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by Paul Anthony Shortt, @PAShortt
Thank you for having me, Elizabeth. Your blog is a constant source of wisdom which I try to apply to my work.
I’ve always loved trilogies. They just seem like the perfect storytelling format. You’ve got your opening, establishing the heroes and their challenges. Then the twisty middle where the villains retaliate and it seems like all may be lost. Finally, the big finish, the final showdown where we see if the heroes really can defeat the villains.
Like many kids of my generation, the first real trilogy I was exposed to was Star Wars. With The Empire Strikes Back I first saw the villains appear to win at the end of a story. This concept blew my mind and made me desperate to see what happened next. I felt for the heroes. I had suffered as the heroes had. I wanted to see them fight back. That’s a powerful feeling.
It’s a feeling I hope to capture with the story of Nathan Shepherd. While I’ve been promoting the release of Locked Within, I’ve also been working on the sequel, Forgotten Cause. Originally I had planned to write a 6-book series, feeling I needed that many books to properly tell the story.
But speaking with my publisher made me realise how turning the series into a trilogy could tighten up my storytelling and keep the emotions and stakes at their peak. I could introduce important characters sooner, reveal secrets of my setting, and keep the focus on Nathan Shepherd’s struggle against not only his enemies in this life, but the emotional demons of his past lives.
Changing from a 6-book series (a hexalogy) to a trilogy has dramatically changed how I need to plan the overall story. Instead of whole books of character development and angst, I have plans for concise, tense adventures where the characters must face their inner conflicts while facing high stakes. The fate of the world will hang in the balance, and it’s important that the characters’ internal challenges are of an appropriate level.
With Locked Within I introduce Nathan Shepherd, my hero, and the supernatural world he learns that he’s already a part of. He faces a monster connected to his past lives, which threatens innocent people all over New York.
In Forgotten Cause, I will explore more of this dark, sinister New York. Nathan will encounter people from past lives who may be friends or enemies, and he must confront decisions in a previous lifetime which have dire consequences for his current incarnation. This will likely be quite a dire story, appropriately dark for the middle point in the trilogy.
The final part in the story is tentatively titled Memory War, and will feature Nathan’s final battle against his enemies, bringing together allies from incarnations past and present. Nathan will have to call on all his skills and memories to figure out how to stop his nemesis, a reincarnated warrior named Athamar who bears an insatiable hatred of Nathan, from enacting a plan that will threaten the entire world.
All trilogies need to raise the stakes as the series goes on. The potential rewards, as well as the cost of failure, must increase to keep the reader focused.
What are some of your favourite trilogies? Personally, I think the best trilogy in film is the Back to the Future series. It fits the format perfectly, each installment building on the last.
About Locked Within: The supernatural realm and the mundane world have existed side by side since the dawn of time. Predators walk the streets, hidden by our own ignorance. Once, the city of New York was protected, but that was another age.
Now a creature emerges from the city’s past to kill again, with no one to hear the screams of its victims. The lost and the weak, crushed under the heels of the city’s supernatural masters, have given up hope.
But one man finds himself drawn to these deaths. Plagued by dreams of past lives, his obsession may cost him friends, loved ones, even his life. To stop this monster, he must unlock the strength he once had. He must remember the warrior he was, to become the hero he was born to be.
His name is Nathan Shepherd, and he remembers.
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Bio:A child at heart who turned to writing and roleplaying games when there simply weren’t enough action figures to play out the stories he wanted, Paul Anthony Shortt has been writing all his life.
Growing up surrounded by music, film and theatre gave him a deep love of all forms of storytelling, each teaching him something new he could use. When not playing with the people in his head, he enjoys cooking and regular meet-ups with his gaming group.
He lives in Ireland with his wife Jen and their dogs, Pepper and Jasper. Their first child, Conor William Henry Shortt, was born on July 11th, 2011. He passed away three days later, but brought love and joy into their lives and those of their friends. Jen is pregnant again and is expecting twins.
Website: http://paulanthonyshortt.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Paul.
Paul – Thanks for sharing your thoughts on creating a trilogy. It’s funny; as soon as I saw the title of your post I thought of the Star Wars trilogy. I know there’ve been other Star Wars movies besides what most people think of as the trilogy but those three movies just go together. I can see where focusing on a three-novel story helps one work out characters and plot so that they’re at the same time ‘fleshed out’ and tightened up. Thanks for the ‘food for thought.’
