The Gift That Gives (all over your shoes)

So I came to a realization a couple days ago not only am I writing my first novel, I'm writing the beginning of a series that could be between 5 and 7 books long, it doesn't seem to be able to decide and I apparently have no say in the matter. I think working on the beginning of a series is different from trying to write a stand alone piece, at least it is for me since I'm such a picky and specific bastard.

First off I'm a huge anime and manga fan, every nerd has their pillars of geekdom and anime and manga would indeed be mine, especially manga. In Japan unlike America most manga is published weekly instead of monthly, this puts a lot more strain on the writers/artists who are in most cases only one person working with some assistants, as much as I love manga they suffer because of their scheduling. Most manga-ka have no time to really plot out a story and just run headlong into the mess generating characters and story arcs as they go with only the vaguest sense of continuity. Nothing pisses me off more than a random character that we're suddenly supposed to accept has some sort of history with the main character when they were never mentioned or even hinted at before that moment, one of my hugest peeves in manga writing, and writing in general.

So I went into book one of this series and I've been establishing a vast network of characters and relationships to be further explored at later dates. One of the things I love about a well done series is the vastness of the world the author creates. It's easier to do in comics than in novels I'd argue, but Series like Dragon Lance, Harry Potter and The Lies of Locke Lamora do a good job of creating an interesting world and filling that world with interesting people, even if you only see them once. I was once told that you should never name a character if you don't need to; I disagree with this assessment. I read Richard Price's Lush life about 8 months ago and he names a lot of characters and those characters matter, he managed to give them a sense of realism that's hard to encapsulate in such a short time. I think J.K. Rowling did that in the Harry Potter series creating a cast of secondary and third(dary?) characters that made the world feel real.

I think secondary characters that can potentially carry future stories, and play more vital roles down the line are integral to the realism of a world, especially in a series. I've heard mixed reviews of Terry Brooks but I read one of his Shannara books a while back and I hated it, the story itself wasn't bad, the writing was so-so but what I really disliked was how empty this VAST fantasy world felt. There was never any sense of bigness and I don't think he was quite going for the empty desolation of The Road, and because I knew he wasn't trying to do it, it made it all the worse when that's what I felt.

The first couple of books in a series should be the foundation, if I was writing a series like the Dresden Files or Sookie Stackhouse or something it'd be different, most of the times the books have the same characters but the story's aren't always arcing. But I'm writing a set story arc over 5 (or 7) books and I need a good solid foundation of characters to exploit, maim or kill along the way. I feel like I've been building my network of characters with the future in mind. That's all for now...