Writing How do you plan a very long series?

[BlackKnightX]

So just like may others, I’ve been reading quite an amount of Chinese web novels, and most of them have 1000+ chapters. I do know about planning the story arc beforehand—break the long series into manageable chunks—but I’m still curious about the specific.

I’ve seen some of you authors have written more than 100 chapters, so I want to ask: how do you plan it specifically? Do you have character sheets? What about world-building? Do you outline each chapter? What about research?

In my first ever series, I only planned a bit before the real draft—only story beats and some brainstorming to freshen those beats out. After that, I started on the path of a true pantser. I think it’s more fun that way, but then I realized that if I want to write a very long series, I’ll need at least some loose plan.

So, I wanna see you guys’ process. If you would be so kind, please bestow upon me your insight! Thanks in advance~

 

[Lorelliad]

70 chapters into mine, and I just pushed my way through

 

[SailusGebel]

My first series currently has around 80 chapters, 200k words. I didn't plan a thing, and all the character sheets are made backward. First, I introduce a character then I add him\her to a character list. It has zero fantasy elements, and the worldbuilding is our world which helped a lot.
The novel I'm currently writing does have a rough storyboard, character sheets, worldbuilding, etc. As I write, I also make a detailed description of the following 10-20 chapters.

 

[BlackKnightX]

70 chapters into mine, and I just pushed my way through

Did you plan beforehand? If so, then how detailed or how far did you plan?

 

[Psycholor]

So, my story isn't "long" in terms of chapter count, clocking in at a measly 45 full chapters. (Fifty if you count extra chapters/an announcement chapter). But... it's almost at 300k words and will continue going for some time.

I keep a character sheet for every major character. Side characters/ minor characters are simplified (basically just a name and brief description.)

Before I started, I selected five key events I wanted to cover, starting with the reincarnation, and ending with the final battle/climax. For each of those five, I came up with several more points I wanted to address in the chapters leading up to them. I also made a rough outline of the main character's primary arc.

From there, I just started writing. Whenever a world-building moment came up, I made sure to add it to a sorted folder set of word documents. For instance, if I said something about the religion, or named a noble house, I added that information to the respective word document. This helps keep things consistent, as after a while, instead of inventing a new name, I can go to my word documents and find an appropriate one.

I also am meticulous about tracking dates and keeping a timeline as the story progresses. This way, if and when I need to call back to a previous event, I have a file that gives the story date, as well as what chapter an event occurred in. (The latter only if the event occurred in the story. For pre-story events, I obviously don't list the chapter.

In short, I use a combination of loose planning of a sequence of events and then filling in the blanks with improv. Running D&D campaigns was certainly a big help with the latter.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Hello there!

My work, The Human Saint is Bored, so I was Summoned to Another World, is a long series with at least five (arcs) planned. So far, I've already written two (2) complete arcs of 100 chapters each, and one (1) in the works (currently chapter count of 42).

Now, how do I plan it? Well, first and foremost, I already know where I would take my story's ultimate end even before I wrote the plan itself. This is helpful so that I won't 'go astray' with my plans as I write them down.

Second, I determine the overall theme, and overall genre. If you notice, I keep on stating the word 'overall', this is because, my story is divided in several arcs, and each arc has a distinct theme relative to the overall story.

Third, plotting. You know how it goes. Intro, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Tension, End. And I mean this plot for the entire story, not just for a single arc.

Fourth, characters. At least the main ones. The moment I have the story plot, I proceed to draft my main characters.

Now then, after I have the theme, genre, plot and characters, I proceed to plan the story arc by arc. In this part, the steps are the same, though in the plot and characters, I now include the general plot of the entire arc, then the characters who will come out.

Okay, it should end there. However, contrary to other works, my arcs are actually composed of several volumes, instead of a volume for an arc. For a single volume of my work, I also plan the plot from Intro to End. Same steps again, though this time, I would also include a 'per chapter' summary, so that I would have a 'rough estimate' of where I would end my work.

Take note, while my plan is detailed, I'm still flexible about it. See, as you write your story, you can't help but to encounter situation or problems that require 'out of the plan' solutions. You don't have to follow your plans dot by dot, it should serve only as a guide for your writing.

So yeah, that's how I do my works. For reference, my first arc has five (5) volumes, second arc has four (4), and my third one is projected to have four (4) books as well. Each volume has around 18-20 chapters in average, and a chapter word count ranged from 500 to 6.7k.

 

[Lorelliad]

Did you plan beforehand? If so, then how detailed or how far did you plan?

Well, around fifty or so chapters in I released a rough outline of arcs. But until that everything I just thought of on the spot. Even the arcs in the outline, I thought of it.

