Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Finalizing storylines in a novel

This is topic Finalizing storylines in a novel in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :

###THIS POST HAS SPOILERS ABOUT GEORGE R R MARTINS NOVELS###
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Just some questions about finalizing stories in a novel.

I know that you should always tie something up in a novel, even if you are planning a series, but how much is OK?

I just finished book 1 of George R. R. Martins series (something about fire and ice) and it seems to me that he really didn't tie up very much at all. Some main characters are dead, but that just springboards into new storylines. Nothing gets resolved with Daenarys (sp?) except Drogo dies, but again, that is just a springboard.

King Robert dies, but that doesn't resolve anything either, as its the whole basis for the 2nd novel (so far, I'm only 300 pgs into the 2nd one).

When I think about it, almost nothing got resolved in the 1st book. The entire story was just gearing up for the 2nd book really. How common is this?

I ask, as the story I have mapped out for will definitly span more than one book (I don't know how long it will be... but it will certainly be longer than 1 book) and I was wondering how much I have to tie up in the first book.

Ronnie

Posted by AstroStewart (Member # 2597) on :

Personally, a book that doens't resolve most of the storyline at the end will give way to one of two reactions. Either I'm so involved in the story already that I'm on pins and needles waiting for the next book to come out so I can buy that one too, or the lack of resolution ticks me off to such an extent that I don't want to continue the series at all.

It's just my opinion, but I've always thought that the "main" storyline in any given novel, even a novel that's part of an ongiong series etc, should be resolved by the end. Usually there are plots and subplots going on to the side or in the background that create an overall story arch that takes a dozen books or whatever to complete, but if the first novel doesn't at least resolve *most* of the main storylines I personally would find it difficult to want to continue.

IMO, if an author can't tie up the main conflict within the book, or at least one or a few of the many "main" conflicts, then the book isn't dont yet.