series fresh, you must add new interesting characters, which means you also have to retire older characters. Five years ago, I murdered a main character on the first page of a new book; people were upset, and I still hear about it. I have two characters that appear from time to time, and if neither appears in a book, I hear about that also from fans. I find it easier to write about something my characters are dealing with that is common to what most people have dealt with in their lives: love, fear, self-doubt, etc. It gives something a reader can identify with and endears them to the character.

I am lucky to have made my characters into people I really like and look forward to them in the next book in the series. If I didn’t, it would be impossible for me to continue to write a series containing ten, soon to be eleven books. A big thank you to all who have followed the series and have sent an email. I love hearing from you, both the praise and criticism.

Gary Smith found joy in solitude and imagination from a young age. Fascinated by people and their interactions, he developed a keen observational eye. Encouraged by his brother, he immersed himself in literature early, reading Cyrano de Bergerac in fifth grade and The Canterbury Tales in sixth, along with classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Breakfast at Tiffany’s before high school ended. At sixteen he chose work over college, trained as an electrician, and in 1979 founded an electrical contracting business that grew into a national multimillion-dollar company. A lifelong artist, he began photography at eight and exhibited in 1981. In the 1990s he discovered writing’s power after publishing in Options (1997).

Find out more at https://garysmithauthor.com.

Article published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - April 2026. Downolad the full magazine at https://www.relatable-media.com/the-relatable-voice-magazine.