Thanks again for having me, Elizabeth!
Paul–Thanks for your post! It’s always amazed me how writers can plan an arc for a trilogy, raise the stakes for each book, hook the reader again for each novel. I’d love to try a trilogy at some point.
Thanks again!
In light of our recent conversations about pacing releases, another thing to consider about a trilogy is that the goal should be to not only build on the stakes, but also the hype and readership. A well-planned and executed trilogy should have an almost exponential increase in people eager for each new book.
And when you increase the stakes with each book, that anticipation comes naturally.
On another subject, I’m curious how you handle backstory with books 2 and 3? I have a very small continuing storyline for one of my series (which is an open-ended series, without a set number of releases planned) and I always stumble a little with my backstory…keeping more on the light side so that regular readers won’t get bored. But I don’t want to confuse new readers, either. For you, of course, readers should *definitely* be reading the books in order. So do you just touch on the backstory from the previous books, just as a reminder?
Essentially, yeah. I have a bit of a problem with infodumping, so I try not to bring up backstory until it becomes relevant in the current book. I give a brief mention of past events or a character’s background. Enough to remind the reader without getting the story bogged down.
However even though the series is intended to be read in order, I like to try and give enough context that, in the event someone does pick up a later book first, they can still get the gist.
They do, don’t they? I’m glad you liked the post.
I love trilogies, too. I agree they are just right, in terms of a nice satisfying story. One book and I sort of feel like ‘meh, fine story but…’ and longer really DOES take a very complex story–it can work… I am anxiously waiting the next Song of Fire and Ice book… but a trilogy is more manageable. Good point, too, on it helping with keeping tension high. I am on the first of a 7-book series and may want to think about this.
Wow, 7 books? That’s pretty epic!
I’m particularly glad I changed to a trilogy for my first series, because I want to learn more about writing and marketing myself before I commit to something longer. Plus it means I get to try out other, different ideas sooner!
Good luck Paul! Trilogies are fun to wrote. I outlined my entire trilogy, then broke it into three pieces. This works for me as I’m not wondering what I can or should do next.
Thanks Stephen! That sounds like a good way to plan it out. My series is very definitely made up of separate, but related, stories, so that wouldn’t have really worked for me. But I can see how it would help you work out your overall plot.
At least you had it planned! I just wanted one book. My fans wanted more. Now I am working on the third and final in a trilogy I never planned.
As for reading, the first Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks was the first set I ever read.
I can imagine that’s a tough spot to be in, all right! I find I’m naturally inclined to plan series’ as opposed to standalone books. I tend to prefer reading series’, so I guess that preference crosses over into my writing.
Once I began writing my first book, I planned for a series of five. Mine are more a slice of life and follow different characters, so each book is a stand alone.
That sounds really interesting. Did you find it was difficult working with different central characters?
great interview. loved the post about the book, sounds great! new follower..hi!
Paul, Thanks so much for this very interesting post about trilogies, an extended notion of beginning, middle, end, but I will spend lots of time thinking about your post and its implications for planning multiples within a series.
Susan: I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Tammy: Thanks. And hello! :-)
Thanks Paul for your insight on the process of thinking and creating a trilogy. My experience is that I thought I was writing a trilogy but now that I have two done and the third in idea form I am thinking at least five of six. But then again I didn’t really think about or plan it that way it is just kinda jumbling out. I actually respect people who have a plan and unlike me can actually stick to it.
And one more great triology… The Lord of the Rings
Thx again
Mike Martin
Author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt Windflower mystery.
http://www.walkeronthecape.com
Thanks, Martin. I find it very hard to just dive in like that. Not because I love planning, but because my mind keeps wandering to thoughts about whatever book I’m working on, and even some I haven’t started yet, constantly coming up with more scene and story ideas. I never know how to use them all!
Great post. I really want to read the trilogy now. I have a feeling that if I get it, though, my son will grab it up before I get a chance to read them! Your analysis of a trilogy is very helpful. Thank you.
Haha, thanks Helen! That’s already happened to one reader. She got the book home and her son got stuck into it before she could.