How do you keep a series going?

[catty152]

How do you keep your story going over a long series? Do you constantly throw hurdles for your protagonist to overcome all through your series in order to make sure the story can be long? What are the ways/ plot devices you use so that your story continues?

[Momomori]

Well, don't keep series going on for too long, because I've seen far too many shows that had a good story and concept, but once the main objective is over it feels like their desperate to keep the story going, so at a point just end it, or else it will feel like your dragging a dead body, well pretty much i'm trying to say that people can tell when your desperate to keep a series going, so just make sure to end it before that happens.

[joannekwan]

Well all of my stories have an ending, some are more clear-cut than others with an obvious plot.

What looks to be my longest running series as of right now is Demon House, and I plan to end that once the main character graduates. I actually have most of the ending written. But I do think this one applies to your question of "how to keep it going," since I have two full college semesters to fill with antics. I basically come up with different challenges for my protagonist to face as a consequence of her current situation, living with demons. I also have more "deep" stuff planned to occur in her second semester that will explore the demons' origins. I see this series as a sitcom and have categorized it under slice-of-life and so I work a lot with episode arcs. But basically the only thing that drives the story forward is time, the protagonist is just living out her life with these beings and so she has to juggle life with them as well as her human friends.

[VermillionWorks]

@joannekwan gave good advice.
...but yeah, unless your series is a comic strip or like a money maker that needs to continue for some time...then I wouldn't try to force a series to keep going just because, a lot of webcomics end up unfinished because they were so long that the creator either got bored and moved on or were just forced to drop it because of life. Just get out the story you want told, the main stuff, and don't worry about dragging it out indefinitely.

As someone who has made a handful of long series that were never finished, I think it's better to aim shorter or at least a reasonable length that is actually achievable in this lifetime XD, and if you really love your characters/story and want the possibility of coming back to your series, the maybe leave your shorter story open ended.

[keii4ii]

Depending on the type of story you're talking about, you might be asking the wrong question. Maybe the question should be, "how long should THIS story be?" Because what's the point of extending a story when you've already told all there is to be told about it? The way I see it, a story makes itself long when it's meant to be that way.

Of course, that doesn't apply to some types of stories (especially the episodic types, like a lot of TV series where you can watch the episodes out of order and still not get lost), which is why I said depending.

[Amymone]

There are three things I consider when planning out my plot.

1) The central conflict of the story and trying to solve it.

2) Problems that will spring up on the way towards solving the central conflict. Eventually these problems will reveal what the correct solution is for the central conflict.

3) Problems that will spring up after the central conflict is solved. Eventually these problems will help resolve what is learned throughout the plot.

It doesn't sound like something that would take very long, but each of these steps can eat up to ten to twenty of my chapters. This is probably because each of my problems tends to be linked to certain characters that need to be dealt with in order to move on to the next stage of the story.

Although I always try to aim for a small number of chapters like twenty or thirty, that number tends to double during the production process. This is why I don't start working on a comic until the plot is completed and revised a few times. My production schedule is so tight, I absolutely need to have a firm guesstimate how many chapters I'll be working on and what time of the year I'll be finished. For example, my last project was supposed to be 30+ chapters and (after almost 3 years) it ended at 80+. My current project was supposed to be 20 chapters and (after 4 to 5 months) it's looking at becoming 40 now.

TL;DR: I wasn't aiming for a long series, but I got one anyway.

[spadesart]

My comic SPIRE is a very long narrative since it's one of those "epic quest journey" type stories. It's divided into two overarching plots and each has it's own mini arcs and "important milestone" events that the rest of my story is written in between and around. it's also got a format that lets me take my time and put in oneshot arcs that center around individual characters and help with development. but for the most part I set up the most important plot points in the two main arcs of my story and then connect the dots.

[UzukiCheverie]

I agree with @keii4ii's statement, but I'll take this:

"how long should THIS story be?

And extend it to "How long SHOULD this story be?" vs. "How long CAN this story be?"

Compare it to the saying, "Scientists spent so long trying to figure out whether they could do [insert crazy science thing here], they never wondered as to whether they should."

Yes, you CAN make your comic/series as long drawn out as you want it to, if you know what you're doing. But does that mean you SHOULD? Some stories get away with being long or are in fact better off so, but these stories are built around their length and have it work to their advantage (ex. Harry Potter is longer because it chronicles Harry Potter's years at Hogwarts, with the main central conflict being the return of Voldemort, vs. Lord of the Rings where it follows the journey of Frodo and his friend Sam trying to dispose a ring that is capable of dark magic, though the story probably took a while to unfold with the journey, it definitely didn't require as many years to unfold as the plot of Harry Potter did).

