Writing an ongoing story is a different animal than writing a stand-alone novel or short story. And it's not as simple as "What's the next big story?" How do you keep your whole cast of characters involved, including supporting cast? How do you build up to new stories without just pulling them out of the air? And how do you keep readers wanting to stick with every new story, whether novel in a series, comic book issue, or sequence of short stories? 

Well, it's as difficult at ABC. 

Wait, don't I mean as easy as ABC? Oh, I wish I did. 

This is one of the toughest lessons any writer can devote himself, herself, or themself to. This is the kind of narrative goodness that keeps a series from being one stand-alone after the other that allows readers to skip out on a few steps (losing you cash from book and comic sales). This is the art part that makes readers have to stick around for the long haul. 

The best ongoing narratives have done this well for years without every showing off the mechanics off it. (Perhaps that's why so many folks are unaware of this type of storytelling, because it was so invisible to the reader/viewer.)

Soap operas. 

Yes, those soap operas. 

But we'll get in to that shortly. Let's get to a few definitions for now:

• A Plot -- your main narrative story for the current book or issue or episode
• B Plot -- the secondary, just below the surface plot that can and should complicate the A Plot (and in some cases become the new A Plot for the next book or issue or episode)
• C Plot -- the more subtle, often reserved for the support cast story that can keep your minor characters busy will still having some bearing on future A Plots or even interactions with the current A Plot. 

Got those definitions? Good. Let's get down to brass tacks.

Read more: https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-abc-plots-of-ongoing-storytelling.html