Sunday, June 27, 2010

Weekly Discussion: Series vs. Stand Alones

This week I'm going to be talking about the pro and cons of series and stand alone novels. Marginally, I prefer stand alones over series. I think it is much harder to write a stand alone. To make a story interesting and intriguing and have a large climax but yet get everything wrapped together in about 300 pages is not that easy. I'm assuming. But I think if you write a series you never need to have a set conclusion till the end of the series which is usually a minimum of 3 but can be 7-10.

Another reason I love stand alone novels is with all the books I read it is so hard to keep series separate. And I don't always have time to reread the books before the newest book. And books like the Private or Pretty Little Liars have so many books and twists. Plus its sometimes almost a year since I read the last book. Its very hard to keep everything straight. And also very frustrating to be confused.

There is also ways to tastefully do series. I love series that each book has a definite conclusion and that you would be fairly satisfied if the series ended there. Examples of this are The Mortal Instruments and Twilight Saga. Don't get me wrong I love to read series they just frustrate me somewhat.

So what do you think? Which do you prefer? What are your favorite series? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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2 comments:

  1. I used to love series but at last count I'm reading over 20 of them and I just can't keep track anymore. It's hard to find stand alones these days especially in YA. For the most part I'm trying to stay away from them until they are done and read them all at once.

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  2. If the series is good, I don't mind reading it and keeping up on it. If stand-alones are good, I don't mind reading them either. I guess I'm just not one of those people that feels the need to get invested in a series once they read the first book. If I don't like it, I'm not going to waste my time and carry on. If I like it, I'll get around to reading the rest of them eventually.

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