Figure out your central conflict. @joannekwan mentioned that she will have Demon House come to its end when the main character graduates (I read Demon House so this seems reasonable and makes perfect sense). In Harry Potter, Harry's journey came to an end when [SPOILER ALERT] he finally defeated Voldemort. [not really warranting of a spoiler IMO but whatever]. In my own comic, Time Gate, it has several conflicts that tend to evolve as the story progresses. It starts with Uzuki being told she's going to die soon, and shortly after, she finds out that a murderer named Springlock she tried to dispose of as a child is still running around, so she makes it her last goal in life to kill him before she dies herself. Though other conflicts arise throughout the story that stray away from the whole Uzuki vs. Springlock thing, by the end of the story, they still have a conflict that needs solving - they still want to kill each other, and everything that's happened up in the story has only helped further their own aspirations. It's pretty much a very long drawn game of Cat and Mouse with some Snakes and Ladders mixed in, and a bit of The Game of Life sprinkled on top ending up with about 10 books total (if I don't decide to cut it down, as there are still two books I haven't figured out are crucial or not... they were a part of the original trilogy I came up with as a kid so that's the only reason I'm still considering them) Is it all essential? Some of it could be cut out, and of course there are still things I'm trying to fix up in some of the books. But overall, the story is one giant domino effect where every domino is required to keep the chain moving in the right direction.

When you're writing your story, ask yourself: "If I remove this scene, will the rest of the story function just fine? Is it 100% absolutely crucial to keeping the gears moving in the plot?" If you find yourself saying no, and not feeling like you need to be working it into the plot, then consider removing it. Though it is nice to have some parts of your story that are a little more "filler" (hell we've got a chapter coming up that's completely dumb for the sake of comedy relief), if you're adding these things in just for the sake of keeping your story alive, then you're basically forcing your very sick grandmother to stay on life support instead of pulling the plug and putting her out of her misery when the time comes that it should be considered okay to do so.

So that being said, asking the question "How do you keep a series going?" should only be asked when you're still trying to come up with your plot and tie it all up with a nice pretty bow (especially when you hit writer's block), not when you're trying to keep your plot alive simply so you can say you did. Though people may marvel at chapter numbers when they read manga like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Hajime no Ippo (that manga has like 1000+ chapters, seriously), it's the story that sticks with them, and no one will say they preferred Bleach's story to Attack on Titan's or Deadman Wonderland's story simply because it happened to be longer-running and have more chapters (I mean, Bleach is just "Blech" with an "A" added in, OOOOOH SNAP)

[KSlinger]

West is structured a bit like a long running tv series or video game in the sense that between the start and the end are a number of different situations or 'quests' that take varying amounts of time for the characters to complete. Some of these quests bear consequences on the overall plot and serve to move it along, others provide character development (like if a character has a personal problem that he/she must overcome) and some are just downright silly. I can change the order of these 'episodes' as I like or remove them entirely if I find the series is getting a little too long (which is highly likely). Also like in games, the number of 'quests' characters complete, the more people they meet, the more things they learn, the larger their toolbox becomes when it's time to solve the biggest problem of all. Some are more integral than others (the core quests) but I have the freedom to play around with it as I need to.

[Kura]

I never really thought of making an indefinite series. Long series that will last years yeah, but not indefinite. So I'm not to sure how too keep it going without stopping.

The best thing I can think of is to just write it in parts or arcs, and just not give it an ending arc and keep adding. At the least I think that's better than giving the character a goal and NEVER letting them achieve it (though that's still an option I guess). Just give 'em new goals / objectives / situations.

As for the long series I have yeah, I throw hurdles in the way, but not for the sake of making sure that the story is long, it's just for the sake of developing the story and characters. The best 'plot device' I can give you is not really to be focused on plot devices, and instead focused on 'story pacing' and 'character development' Just try not give everything away / tell the whole story at once, and to both introduce it and develop it as the story continues. While for the characters don't keep them the same, let them evolve and be affected by everything around them, because if you're series is inevitably going to be long or endless, then you'll need to keep your reader's interest, because with long series, the demand that readers are creating is what keeps a series ongoing for longer than the author planed, so THEY are the ones that need to want the series to not end NOT YOU. If you're dragging it on with no demand for it to drag on and your readers just wanting it to end then you're just kind of beating a dead horse.