I did do some occasional research on some stuff I didn't know. Synonyms, animal characteristics, name meanings. Many of the characters in my story have names that mean something.

I've tried building a consistent storyline to stick to, but it's not done yet.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Hello there!

My work, The Human Saint is Bored, so I was Summoned to Another World, is a long series with at least five (arcs) planned. So far, I've already written two (2) complete arcs of 100 chapters each, and one (1) in the works (currently chapter count of 42).

Now, how do I plan it? Well, first and foremost, I already know where I would take my story's ultimate end even before I wrote the plan itself. This is helpful so that I won't 'go astray' with my plans as I write them down.

Second, I determine the overall theme, and overall genre. If you notice, I keep on stating the word 'overall', this is because, my story is divided in several arcs, and each arc has a distinct theme relative to the overall story.

Third, plotting. You know how it goes. Intro, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Tension, End. And I mean this plot for the entire story, not just for a single arc.

Fourth, characters. At least the main ones. The moment I have the story plot, I proceed to draft my main characters.

Now then, after I have the theme, genre, plot and characters, I proceed to plan the story arc by arc. In this part, the steps are the same, though in the plot and characters, I now include the general plot of the entire arc, then the characters who will come out.

Okay, it should end there. However, contrary to other works, my arcs are actually composed of several volumes, instead of a volume for an arc. For a single volume of my work, I also plan the plot from Intro to End. Same steps again, though this time, I would also include a 'per chapter' summary, so that I would have a 'rough estimate' of where I would end my work.

Take note, while my plan is detailed, I'm still flexible about it. See, as you write your story, you can't help but to encounter situation or problems that require 'out of the plan' solutions. You don't have to follow your plans dot by dot, it should serve only as a guide for your writing.

So yeah, that's how I do my works. For reference, my first arc has five (5) volumes, second arc has four (4), and my third one is projected to have four (4) books as well. Each volume has around 18-20 chapters in average, and a chapter word count ranged from 500 to 6.7k.

Please do take note: while I have eleven (11) volumes behind me, planning it by volume happens only when I'm actually writing it. Only the overall story settings and the arc settings are done in advance.

Also, I impose on myself a deadline, usually from three weeks to a month, and I focus only on writing. And the edits after that limited to three times, unless necessary. This is to avoid prolonging my releases, like my first story which took a decade to finish a single 47k word volume. The benefit of this work style is that, I can reach writing up to 12k words in a single day (as long as I'm in my writing mode).

During the time I'm writing, I avoid playing online and offline games, watching anime, reading manga or documentaries, and any activity that might distract me from what I'm currently doing...even drawing.

Here's my 'cheat' sheet, my good man...

Hope it helps thee XD

 

[NotaNuffian]

Please do take note: while I have eleven (11) volumes behind me, planning it by volume happens only when I'm actually writing it. Only the overall story settings and the arc settings are done in advance.

Also, I impose on myself a deadline, usually from three weeks to a month, and I focus only on writing. And the edits after that limited to three times, unless necessary. This is to avoid prolonging my releases, like my first story which took a decade to finish a single 47k word volume. The benefit of this work style is that, I can reach writing up to 12k words in a single day (as long as I'm in my writing mode).

During the time I'm writing, I avoid playing online and offline games, watching anime, reading manga or documentaries, and any activity that might distract me from what I'm currently doing...even drawing.

Here's my 'cheat' sheet, my good man...

View attachment 12107

Hope it helps thee XD

Thank you, I will save this into my album and like my uni notes, proceeds to forget them till ten years and have them deleted after I want more spaces for the illegal stuff I download.

Dammit, I guess the solution to James' problems can't be punch until meat sauce then.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Thank you, I will save this into my album and like my uni notes, proceeds to forget them till ten years and have them deleted after I want more spaces for the illegal stuff I download.

Dammit, I guess the solution to James' problems can't be punch until meat sauce then.

Always glad to help!

 

[EternalSunset0]

So just like may others, I’ve been reading quite an amount of Chinese web novels, and most of them have 1000+ chapters. I do know about planning the story arc beforehand—break the long series into manageable chunks—but I’m still curious about the specific.

I’ve seen some of you authors have written more than 100 chapters, so I want to ask: how do you plan it specifically? Do you have character sheets? What about world-building? Do you outline each chapter? What about research?

In my first ever series, I only planned a bit before the real draft—only story beats and some brainstorming to freshen those beats out. After that, I started on the path of a true pantser. I think it’s more fun that way, but then I realized that if I want to write a very long series, I’ll need at least some loose plan.

