I’m going to share some thoughts on a big decision that writers like us face pretty early on: do we write a single, self-contained story, or do we create a huge, multi-book saga? The choice between a standalone novel and a series isn’t just about what we prefer; it’s a strategic move that affects everything we do, from how we build our plot, develop our characters, pace our story, and even how we market it. This guide is going to break down the key differences and give you some practical tips so you can make the right choice for your story and write it perfectly.
The Big Difference: A Story Wrapped Up vs. a Story That Keeps Going
At its simplest, a standalone novel tells a complete story arc all in one book. Conflicts start, develop, and are resolved within those pages. Characters go through a major change by the end. A series, though, stretches a bigger story over lots of books. Each book adds something to an overall plot, character growth, or explores a theme even deeper. Think of a standalone like a single, perfect gem, and a series like a grand, intricate crown.
Why This Choice Matters So Much
This decision impacts everything from our very first outline to our final edits. A series needs really careful, long-term planning to make sure the world-building is consistent and characters keep growing across many books. A standalone demands efficient storytelling, where every word and plot point serves just that one immediate story, leaving no loose ends. Understanding these core differences is the first step to truly nailing it.
The Standalone Perk: Precision and Power
Writing a standalone novel has some unique benefits, especially for new writers or those of us who have one really powerful story to tell.
1. Focused Storytelling
Every single element in a standalone has to contribute directly to its main conflict and how it resolves. There’s no room for extra subplots or character detours. This really pushes us to write in a lean, impactful way.
- Here’s How: Outline your standalone with just one dominant plotline. For example, in a mystery, the focus is squarely on solving one crime, not hinting at some bigger criminal conspiracy for future books. The main character’s journey, transformation, and conflict must all be wrapped up by the final page. Think about The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – a single, captivating mystery with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Its impact comes from that tight, singular focus.
2. Clear Character Arcs
Our protagonists in standalones go through their big transformation all within the confines of one book. Their journey from where they start to where they end up is complete.
- Here’s How: Map out your protagonist’s emotional and practical journey with definite turning points and a satisfying resolution. For instance, in a romance standalone, the couple meets, faces problems, and ultimately commits by the epilogue. There’s no doubt about their future or lingering romantic tension for another book. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine shows a complete, moving character arc for its main character, finishing her emotional journey in one single volume.
3. Instant Gratification for Readers
Readers who want a complete story experience really appreciate standalones. They can pick up a book, get lost in it, and feel totally satisfied when they finish. This can lead to great word-of-mouth recommendations.
- Here’s How: Make sure your ending provides a sense of closure, even if it’s a bit bittersweet. Avoid cliffhangers or major plot points that are left unresolved. The reader should feel like the story is finished.
4. Self-Contained World-Building
While world-building is super important for any genre, standalones let us build a world that’s focused and relevant, serving just that immediate story. We don’t have to worry about how a small detail might affect five future books.
- Here’s How: Only build out parts of your world that directly impact the current plot or character motivations. If a specific magic system or societal structure isn’t directly relevant to the core conflict, just cut it out. For example, in a contemporary thriller, the world is pretty much our own, so detailed explanations of government structures aren’t needed unless they directly stop or help the protagonist’s mission.
5. Faster Production and Submission
Finishing a standalone means we have a complete product ready for submission or publication a lot sooner. This cuts down on the total time we invest before seeing our work in print.
- Here’s How: Once your standalone is drafted, focus on revising and polishing it until it’s perfect. You’re not juggling multiple future outlines, which allows you to put all your effort into one single manuscript.
The Series Strategy: Expanding Horizons and Deeper Engagement
A series gives us unmatched depth, complexity, and loyal readers. It’s often the choice for grand stories, intricate world-building, and character relationships that grow over time.
1. Long-Term Character Development
Series let our protagonists grow, mature, and change over years, even decades. Their arcs can be much more nuanced and complex, reflecting how life slowly unfolds.
