When I first began to write I wasn’t thinking of trilogies. I still had to finish my first book. But from that came my second in the series. I am currently editing and revising the third one. I’m not sure if there will be any more after that but have a couple of possible directions I can go.
But now that I am writing in a new genre, which is YA, my thinking is different. My first NaNoWriMo win was with the manuscript called “Lost Faith” which at first was a stand alone. But quickly my mind went to trilogy. Why so quickly? The movies now a days seem to come in trilogies for this genre. Not only that but go to any bookstore and in this section it is trilogy galore. I even read in a few places that is what publishers are looking for. Whether that is the trend now or not I’m not sure. But my mind went there and so now that is what “Lost Faith” has become.
But with my Jasper series I wrote each one individually. With my YA I came up with a crazy idea. Why write one by one by one? Why not write this humongous novel where I would just have to divide into three?
Does anyone do it like this or not ? Am I nuts to try to do this? Probably so. Will it all shatter and I just go back to one at a time could happen. But for now I am going for the gusto.
Sharon C. Williams-Author 
Honestly, I think writing the whole thing at once is a great idea. It helps to keep the story lines and characters fresh and flowing, which is what many authors say is the hardest thing about writing a series.
I’ve done it both ways. I wrote my first two Sword and the Flame novels as one, but had to cut it in half due to its size, so that was accidental. I wrote the next few books in the series individually, and that did make it harder. I think it’s really up to what we feel works better for us..
See, that is what I was thinking as well for this piece. It helps me keep the flow going instead of slowing down. I know what I want to write, what events I want to happen to how it will end in each book. Why would I want to stop? Thanks, it nice to know I am not alone. 🙂
No problem. I think it makes perfect sense. I never understood the thought process of taking a year (Or several, depending on the author) between books unless it’s a ten or more book series. Burnouts happen, but if we pace ourselves, it’s usually not that bad, I don’t think.
Agreed. I didn’t do my Jasper series all at once but I did know the plot and ending for each volume once I started.
Very cool. That definitely helps. 🙂