So, I wanna see you guys’ process. If you would be so kind, please bestow upon me your insight! Thanks in advance~

For the story, I have endings in mind. I start from the end and think of some scenes and lines that are "must-haves," then I start working backwards. How do I develop a character so he can reach the point to reasonably make said decision? How do I want him to proceed so that he can come to the conclusion to say those lines? Something like that.

It helps that my series is very closely structured like the inspiration LNs, so I have the "focus character of the arc" approach. It's not perfect, but it makes it easier to organize each arc (the first 3 or 4 at least) into a core dilemma/developmental track. Each arc of mine has a "theme" so to speak, an it's reflected with how the protag bonds with the girl of the arc. Whether it's about being true to yourself, not being passive and taking the chance, understanding other perspectives, choosing between the right thing or your friend, etc. List goes on.

I don't have an extensive outline or character sheet like Hans has, but I do have notepad files (lol). Here are (the lazily cropped) examples of what I use for the world (ignore my horrible naming sense LMAO), the timeline (for consistency), and the schoolmates. On an amusing note, it's painfully obvious which ones are the more important ones because they got voice actors.

I don't do much research besides reading actual LNs (I have physical copies of stuff like Asterisk War, NGNL, and Mahouka)

 

[IDKWtWrite-San]

I don't plan anything. I just wrote what my mind and imagination is telling me because I also want to read my series.

Although If I have to say, It's either of my mind and some prototypes of version of novel that I dream of, then putting it into my notepad then thinking if i want this to be my novel.

It's like I'm freestyling my whole way here while thinking after it

 

[MyukiMruieast]

So just like may others, I’ve been reading quite an amount of Chinese web novels, and most of them have 1000+ chapters. I do know about planning the story arc beforehand—break the long series into manageable chunks—but I’m still curious about the specific.

I’ve seen some of you authors have written more than 100 chapters, so I want to ask: how do you plan it specifically? Do you have character sheets? What about world-building? Do you outline each chapter? What about research?

In my first ever series, I only planned a bit before the real draft—only story beats and some brainstorming to freshen those beats out. After that, I started on the path of a true pantser. I think it’s more fun that way, but then I realized that if I want to write a very long series, I’ll need at least some loose plan.

So, I wanna see you guys’ process. If you would be so kind, please bestow upon me your insight! Thanks in advance~

After having a clear knowledge about how 0-10 goes, I was able to write carefreely. In thag novel was the furthest I've come so far is 38 chaps then voilà, motivated bids goodbye then off to write another story.

 

[DarkGodEM]

110 chapters into mine
You set the world, have an idea for where you wanna end up
Write the whole damn thing blind

 

[Jemini]

So, my story isn't "long" in terms of chapter count, clocking in at a measly 45 full chapters. (Fifty if you count extra chapters/an announcement chapter). But... it's almost at 300k words and will continue going for some time.

I keep a character sheet for every major character. Side characters/ minor characters are simplified (basically just a name and brief description.)

Before I started, I selected five key events I wanted to cover, starting with the reincarnation, and ending with the final battle/climax. For each of those five, I came up with several more points I wanted to address in the chapters leading up to them. I also made a rough outline of the main character's primary arc.

From there, I just started writing. Whenever a world-building moment came up, I made sure to add it to a sorted folder set of word documents. For instance, if I said something about the religion, or named a noble house, I added that information to the respective word document. This helps keep things consistent, as after a while, instead of inventing a new name, I can go to my word documents and find an appropriate one.

I also am meticulous about tracking dates and keeping a timeline as the story progresses. This way, if and when I need to call back to a previous event, I have a file that gives the story date, as well as what chapter an event occurred in. (The latter only if the event occurred in the story. For pre-story events, I obviously don't list the chapter.

In short, I use a combination of loose planning of a sequence of events and then filling in the blanks with improv. Running D&D campaigns was certainly a big help with the latter.

This is roughly the same for me, except for the fact that I also put a lot into world building.

I really put more planning and effort into the world building than I did the actual plot. The work I put into the plot is roughly the same as listed in the quoted comment.

That said, when you have as much world building as I do, enough to warrant writing a world bible to keep track of it, it really helps out in structuring the story as well since you are writing them into this world you've created.

(I've found one of the easiest signs as to whether or not a writer has put effort into the world building is what they wind up naming their world. If it's some smashing together of vowels and consonants to make an exotic sounding name, it's probably a low effort world. If the name is oddly descriptive and somewhat confusing (such as "Middle Earth" from lord of the rings or "the six sided world" from Mushoku Tensei,) it is usually a world the writer put a lot of effort into.

