Magic Thursday: Writing a longer series when you’re not a plotter with M.J. Scott!

I’m currently working on book 7 of my TechWitch series. I used to think that to write long series, you probably had to be a plotter. Turns out I was wrong. I am very much on the pantsing side of the scale. I really don’t do much in advance of writing a book. I don’t outline, I don’t plot. I kind of wing it and see what happens. I’ve written five book series, two connected trilogies (aka basically a six book series) and TechWitch is going to be at least one more book after this. So far, not plotting has worked out fine for me. 

This is why writing advice is weird. We’re all wired differently and we have to figure out what works for us. Some people need detailed outlines and plots and whiteboards full of scene lists. Some of us need a playlist, a vague idea of a direction and to just start writing.

That said, I have developed a few techniques that help me when it comes to navigating a long series as someone who doesn’t plot. Maybe they’ll help  you. Maybe you will think, M.J, that is a crazy idea that I would never do. Do what works for you!

1. Keep a good story bible (I write several genres, I’m not the fastest writer in the world and I jump between my series, so it might be a year before I come back to a series.  Having a series bible helps me remember what has been happening in the books that came before. Not to mention all those pesky character details, place names and dates.

2. When I finish a book, I make a few notes about plot threads I have left dangling. Then my brain can stew on them in the background until I come back to the next book. Also, it gives me a vague idea where I was going. If I do have any ideas for the next book when I finish a book, I make some bullet points.

3. Have something that brings you back to that book world. I write in Scrivener. I use different fonts and theme settings for my different series, which helps me get the vibe. For me, the biggest thing is playlists. I have running playlists for series that I add to when I hear a song that reminds me of a character. I often listen to one song on repeat for sections of books and putting on one of those at the start of the next book can get me back into the world fast.

4. Follow the weird ideas. When I first started the TechWitch series, my idea was about a woman who lives in the tech world finding out she has magic. So witches, demons and technology. As the series has progressed, the world has broadened out as I followed weird ideas that popped up. If you think it’s a fun idea, probably your readers will as well.

5. Spend some time with your core secondary characters. It can be handy to have some long plot threads for those best friends, coworkers, mentors and enemies that aren’t to do with the main plot or your hero and heroine. It makes nice little easter eggs for your readers (and can be a good source of ideas for bonus stories etc as well).


So how about you? Are you a plotter or a pantser? What helps you write a series?

The next book in my TechWitch series is Wicked Lies (out May 2026).

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Latest Release:

Wicked Deeds

Book 6, Techwitch

My mother was a wicked witch. She sold my magic to a demon. I thought that that was the worst that my past had to offer. Turns out, I might be wrong about that…

I survived a journey into the Fae realm that could have ended in disaster. But it was hardly a victory. The dangerous witch we were pursuing went free and a piece of my past came back to haunt me. And even though I’m back in San Francisco, there’s no peace to be found.

Strange creatures are stalking the city. A disgruntled Fae lord and his minions won’t leave me alone. And my worst enemy might have a connection to me that I don’t want to face.

To add to my troubles, the half-Fae girl we rescued from the realm turns up on my doorstep, seeking a fresh start. Understandable but her presence might kick off a dangerous game of power that could end it all. And when the darkness that shaped my past threatens everything I’ve built, I’ll need to embrace dangerous allies and my own magic to survive.

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M.J. Scott

M.J. Scott is an unrepentant bookworm. Luckily she grew up in a family that fed her a properly varied diet of books and these days is surrounded by people who are understanding of her story addiction. When not wrestling one of her own stories to the ground, she can generally be found reading someone else’s. Her other distractions include yarn, cat butlering, dark chocolate and watercolor. She lives in Melbourne, Australia. She also writes contemporary romance as Melanie Scott (and previously as Emma Douglas).

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Visit M.J.'s website: mjscott.net. 

Magic Thursday: Keys to Writing a Successful series with Keri Arthur!

 

One of the constant questions I've gotten over the years is, what are the keys to making a series successful?

If I had the answers to that, I'd be a millionaire. And yet I've had more series successes than failures.

For me, there are several key factors.

 

1. Characters, characters, characters.

Series are all about the characters that inhabit your book. Characters are what hooks your readers, what makes them care, and what brings them back, release after release. Your characters should, of course, be likable and engaging, but most of all, they should feel 'real.' Give them good points and bad, likes and dislikes, and a believable, sympathetic background. Remember to give them shades—no one likes someone who is always good or always right.