[Shanny8]

Development. Not only developing the story itself, but developing the characters as well. I like stories where it feels like characters have grown and developed from where we first observed them. Having them overcome obstacles is okay, but let them learn from the things that they go through. Also pacing is key- dont just throw everything down in the first chapter/episode or 3; allow time to everything to develop(even yourself as a storyteller), and the delivery is even better.

[Michelle]

It depends on the kind of story you're trying to tell. In my case, my comic has a planned ending, so I only need to think of what happens within a confined amount of chapters. Though for something like a slice-of-life, I can imagine it's hard to keep a comic fresh and interesting when there's no real ending.

Hurdles and obstacles are great so long as they progress the plot in a meaningful way and aren't just there to lengthen the story. Longer doesn't equal more interesting, and some stories are more impactful and interesting because they're short. Most of the time when I'm writing a chapter script, I'm trying to find ways to cut things down and make them more concise.

In any case, the story will continue so long as your main character still needs something, so your plot has room to continue on so long as they still haven't achieved their goal. But once the story hits that big final conclusion, it's best to wrap it up and get off the stage as quickly as possible.

[AnnaLandin]

My comic is going to be a real long-runner - as in, hundreds and hundreds of pages. But it's not my goal for it to be long - the goal is to tell the story I want to tell. It just happens to be a very big story. So I'm not looking to pad it out and make it longer just to make it longer, you know?

I have a clearly defined end-goal that I am working towards, and an outline sketching out the road there. As I plan out the details chapter by chapter, the question I keep asking myself is "what does this scene accomplish?" Does it let the readers know more about the main character? Does it further the conflict? Does it hinder or help the main character's quest? If it hinders it, why and how? Etc., etc. I know the story I want to tell, and I'm using the required number of pages to tell it in. Sometimes, I end up using fewer pages than I'd estimated, and that's great! It means I've probably cut out some pointless fluff that would have bored my reaers.

There's no virtue in making a comic long just to make it long. It's better to make a shorter comic that tells the story you want to tell, than it is to drag a comic out across more pages and make your readers feel like you're never getting to the point.

[navyzerimar]

Pretty much what AnnaLandin says:

If you are indeed having a series that goes for a long time you need to have a story in place, one that has your audience wanting to come back because they want to know how your characters deals with their issues. Is not about prolonging a story for the sake of keeping it going but about having those characters work towards a goal that they are trying to accomplish and how will they get there.

For example: In my on-going series I had removed plenty of pages (like 6 or 9), I am talking about complete rough pages that went through an eraser thinking it would work but in the end realising I only needed a few of them. I am not targeting towards a long ongoing comic but to tell a complete story from beginning to end...

[shaneoid77]

HOTWAB at it's core is based on two premises, one I've taken from my favourite show Doctor Who, which is change. Change, they say, is as good as a rest. Well I say it's as good as a reboot too! It certainly keeps things fresh when you can keep the initial concept going but alternate the cast over time. Second one is pretty much the same as what's kept superhero comics going for decades, that conflict of moralities. Ethics, from a subjective to a grand metaphysical level is such a fascinating subject. I prefer the format of ongoing comics to one offs or short series. Endless adventure appeals to my restless heart

[vongcw]

Depending on the type of comic I suppose.

Slice of life/comic strips/gag strips can technically go on forever. The characters can experience small story arcs but because the comic is a social commentary of sorts, that never ends. I guess things like the Simpsons, Garfield, etc just keep going on and on.

Bad examples where this doesn't work is probably every soap opera on TV and Marvel and DC heroes. The stories get extraordinarily complex, and everything kinda boils into some weird nonsensical thing when looked at overall. I guess people don't watch those for story reason. Probably more for an emotional fix of one kind of another. That's success of some form (for popularity and subscription) and can still make lots of revenue, but not success of a story.

Personally I like stories that have an ending. One of my favourite anime, Stein's Gate had about 20 episodes? And I like others like that. In fact, the first thing I look for in an anime is how many episodes it has. Avatar the Last Airbender had 4 nicely done seasons. And I guess that's how I like things too. My comic Aetherwar will at most have ten books to it. But to be honest I'm trying to see if I can tell a more punchy packed story in five. It'll probably land up somewhere in between.

[NickRowler]

Um, I guess I never really thought about how long I want my current series to be...it's pretty new so it is sort of hard to say. I do have material which can make it last for a while tho. To help have my story last longer, I don't lay down everything all at once, I sprinkle stuff in here and there, add a little wonderment and mystery. You can also take time to expand on characters relations to one another. But then again, if you have good characters, you can put them in almost any situation.