In my case, I wound up calling my world Hell, even though it has a climate and ecology very similar to Earth in every way, and the human civilizations there are in no way different at all from Bronze age earth either. You figure out for yourself what that says about me.)

 

[KiraMinoru]

No idea how many chapters are actually in mine since the backlog is enormous. I just go by word count. At 735k words now with 176k released. The plan was three acts. I’m still in act one with no end in sight. High school, university, the distant future. Only done ten months out of three years in the high school act.

For slice of life it’s pretty easy, just think of a new character with a unique set of circumstances, throw them into the mix and see how things develop and how they interact. A plot slowly develops around the involved characters based on information the new character gradually reveals and the actions they take rather than the characters adapting to the plot.

 

[JayDirex]

So just like may others, I’ve been reading quite an amount of Chinese web novels, and most of them have 1000+ chapters. I do know about planning the story arc beforehand—break the long series into manageable chunks—but I’m still curious about the specific.

I’ve seen some of you authors have written more than 100 chapters, so I want to ask: how do you plan it specifically? Do you have character sheets? What about world-building? Do you outline each chapter? What about research?

In my first ever series, I only planned a bit before the real draft—only story beats and some brainstorming to freshen those beats out. After that, I started on the path of a true pantser. I think it’s more fun that way, but then I realized that if I want to write a very long series, I’ll need at least some loose plan.

So, I wanna see you guys’ process. If you would be so kind, please bestow upon me your insight! Thanks in advance~

I hope you realize through the comments that the authors who write these never-ending stories have no plan. They just write whatever they feel like until they eventually run out of steam and just drop the story.

If someone actually outlines a story it will have an end and it won't go on for years and years and years unless it has a coherent plan to stop. In other words these authors up here are not George RR Martin. They are all a bunch of hobbyists writing a diary of their characters day until they get tired of doing that.

There is no plan. They make it up as they go on. That's why their stories never finish.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I’m currently on chapter 4 of the story I’m focusing on (though I’ve taken a small break to write a short story) and I have the next 10 chapters outlined. Beyond that I have events that will happen but haven’t been developed into a chapter yet. I started the story with three character reference sheets, including things like appearance, background, skills. Currently I have 4. I use those to make sure I stay consistent and make sure I don’t encounter any sort of unnecessary power creep with my characters.

The one thing I don’t outline is the world. Things like nations, cultures, maps. I feel like it’s a good way to induce scale creep. As you’ll inevitably create something you want to share, but won’t be able to in the story you’ve created, and from there the world and the narrative gets bigger.

 

[BlackKnightX]

I hope you realize through the comments that the authors who write these never-ending stories have no plan. They just write whatever they feel like until they eventually run out of steam and just drop the story.

If someone actually outlines a story it will have an end and it won't go on for years and years and years unless it has a coherent plan to stop. In other words these authors up here are not George RR Martin. They are all a bunch of hobbyists writing a diary of their characters day until they get tired of doing that.

There is no plan. They make it up as they go on. That's why their stories never finish.

That makes sense, but from what I’ve heard or read from somewhere, that’s not entirely true. Some or even most Chinese web novels that have more than 1,000 chapters actually have some loose plans planned out beforehand—some authors don’t do this, of course—and they usually have an ending in mind already. After that, the authors just freestyle their way through, but still follow the loose plan nonetheless.

But if you think about it, that makes total sense, because most Chinese web novels, if not all, are written to make money and to continue making it as long as possible, so that’s why the novel continues with no end.

Though, for me personally, I don’t really care much about the ending; when I read web novels, I usually only focus on the experience during each chapters and character’s interaction instead of brilliant plots. That’s why most long web novel series are so appealing to me.

 

[Horizon42]

So just like may others, I’ve been reading quite an amount of Chinese web novels, and most of them have 1000+ chapters. I do know about planning the story arc beforehand—break the long series into manageable chunks—but I’m still curious about the specific.

I’ve seen some of you authors have written more than 100 chapters, so I want to ask: how do you plan it specifically? Do you have character sheets? What about world-building? Do you outline each chapter? What about research?

In my first ever series, I only planned a bit before the real draft—only story beats and some brainstorming to freshen those beats out. After that, I started on the path of a true pantser. I think it’s more fun that way, but then I realized that if I want to write a very long series, I’ll need at least some loose plan.

So, I wanna see you guys’ process. If you would be so kind, please bestow upon me your insight! Thanks in advance~

By beating your head over with a metal bat.

I usally have a very generic plan , then I plan the next 5 chapters in more detail.

I'm terrified that I may never finish my test series.