- Here’s How: Plan out your characters’ core emotional and practical arcs across all the books. What big lessons do they learn in book one that set them up for conflicts in book two? How do their relationships change? Think about Harry Potter – his growth from innocent orphan to powerful wizard spans seven books, with each installment building on his previous experiences and choices.
2. Expansive World-Building
A series is perfect for creating truly immersive, complex worlds. We can introduce new cultures, magic systems, political complexities, and long-standing historical conflicts gradually, without overwhelming readers.
- Here’s How: Create a super detailed world bible. Document everything about your world – its history, geography, cultures, magic systems, gods, and political structures. Make sure it’s consistent across every single book. For instance, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire benefits from its multi-volume format, allowing readers to slowly uncover the vast and intricate world of Westeros.
3. Multi-Layered Plot Arcs
Beyond just resolving conflicts in each individual book, a series has an overarching plot that connects all the books. This could be a prophecy, a generations-old conflict, or a quest that spans years.
- Here’s How: Make a clear distinction between your plot arc for each book (the “book arc”) and your overall series plot arc (the “series arc”). Each book must resolve its immediate conflict while still moving the bigger series arc forward. A major villain might be defeated in Book 1, but their mentor, who’s the real mastermind, pops up in Book 2, as part of the broader series threat. The Lord of the Rings saga is a great example: each volume has its immediate quests and dangers, but they all serve the singular, monumental goal of destroying the One Ring.
4. Building Reader Loyalty
When readers get invested in a series, they often become deeply attached to the characters and the world. This creates a loyal fan base eagerly waiting for each new installment.
- Here’s How: Make sure each book ends with enough resolution to feel satisfying, but also introduces compelling new questions or challenges that make readers want to keep going. The end of a series book might resolve the immediate threat, but then reveal new information about the overarching antagonist, hooking the reader for the next installment.
5. Increased Revenue Potential (Long-Term)
A successful series can bring in steady income for many years, as each new book reignites interest in previous volumes and attracts new readers.
- Here’s How: Focus on delivering consistent quality. Readers who feel invested in our world and characters are much more likely to buy subsequent books and recommend the series.
Handling the Hurdles: Standalone vs. Series Pitfalls
Both formats come with their own specific challenges. Understanding them early on can save us a lot of frustration.
Standalone Challenges:
- Pacing: Everything has to happen within one single book. Too slow, and readers get bored. Too fast, and character development feels rushed.
- The Fix: Ruthless editing. Every scene must move the plot forward or develop a character essential to the current story. Get rid of any detours.
- Resolution: The ending has to be definitively satisfying for all major plotlines. No loose ends.
- The Fix: Outline your resolution very thoroughly. Make sure all questions you introduced are answered, and character arcs are complete.
- Overstuffing: Trying to cram too much plot, too many characters, or too much world-building into just one book.
- The Fix: Focus on the core story. Be really selective about what you include and what you leave out. Less is often more in a standalone.
Series Challenges:
- Consistency: Keeping character voice, world-building rules, and plot details consistent across multiple books can be incredibly tough.
- The Fix: Keep a detailed series bible. Chart character development, timelines, magic rules, and significant events. Refer to it constantly.
- Overall Pacing: Making sure each book feels substantial while still moving the overarching story forward. No “filler” books!
- The Fix: Each book must have its own internal arc and a significant conflict that gets resolved. It should contribute meaningfully to the series arc, not just be a bridge.
- Mid-Series Slump: Keeping readers engaged during the middle books of a long series when major revelations might be slow.
- The Fix: Introduce new challenges, expand the world, or deepen character relationships. Make sure each book offers fresh conflicts and advancements, not just repeats of old ones.
- Ending the Series: Providing a satisfying conclusion to years of reader investment and intricate plotlines.
- The Fix: Plan your series ending well in advance. Hint at it throughout the earlier books. Make sure it resolves the major series questions and character arcs completely. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, while its ending is a bit controversial, shows just how monumental the task of concluding a decades-long narrative can be.
