Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Story Connectors in Series #MFRWauthor

Inspired by Writing The Fiction Series by Karen Wiesner." For the series where the connection isn't a tight one, the type of series that depends on something other than the quest for a particular object, there need to be ties or story connectors. These stories may be those that can be read without having read the others in the series. For this kind of a series, a tie or probably ties are needed.

The characters in each story come from the same town. If this is the case, there can be a number of story connectors. The name of the town, the places in town that are unique and that the characters visit frequently. This will cause the reader to suddenly feel like they are someone visiting a familiar place.

The connectors in this kind of story could be something else like the use of a particular word in a series. Mysteries often use this The Murder, The Case of... This often shows the reader that perhaps the main character is the same but this is a new case. Often done in mysteries. This can be the use of the main character's name in the title. The reader sees this kind of thing in the title and they say, "Oh, yes."

In my own loosely connected series one story consistently uses a Maine Coon cat as the connector. Even when he's not physically present in the story there are mentions to the cat. Another though the connector is the birth sign of the heroines, there are such things as the name of the town, a favorite eating place, the local hospital. These things are in most of the stories and they help the reader know these stories are part of a series,

So story connectors are needed and especially in the series that aren't tightly woven.