40. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy – Writing an Amazing Series

For months, I’ve struggled with how to write a series. See, most of my ideas come to me as stand-alone books, but this current project felt like something bigger than one novel.

A few weeks ago, I had an epiphany.

Now, I think I’ve cracked the code on writing a series.

And today I’ll share it with you.

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Show Notes:

My interview on A Writer’s Explorations

A huge Q & A writing talk I gave to primary school students

My previous episode analysing Skulduggery Pleasant Book 6 – Death Bringer

Derek’s 2010 blog article that I quoted

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby

Save the Cat Goes to the Movies by Blake Snyder

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37 – Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling – Disguising Exposition

Subtly conveying information to readers is a delicate skill. It’s one that Rowling mastered in the Harry Potter series, where all the information is available to readers well before it’s needed, but only coalesces at the required moment. In today’s episode, I describe the 4 M’s of subtle foreshadowing, in relation to the Potter saga. Enjoy!

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Read my debut fantasy novella, Fires of the Dead.

“The perfect read for someone looking to be quickly immersed in a magic system unlike anything else.” – Nicole Wallace, editor of Synopses by Sarge.

Available in ebook, paperback, hardback, and audio book.

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13 – The Martian by Andy Weir – Problem and Response Story Structure

book-review-the-martian

I’ve read this book multiple times and love it more with each re-read. In this episode, I try to figure out why it’s so engaging, and end up categorising problems/conflict into 6 distinctive archetypes which can benefit any story.

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7 – The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie – Exploring Theme

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year, and what made it strong was Abercrombie’s masterful control of theme. In this episode, I examine how The Heroes doesn’t cram a moral down readers throats, but instead uses characters, structure, and symbolism to explore how in a war it’s impossible to be a hero in every way and at every time …

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Twitter: @JedHerne

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Shownotes:

Joe’s article on theme in The Heroes

Story by Robert McKee

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby

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4 – The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein – Writing an Amazing Midpoint

Done poorly, midpoints can bog down your story with annoying slowness. That’s not the case in today’s novel, which showcases one possible solution to avoiding the dreaded soggy middle.

Listen here.

Shownotes:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein (affiliate link – using it will give me a tiny bit of money, at no extra cost to you)