How to keep a long-running series fresh

Writing a long-running series of novels, as can so often be the case for crime fiction authors, brings its own set of challenges, not least how do you keep the writing fresh for reader and writer alike?

As I start the latest DCI  Jack Harris novel for my publisher The Book Folks, the twelfth in the series where the action is divided between the North Pennines and southern Scotland, it’s a thought that is very much at the front of my mind.

There are several things which experience suggests will aid the process as I start to write, an important one being that, after spending so much time on my previous novel (from my other long-running series, the DCI John Blizzard stories), I have something new and shiny to play with

An author has to do that new idea  justice, which means making sure that the new plot has a strong idea at its heart, something that intrigues the reader - it is simply not enough to trot out the same novel again and again – a writer needs to be more inventive than that.

Also, yes, by all means go back to characters who appear in previous novels in the series  - crime fiction readers, by and large, like the ensemble approach, meaning they meet old friends and foes.

However equally important - actually, more important - is the new characters that the author will need. The author needs to make sure at least some of them are different to previous novels - maybe a profession they have not included or a type of villain they have not featured, or more women or LGBTQ characters or different nationalities if the novels have tended to focus on white faces.

Each new character, each new plot, each new idea, each new setting (maybe your rural character goes to the big city or your city dweller ventures into the countryside) injects energy into the story and ignites the author's enthusiasm and, in good time, will grab the reader's interest as well, however many novels there are in the series.

Views: 13

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of John Dean Crime Novelist to add comments!

Join John Dean Crime Novelist

Latest Activity

John Dean posted a blog post

A welcome addition to the crime fiction canon

Book Review - Murder in the New Forest by Carol Cole (The Book Folks).It’s always a moment laden with anticipation when a new crime series emerges onto the scene and Carol Cole does not disappoint with Murder in the New Forest (The Book Folks).At the heart of the novel is a new central character, DI Callum MacLean, newly arrived in Hampshire from Glasgow and plunged into…See More
Wednesday
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Monday
John Dean posted blog posts
Monday
SEO Services Philippines updated their profile
Jan 25
John Dean posted a blog post

Bestseller chart success

I am delighted that two of my crime fiction works are this morning in the top 100 Organised Crime Kindle charts on Amazon.The DCI John Blizzard box set containing the first seven novels in the series, (The Book Folks) for just 99p - now if that is not an outstanding offer, I do not know what is -  is at number 43 (it is already topping various anthology charts).My new…See More
Jan 20
John Dean posted a blog post

Grant award helps develop crime fiction programme

Organisers of the fourth annual Kirkcudbright Book Week have been awarded a £1,750 grant from the Robin Rigg Community Fund to help them develop the crime fiction component of the festival.Kirkcudbright Book Week is designed to celebrate the growing literary scene in and around the South West Scotland town and crime fiction has proved to be a popular genre with audiences…See More
Jan 17
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Jan 14
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Jan 14
John Dean posted blog posts
Jan 14
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Jan 13
Capping Machine updated their profile
Jan 8
John Dean posted a blog post

The way authors work

A few years ago, I ran a creative writing course and, at the beginning of one of the sessions, I asked my fifteen students how they worked.The result was fifteen different answers –one author wrote everything by hand then typed it onto their computer, another wrote it all in note form then linked the notes together, one did not edit anything until everything was…See More
Dec 29, 2024
John Dean shared their blog post on Facebook
Dec 27, 2024
John Dean posted a blog post

Knowing when to cast all caution to the wind

Writing is an art form which combines two skills which appear, at first glance, to have nothing on common – unrestrained creativity and well-controlled discipline.However, good writing is not possible without either of them. To explain, as I write the latest DCI Jack Harris crime novel, I am being disciplined and following the synopsis that I developed right from the…See More
Dec 27, 2024
Filling Machine updated their profile
Dec 25, 2024
Packaging Machinery updated their profile
Dec 24, 2024

Videos

Members

© 2025   Created by John Dean.   Powered by

Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service