Building an epic fantasy trilogy

A momentous occasion (for me, at least). I have just published the last novel in my epic fantasy trilogy: The Palâdnith Chronicles.

It’s been quite a journey – one that started in 2009, when I began sketching out the idea for the series. In the time since I began the trilogy, I have moved country twice, shifted home four times and had a number of other ‘distractions’ to deal with.

However, in the end, I got there!

One of the things I really enjoyed while writing this series, was learning the craft of building an epic fantasy trilogy. I use the world ‘building’ rather than ‘writing’ because – believe me – writing is the easy part!

Epic fantasy novels usually come as part of series. Readers seem to prefer it, and a series gives writers the chance to delve deep into the world they’ve created. However, creating, building and writing a fantasy trilogy is not without its pitfalls.

Firstly, what exactly is a ‘trilogy’?

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected. They can be seen either as a single work, or as three individual works. Most fiction trilogies involve the same character or setting, whereas others are connected only by theme.

The easiest way to understand a trilogy in the context of a fantasy series, is a single story that’s basically split into three novels.

Basically, a trilogy should be like a three act play. Book#1 should be the set up and inciting event; Book #2 where all the real trouble happens and the stakes escalate; and Book #3 is the final show down with the antagonist, the climax and the wrap up (Summary courtesy of: Planning your Novel: Ideas and Structure, Janice Hardy).

The importance of planning

Yes, we’ve all have heard this before, but it really does pay to plan before you write. I don’t mean nutting out the plot in detail, but it’s essential to have a rough storyline for the entire trilogy sketched out, to ensure your series doesn’t just peter out half-way through.

Will your story last the distance? Often a story idea seems grand enough to span three books. However, when we take a good look at it, we realise we could tell the story in just one novel.

A story that just doesn’t have enough meat to fill a trilogy ends up becoming unbalanced. To quote Janice Hardy again, such a trilogy ends up looking like this: “Book One that’s all set up and feels like it’s not going anywhere, a Book Two that drags the plot out and ends with nothing being resolved, and a Book Three that feels like a slow march to the antagonist that takes way too long.”

They key is to make sure that you have enough conflict and story to last the distance. 

Conflict, conflict… and more conflict

Conflict is central to a good story – but it’s also key to planning and writing a trilogy. Not only do you need to have a central conflict that dominates the entire series, but each novel within the trilogy should have its own stand-alone conflict as well, which is resolved at the end of the book. This gives the reader a sense of resolution, while remaining aware that there is a bigger goal in sight.

Don’t be afraid of conflict in your stories – layer it on and it will give your series depth. Conflict comes in many guises; it’s not just external peril or issues beyond your protagonists’ control, but conflict can also come from problems created by the protagonists themselves – actually, this is often the most exciting form of conflict.

Put your characters to the test

Your protagonists need to change throughout the course of your trilogy – however, be careful not to transform them too quickly. You don’t want them overcoming their personal demons in the Book #1, only to cruise through the next two novels without developing – this will make your story boring. The way to avoid this is to plan your character arc for all your characters (including your antagonists) over the entire trilogy.

It helps to start with giving your character a goal, and then giving him/her a fatal flaw which prevents him/her from reaching it. During the course of the story, show your character making strides forward, before relapsing, and continue this cycle right to the end.

This pattern of struggling with the flaws that hold us back in life, making breakthroughs and then having setbacks, is all part of being human. Making this key to your story will help readers connect with your characters – it will also mean that by the time your protagonists reach the end of the third book they have undergone an epic personal – and not just physical – journey.

Did I follow my own advice?

Sigh – hindsight does have 20/20 vision. If there was one thing I would have done differently throughout the writing of the Palâdnith Chronicles, it would have been to plan the storyline for all three books BEFORE writing.

The problem was that I didn’t initially set out to write a series. Originally, my tale was going to be just one stand-alone book. However, after a finishing a huge first draft, my editor pointed out that there were at least two novels in that manuscript. He also pointed out that the story clearly didn’t end with the second book, so I might as well write a trilogy.

Changing my plans half-way through meant I had to sit down and plan Book #3 carefully before writing. It also meant that I had to do a bit of extra backstory and also revisit my characters’ flaws to ensure they continued developing over the last novel in the trilogy. There were subplots to be tied up, a show down with the antagonist to build up to, and a resolution to be made.

It was hard work – but I’d do it all again. J

Are you working on an epic fantasy trilogy? What have you discovered so far about the process? Please share!