 Most of all, don't be afraid to let them fail.

And don't forget your secondary characters! They're as vital as the main characters. They might not be on the page full time, but they must have a solid, believable life that readers can imagine runs along happily in the story's background. They must never be just props. In a couple of my series, it's been the side characters that readers have latched onto, not the main characters.

 

2. Conflict / Plot.

I put these two together because, right or wrong, that's how I view them. For me, conflict is the emotional pull & plot is the physical pull, and they are vital ingredients to any series (or any story, really). The key to series writing is to have three or four threads running simultaneously throughout the entire series. The first conflict would, of course, be the emotional / romance one, and if you want a successful story, then you never—NEVER—give the hero/heroine their happy ever after in the first book (even if they jump straight into sexy times in that first book). There must be logical, believable reasons for them to be kept apart from their HEA over the course of the series. Even when you do get them together, if the series continues, you need them to still face problems. Just don't let the 'will they/won't they' run on past its use-by date, or you will lose readers.

The second plot/conflict should be the overarching problem of the series—the one that the character needs to face/solve for happiness to be reached. It's the plotline that burbles along in the background, resurfacing a couple of times every book with new information that drives it forward / makes things worse. In the Lizzie Grace series, that question was, what was she running from, and what would she do when she finally had to face up to her past? Running alongside this was the conflict of how she (a witch) and Aiden (a werewolf) would ever get their HEA when werewolves and witches have a long history of conflict and when both know his pack would never accept her into the fold. 

 The third plot/conflict should be one that appears—and is solved—in each book. This gives each book a feeling of completeness while still driving the narration—and the reader—forward. Most of my books are murder mysteries at heart, even if centred around supernatural elements, so it's generally a murder needing to be solved that is the keystone around which everything else swirls for every book. 

 

 

3. Setting

It doesn't matter where you set a story. It could be a quaint country town that just happens to be a werewolf reservation, a big city, or even off-world. It really doesn't matter. What does is making it believable and relatable. Readers have to understand your world. They need to be able to see it, smell it, and experience it. Setting plays as big a part in your story as the characters themselves, yet it should never overwhelm the actual story or the characters. 

 

4. Fun!

This may or may not be a key element, but it's what I like in a story and what I tend to add to most of my series. I let the characters have fun. I let them be silly. I give them lighter moments to counter the many dark ones. These lighter moments also give the reader a break, which can be vital if your stories are darker in tone or subject.

 

5. Bonus tip!

Keep a journal of characters and settings if you're writing a series. Seriously, do it! There is nothing worse than having to backtrack through multiple past stories trying to uncover what color eyes a character had (yes, I have done this when I've forgotten to update my bible.) My bible isn't particularly flash—it's just word files (one for worldbuilding, one for characters) that I copy/paste information into when I'm editing. It doesn't matter how structured (or, in my case, unstructured) it is, as long as it's all in one place that's easy to find.

 

Keri Arthur

Keri Arthur, the author of the New York Times bestselling Riley Jenson Guardian series, has now written over fifty-five novels. She had 35 novels published with US publishers Random House & Penguin and is now fully self-published. She's won six Australian Romance Readers Awards for Favourite Scifi, Fantasy, or Futuristic Romance & has also won the Romance Writers of Australia RBY Award for Speculative Fiction. The Romantic Times also awarded her a Career Achievement Award for Urban Fantasy. Keri's also a wanna-be photographer, so when she's not at her computer writing the next book, she can be found somewhere in the Australian countryside taking random photos.

Check out Keri's website.

 

Her latest release is Wraith's Revenge, book 10 of the Lizzie Grace series.

 

You can’t run from the past forever…

Lizzie Grace has finally returned to Canberra, the city where she grew up and a place that holds so many bad memories. Not only does she have to testify at her father’s trial, but also deal with her ex’s will and relatives unhappy that she’s inherited a good chunk of his assets.

Yet Canberra holds more than just memories of an unwanted marriage. It’s where her sister was murdered, and the man responsible was never caught.

Witches are once again being ritualistically sacrificed, and it holds terrible echoes of those past deaths.

As the murders draw closer to home, Lizzie finds herself in a race to hunt down the wraith of a man after the ultimate revenge…the soul of the woman who once escaped him.

 

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