Making the Strategic Choice: What’s Right for Your Story?
The decision isn’t random. It comes from the very nature of our idea.
Ask Yourself These Key Questions:
- Can my core conflict be resolved within a single story thread?
- If yes: standalone. (e.g., A detective solves one murder case.)
- If no: series. (e.g., A massive rebellion against an empire that will take multiple battles and political maneuvering.)
- Do my characters have a single, clear transformational journey, or do they need to evolve over a longer period?
- Single transformation: standalone. (e.g., A character overcomes a specific personal trauma.)
- Long-term evolution: series. (e.g., A young hero grows into a leader through many trials and tribulations.)
- Is my world-building limited to serving one specific plot, or does it have huge potential for exploration beyond a single story?
- Limited purpose: standalone. (e.g., A detailed historical setting for one biographical novel.)
- Expansive potential: series. (e.g., A new magical continent with diverse cultures and species.)
- Do I have one powerful, core theme, or am I exploring several interconnected themes that need a lot of development?
- Single theme: standalone. (e.g., The exploration of grief.)
- Interconnected, evolving themes: series. (e.g., The nature of power, sacrifice, and destiny over generations.)
- Am I ready for the long-term commitment and meticulous planning that a series demands?
- Not yet: start with a standalone.
- Yes, and excited: go for a series.
Examples of Smart Choices:
- Standalone Success: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. A post-apocalyptic story, incredibly profound and moving, designed to tell a complete tale of survival, art, and memory in one powerful book. The themes are fully explored, and all the narrative threads are beautifully woven together by the end.
- Series Success: The Expanse by James S.A. Corey. This hard sci-fi series meticulously builds a vast, complex future solar system. Its geopolitical conflicts, scientific discoveries, and character arcs are simply too grand and intricate for just one book. Each volume uncovers new layers of the galaxy, clearly needing a series format.
Hybrid Approaches & Evolution
Sometimes, a standalone becomes so popular that writers feel compelled (or pressured) to extend it into a series. On the flip side, a planned series might get condensed if the story truly doesn’t support multiple volumes.
- Standalone to Series (Handle with Care): If you write a standalone that could potentially have more stories, make sure the initial ending is truly satisfying. If you later revisit the world, the new conflicts must be compelling and not undermine the original story’s integrity. Think of it as a companion novel or a spin-off, rather than a direct, forced continuation.
- Example: Some authors have followed a beloved standalone with a sequel years later, like Margaret Atwood with The Testaments after The Handmaid’s Tale. The original was complete, but a compelling new story emerged. This path truly requires a fresh and significant conflict.
- Series to Standalone (Often a Reset): If you start a series and realize the story isn’t sustainable, it’s often better to gracefully conclude it in the current or next book, making it a duology or trilogy instead of an open-ended series.
- Here’s How: Don’t stretch a story too thin. Readers can tell when it’s “filler.” If your central conflict can be resolved in two or three books, make it a concise series rather than trying to make it run indefinitely.
Final Thoughts: Your Writing Career and Your Audience
Our choice also impacts our writing career path and how we connect with readers.
- For Debut Authors: Often, a strong standalone is recommended for a debut. It lets an agent or publisher see a complete story, shows off our ability to craft a tight narrative, and is a lower commitment for them than acquiring a multi-book deal from an unproven author.
- Building a Backlist: While a series can build long-term loyalty, standalones let us publish more frequently initially, building a diverse backlist and reaching different reader segments.
- The “One Hit Wonder” vs. The “Loyal Following”: Standalones can be runaway hits that burn bright. Series build a consistent, dedicated readership over time. Think about which path resonates most with your creative and career aspirations.
Ultimately, the most successful choice is the one that best serves your story. Analyze your core idea, its scope, your characters’ journeys, and the world you’re building. Make an informed, strategic decision from the very beginning, and then fully commit to the demands of your chosen format. Your story deserves that kind of clarity and purpose.