Set Up the Payoff: Planning a Series Finale That Delivers
If you’re building a series, the ending is already in the room. Dan Rice explains how to plan forward so the finale delivers.
One of my authorial goals for as long as I’ve been writing is to pen a complete fantasy series. When I first started scribbling away, I intended to write an epic fantasy akin to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time or George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Over time, I discovered my lane was young adult, which led me to create The Allison Lee Chronicles, a YA urban fantasy series that I recently completed. Bucket list goal checked off!
While writing Dragons Walk Among Us, the first installment in the series, I knew I wanted to create at least a trilogy, but I was aware of long-running series, like The Dresden Files (now eighteen books!). I’m a planner, have been since day one, but I didn’t carefully map out The Allison Lee Chronicles when I started writing it over five years ago.
Having written a four-book series, here are some things I would consider when starting one.
· How many entries?
· How to end with a bang not a fizzle?
· How to give the characters closure?
How Many Entries?
When I wrote Dragons Walk Among Us, I kept the advice in mind to write the novel in such a way that it could be either a series starter or a standalone. Since I didn’t know that I would find a publisher for the novel, I purposely didn’t spend too much energy thinking about how the story might play out as a series. Eventually, I did find a publisher, and my editor told me to write each book in The Allison Lee Chronicles so readers could start anywhere in the series without having to read the previous installments. I found this advice excellent and difficult to execute.
My main issue: the fantasy series I typically read have ongoing stories with distinct beginnings and endings. You couldn’t pick up book two and expect to understand what was going on without first reading book one. Still, I could understand the appeal of writing a series so that each entry could stand alone. This is how the aforementioned Dresden Files operates, and how a number of bestselling thriller series work, such as the Lucas Davenport novels and Reacher novels.
In the end, I decided on a compromise. After outlining the story arc for a four or five book series, I endeavored to instill each novel with enough backstory that a reader could enjoy the tale without being exposed to the previous installments. I did a decent job at this, but far from perfect. I have an ongoing story, with each book building on the previous one, which makes it difficult to give readers a full appreciation of the intricacies of the relationships and plot if they haven’t read all the previous books. Also, doing this led to the rough drafts of each novel to grow bloated as I tried to drop enough hints to inform the reader of what had happened previously. This gave me huge editing jobs for books two through four.
If I were to write a series again with the intent of allowing readers to start anywhere, I would definitely make it more loosely connected. Maybe just by having the same characters, and if there was an overarching storyline, keep it very loose and not deeply intertwined with the main thrust of each novel—like a recurring villain or a romantic subplot.
End with a Bang not a Fizzle
I wanted the books to build toward a final series climax. This was tricky because each book needed a satisfying conclusion. I wanted to avoid the issue of having a bridge book—you know, one that sets up the next book by not having a climax or ending on a cliffhanger, etc. I had the added motivation that my publisher does not accept books that are not self-contained stories.
To that end, I utilized a device I called the slipstream, often described in the books as a superhighway through the multiverse. In the climax of book one, Allison enters the slipstream, but doesn’t travel it to another universe. After that episode, she hears the siren song of the slipstream, calling her to travel it. In The Bane of Dragons, the chronicles’ fourth and final volume, Allison must travel the slipstream to save everyone she loves. The device really helped the series end with a bang, because all the books build up to her traveling the slipstream, where she must explore new worlds and overcome new monsters to complete her quest.
Give the Characters Closure
Don’t be afraid to give your characters closure, because at the end of a long-running series, you’re also giving your readers closure. Many of the positive reviews I’ve received for The Allison Lee Chronicles complimented the multifaceted characters, especially Allison. I knew I needed to give Allison and the other major characters a nice send-off. At the advice of my editor, I ended up breaking up the final chapters of The Bane of Dragons into a brief epilogue. This worked out better than I ever imagined. It allowed me to wrap up the storylines for Allison and several major characters without interfering with the climaxes of The Bane of Dragons and the entire series.
Concluding Thoughts
These are just a few things to consider when starting a series. I’m sure there are many other nuances to ponder. I will say this: if I had contemplated how many books I wanted to write, how to end the series with a bang, and how to give my characters closure earlier in the process, writing the series would have been easier in the long run.
About the Author
Dan Rice pens the young adult urban fantasy series The Allison Lee Chronicles and other speculative fiction, both short and long, in the wee hours of the morning.
To discover more about Dan’s writing and keep tabs on his upcoming releases, check out his blog, join his newsletter, and follow him on BlueSky.
THE BANE OF DRAGONS
Monstrous forces from across the multiverse have set their eyes upon Earth to create a beachhead in the universe humanity calls home. The problem with that? Humans will be enslaved…and used as food stock for skaags, ravenous shapeshifting super soldiers.
Allison, a teenage alien human hybrid, is humanity’s only hope. She must travel the slipstream, the super highway through the multiverse, to bring the conflict to the enemy’s turf. With a crack squad of miscreants as allies, she does just that, but the plan goes awry.
They end up as the prisoners of angry terrestrial octopi. Their attempts at negotiation only see them handed over to General Bane, the skaag supreme military commander feared throughout the multiverse. Allison discovers that to save everyone she loves, she must unravel the magic binding General Bane and his kind to their overlords. To accomplish that, she must face her greatest fear, herself.
The Bane of Dragons releases on April 20, 2026.
