Just plain huge

Hi everybody, and welcome back to Too Many Books to Count! I’m so glad you stopped by. As you know, all month long I’m using my Druid Novels to teach you a little bit about writing a series of standalone novels. It’s not something that’s for every writer, but it is something I think we should all know how to do, just in case.

Trust me, it wasn’t exactly what I was going for either, when I started Coetir.

Thus far, we’ve talked about getting your bearings, understanding why you’re writing a series of standalone novels instead of a traditional chronological series. We’ve discussed figuring out your world and your landscapes, prior to writing book 2. We’ve looked a little bit into making sure your timelines all line up, across every book in the series. And now, we have another big one—and a fun one.

Big, big characters

These are the characters who will have name-drops in books other than their own. Characters who have their own book, perhaps, but who are big enough that people all over your world know who they are or at least know them by reputation.

In the Druid Novels, I have a few of these—primarily, the witches. I could also make the claim that the Vartes is a character big enough to have leaked into every single story, but really, it’s more that the Vartes is a central character in all the stories. That’s not what we’re talking about today. We’re talking about those characters who do something so epic that they get name dropped in a book that has nothing to do with them.

My best example is Hythdor, from Mynidd: People of the Hills.

She’s my epic druid warrior, and probably my favorite druid character I’ve written. Well, maybe. She’s also so epic and headstrong that some of the other witches either mention her by name or consider her actions, when trying to decide how to proceed with their own people, their own situation.

Thing is, nobody really knows whether they should think of Hythdor in a good light or a bad one, and she’s totally okay with that. She knows her sisters are unsure how they feel about her actions, and in her mind, it doesn’t matter. She’s done what she thought best, and the others will make of it what they will. I think that’s part of what makes her one of those huge characters that seeps into story after story.

It’s a very important character type to include in your story, if only because it’ll just add another way to prove how united the story is as a whole—despite the fact that each book is a standalone story.

Whether your big, big character be an evil antagonist who everyone has to face in the end, a king who’s making decisions his people are unsure about, or a witch who will do whatever it takes to see her people’s success—it’s a character you’ll need, in your series of standalones.

Plus, you’ll feel really cool when you name-drop a character in a book they don’t belong to. It’ll make you wonder, just for a moment, what your readers will think when they see this little nod to the rest of your series.

As readers, that’s something we love to see. It means you’re paying attention to your own work, that you know what you’re doing, and that we can trust you to take us on this ride.

Have a great weekend, everyone—and remember, no matter how much you write each day, you’ll still end up with a book as long as you don’t stop writing.

[love]

{Rani Divine}