Should My Fantasy Novel Should Be Written Into A Chronicles Series?

[LittleStar]

You say character development is a strong suit of yours, that's perfect. Go ahead and write the plot arc for the villain character (or whatever characters are in your backstory) so you personally have a complete handle on the whole story, back and present.
I think what a lot of people here are saying is that they don't want a massive sidestep from the main focus of the story or character arc, to read about the history of the people/places/conflicts etc. Definitely is a good thing to have all of these things straight in your own mind, but that doesn't mean they nessesarily deserve their own book. Perhaps try to think of them as the seasoning, you sprinkle the salt in to taste, just the same way you sprinkle a few nuggets of how the war started into the story as you go.
I think GRRM did this brilliantly (ignoring the fact that I just a couple of weeks ago actually bought the seperate book of history that he didn't put into the series) you get the feeling that the world is so much bigger than the books let on, and that mystery actually helps to fuel the story in ways that info dump, or even non-infodumpy exposition, can't do.

In my opinion, getting this right is one of the hardest things to do. How do you know when youve gone too far? especially when you have barely scratched the surface of what is going on in your mind with regards to the full history of the story and world. But when done right, it gives the reader the sense that you, the author, have control and know whats happening in your own world. When done right, for me, they can turn a bad book into a good book, and a good book into a great one.

 

[Wishes Are Children]

Thanks, thats what I'm planning on doing. So far, I've only been trying to develop as a go along, but that obviously isn't working for this story. I have a lot of work to do.

Hopefully by writing things out, I'll figure out who my protagonist is. I automatically started thinking that she was the princess that ultimately save the kingdom, but I'm not sure that she fits this description I've found online. My villain could very well become my protagonist, or if its possible, I might end up with two protagonists. "The bottom line in determining your story’s protagonist is figuring out which character is most affected (and probably changed) by the moral premise (which, translated, is basically the theme) of your story."

 

[Wishes Are Children]

Thanks for all the help everyone, this discussion has been really helpful. Its nice to know that I'm not alone and that I have new people in my life who I can help/be helped by. Here is my 'To Do' list in regards to edits: 1) Rewrite prologue from perspective of major character in order to introduce main characters, develop major characters (2) and describe what the Kingdom hand been like/how and why it fell. 2) Write out villian's back story/other character's stories in order to avoid info dumps. Do not publish this, but use it as a reference. A) Ice burg info through out story to keep people guessing as to what happened in the past. (Character reactions/interactions)

 

[Mouse]

Hmm...okay. As an avid watcher of shows like Lost and Once Upon A Time, the backstory is often the reason that I watch the show. Lol. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I loved seeing how Rumple became the Dark One. He's such a complex character, often having several emotions at once or being Rumple and the Dark One at the same time. (The Dark One is basically an evil entity that allows someone almost unimaginable power while causing him or her to do things that he or she wouldn't normally do.)

TV shows are not the same as books.

 

[Michael Colton]

As Mouse said, they are different mediums. What would take one five minute segment with fast, emotional scenes in a show could take chapters in a book.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Wishes Are Children, it's best to use the multi-quote instead of a string of posts to separate individuals. If you look over to the right hand side on each post, you will see something that says +Quote. Hit that on every post that you want to quote in your post, and when you start your post there will appear a button below it (toward the left) that says Insert Quotes (or something to that effect). Hit that, and everything will appear in your post, so that you can respond to it all in one post.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

That was very useful for me too, Teresa. I hadn't worked out how to use multi-quote!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Hit that on every post that you want to quote in your post, and when you start your post there will appear a button below it

That was very useful for me too, Teresa

Or highlight part of a post (by click-drag with mouse, or equivalent touch gesture), click reply, do as often as desired in one post.

Very often it's only part of a post you need to repeat.

 

[Denise Tanaka]

If you think about your characters as real human beings, then ask yourself (or your characters) how much THEY care about their own backstory? I am a history buff, but other members of my family don't care one whit about what's happened before. One of my ancestors was orphaned in the American Civil War, and his rage manifested in alcoholism and abuse that has caused repercussions down through the generations. I'm also thinking about a comparison with our own contemporary world, where a lot of present-day political conflicts have roots in the past. Why can't the people from -- blank -- get along with the people from -- blank? Your backstory could become relevant to the current story if your straggly underdog hero steps up Braveheart-style to reclaim the territory that the Dark Lord has conquered, for example. You don't need big long paragraphs of info-dump, then.

 

[JoanDrake]

I sort of like backstory though. I get a little frustrated sometimes when I find myself chasing around after characters who won't tell you what is going on, where they are and why, etc. Then again, I like info dumps too, so it seems my tastes are not everyone's.

 

[Laeraneth]

As a reader, I'm never interested in backstory

Hmm...okay. As an avid watcher of shows like Lost and Once Upon A Time, the backstory is often the reason that I watch the show. Lol. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I loved seeing how Rumple became the Dark One. He's such a complex character, often having several emotions at once or being Rumple and the Dark One at the same time. (The Dark One is basically an evil entity that allows someone almost unimaginable power while causing him or her to do things that he or she wouldn't normally do.)

TV shows are not the same as books.

While I would totally agree it can't be dealt with the same way as TV would deal with it (I struggle to think of a book where I got to the end of a chapter and thought "wow, I really hope (s)he goes back a hundred years to show me how that happened before!" ) it's worth pointing out that in a book, what constitutes backstory is perhaps better thought of as 'setting'.
The whole point of a book compared to TV or a play is that it covers details that you simply don't have time to see, or couldn't, in a TV show, without it breaking the immersion to do so.

A TV show might open with the protagonist walking, head down, past a ruined church, and all the viewer could think would be "oh, that looks a bit run down, he looks kind of sad about it". But a book would be able to show - without taking you out of the moment - that the protagonist had been there when the army came through, hid within it's depths while it was being shelled, and escaped with a few other lucky people mere moments before it was all-but destroyed in the closing days of a war.

That was a off-the-cuff two minute (poor) example, but hopefully you get what I mean!

They're two different mediums and it's really not possible to equate the methods used in one directly with another.

So, really, the important distinction to make is whether the backstory you're talking about is actually better 'told' as setting, by making the story you are telling richer and deeper, or whether it really warrants its own story.
(and if it does, as was well pointed out with the Star Wars example, it's usually better told first )

 

[jastius]

Hmm...okay. As an avid watcher of shows like Lost and Once Upon A Time, the backstory is often the reason that I watch the show. Lol. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I loved seeing how Rumple became the Dark One. He's such a complex character, often having several emotions at once or being Rumple and the Dark One at the same time. (The Dark One is basically an evil entity that allows someone almost unimaginable power while causing him or her to do things that he or she wouldn't normally do.)

It sounds like you could boost each chapter into a separate novella, back story included..
If you see it separating naturally into distinct units of story, each containing a short three part act, you could have it set up as a thrieves world type thing where each individual story adds to the overall story. Very cool if you can get it together. Just remember to release a good block of the novellas at the same time, if not the whole series. ..( Or chronicles as you call them.... )
So people don't have to wait for the story..