Using Short Stories to Create Character Backstories for a Full-Length Series

John Wilkerson — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 19:58:13 GMT

Current Revision posted to Identifying Your Genre by John Wilkerson on 1/11/2019 7:58:13 PM

While some authors stick to either long-form or short-form stories, others experiment with both. Sometimes, authors write a long-form story that can be broken down into several episodic sections. Other times, authors build out their long-form novel’s world with short stories. For example, sci-fi author, journalist, and ghostwriter John Wilkerson wrote short stories in the world of Rye Ironstone in preparation for a full-length series. He hoped to create a maturing story arc for his main character, Rye, so that by the time there was enough material for a novel, the backstory already existed. This strategy also built out a world for Rye to live in and Wilkerson didn’t have to give each character’s backstory. Finally, this was a great marketing tool—Wilkerson could offer content to newsletter subscribers and others who were following his work online. This content was fresh but also drew readers back into the world of Rye Ironstone between major book projects.

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsingShortStoriestoCreateCharacterBackstoriesforaFullLengthSeries.mp4

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Using Short Stories to Create Character Backstories for a Full-Length Series

John Wilkerson — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 19:22:10 GMT

Revision 3 posted to Identifying Your Genre by John Wilkerson on 1/11/2019 7:22:10 PM

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsingShortStoriestoCreateCharacterBackstoriesforaFullLengthSeries.mp4

Using Short Stories to Create Character Backstories for a Full-Length Series

John Wilkerson — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 19:06:56 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Identifying Your Genre by John Wilkerson on 1/11/2019 7:06:56 PM

While some authors stick to long-form or short-form stories, others play around with both. Sometimes, authors write a long-form story that can be broken down into more episodic sections. Other times, authors build out their long-form novel’s world with short stories. For example, John Wilkerson, sci-fi author, journalist, and ghostwriter, wrote short stories in the world of Rye Ironstone in preparation for a longer novel. He hoped to create a maturing story arc for his main character, Rye, so that by the time there’s enough material for a novel, he was grown and the backstory already exists. This strategy also built out a world for Rye to live in and Wilkerson didn’t have to give each character’s backstory. Finally, this was a great marketing tool—Wilkerson could offer content to newsletter subscribers and others who were following his work online. This content was fresh but also drew readers back into the world of Rye Ironstone between major book projects.

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsingShortStoriestoCreateCharacterBackstoriesforaFullLengthSeries.mp4

Using Short Stories to Create Character Backstories for a Full-Length Series

Author Learning Center — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 18:49:40 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Identifying Your Genre by Author Learning Center on 1/11/2019 6:49:40 PM

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www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsingShortStoriestoCreateCharacterBackstoriesforaFullLengthSeries.mp4