: Re: Write multiple trilogies or make a saga? So I am currently writing a fantasy story that tends to be long. This question is related to the following question: related The main difference resides

@Dunderdale623

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I just want to point something out.

About 2002/2003 I started work on an epic saga that I believed would be a solid piece of work people would love and that would definitely be a winner. It had two killer things going for it that would make people warm to it. One: It was going to be a saga but not an open ended series, the end point would be planned from the beginning so no slowly petering out, getting worse and warmed over until just eventually they stopped being milled out. Two: As mentioned it would be rigorously planned out beforehand.

I wrote a huge plan. Copious character notes, two and a half novels, short stories, some rules for adapting the universe to D20 role-playing (at the time I knew nothing about role-playing games except as a hobby I had once tried when I was thirteen). I milled out probably in the region of quarter of a million words in the pursuit of this project. 250,000 words later I discovered that my initial idea was okay, but it wasn't as great as I first thought. The writing had taught me a huge amount about writing, but it was niche in its universal appeal. The story was epic but it missed something in the beginning and tripped over itself too much in the construction.

Essentially, if I wanted to make it work then I would have to start again, from scratch, with a new approach. Unfortunately I am not an internationally renowned author who works from nine to five in his writer's studio. I am a schlub with a day job who writes in his spare time. I realised there were easier ways to connect with people through story and a greater variety of possible projects.

Not saying that your experience is inevitably bound to be like mine, or that my experience was not deeply rich and rewarding. It's just that, I didn't really worry about it. I just did it, if I hadn't I wouldn't have learned all the things I learned and become better at being a writer. Maybe it's better to just do what you need to do now, planning for the future is fine but don't worry about it if you find you need to change the plan because of information you learn on the way. That's all part of the process.

Good luck with the project.

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