Should You Keep Writing the Same Characters for Years?

Jill here. Have you ever daydreamed about writing the same characters forever? All your friends are bouncing between stories, or at least writing one at a time. Not you. You are so in love with your characters, you'd be happy writing them for the rest of your life.

Is that possible?

Today we're going to hear from an author who has done---and continues to do---just that. It's my privilege to introduce you to Robin Jones Gunn, author of the insanely popular Christy Miller series. I've always looked up to Robin and scoot to the edge of my seat whenever I get the chance to hear her speak, so I'm honored that she has agreed to share with you all today. As you can see from her bio, Robin has published a LOT of books! But one of her series has gone on much longer than any other---longer than most series ever do.

ROBIN JONES GUNN is the much loved author of over 85 books. With nearly 5 million copies of her titles sold worldwide, her popular Christy Miller series now continues in Christy & Todd: The Married Years. The Sisterchicks® series and Glenbrooke series are favorites with book clubs. Her novels and non-fiction works have received multiple awards include three Christy Awards, Gold Medallion finalist and two RWA-FHL Reader's Choice Awards. Robin's travels have taken her all over the world where she is a popular speaker at women's events and writing conferences. Robin and her husband have a grown son and daughter and live in Hawaii. Visit Robin online at www.robingunn.com.

Welcome, Robin. Would you give us a brief background on the history of Christy and Todd?

Robin: The first Christy Miller novel for teens released in 1988. Christy was 15 in the first book and met Todd that summer. The series grew to 12 books and yes, college bound Christy and Todd end up together on the last page.   I thought that would be enough of their romance and went on to write a spin off series of Christy’s friend, Sierra Jensen, who was still in high school.

Readers were relentless. They wanted to know if Christy and Todd got married. I wrote the College Years series and yes, Christy and Todd walk down the aisle on the final page. I thought that would be enough of their romance and went on to write another spin off series about Christy’s best friend, Katie Weldon, who was still in college.

Readers were relentless. They wanted to know if Christy and Todd had a happy marriage and of course, if they had a baby. I wrote a bunch of other books including three non-fiction titles.

Readers were relentless. My heart called me back to these characters and I wrote three books about Christy and Todd in the Married Years. The third one, “One More Wish” releases this Friday and yes, (spoiler alert) Christy finds out she’s going to have a baby on the final page.

Jill: How has writing the same series affected overall book sales?

Robin: My sales have been very strong. Better than expected. Loyal readers who grew up with Christy as teens are now married and sharing the whole franchise with their own daughters who are now twelve. If anything, the Married Years series has brought a slew of new young readers to the original series. It’s too early to evaluate if sales on book three will continue as strong as sales on book one and two in the Married Years, but presales were just as strong as on the first two books.

Jill: Can you give our readers some tips on what worked to make this series so popular for so long?

Robin: 1)  God’s favor. I mean that sincerely. I can’t explain why over thirty years of writing some of my books sell and some don’t. I just keep committing everything I write to the Lord and sit down and write what’s on my heart.

2)  The main character, Christy Miller, seems like everygirl to the readers. She wasn’t/isn’t extraordinary but throughout the stories she has some endearing, shining moments. She didn’t overcome great obstacles as in most YA novels (ie eating disorder, parent’s divorce, etc.) Instead of being issue driven, the focus was on simply watching her grow up. She felt like a friend to the readers and still does even when they’re in their 30’s now.

3)  The books are about Christy’s everyday life but with all the boring parts taken out. When nothing particular happened in my imagination for three months of her junior year of high school, I jumped ahead to when something interesting was about to happen. When Christy and Todd had been married for a couple years and all they were doing was trying to figure out jobs, I jumped ahead to when they thought they were ready to have a baby and left a year and a half gap between books two and three in the Married Years. This is probably a basic rule of story-crafting but I didn’t know it when I started writing (or any other basic rules). I figured it out when I wrote pages of details that didn’t tie back to anything or lead to anything.

4)  Each series needed to take a roller coaster ride of emotions before answering the question presented in the first book of the series – Will Christy and Todd end up together? – Will they get married? – Will they have a baby? My audience is romantic at heart and never tire of these questions. They need the emotional ups and downs.

5)  How long will readers stay interested in these characters? I’ve considered writing Christy & Todd: The Baby Years. Don’t laugh. It could be fun. Or I could be done. I don’t know yet. What I do know about writing a Baby Years series is that I need an opening question that is more amplified than in any of the other series. Will they adopt? Will their child/children have special needs? Will they have triplets? (probably not).  It’s going to be more challenging to keep the intrigue going, I think.

Randy Alcorn teased me that I'd write about these characters all the way past "Christy & Todd: The Nursing Home Years" and on into "Christy & Todd Go to Heaven." Click here to read the conversation, which I posted on my blog.

6)  Final thought if you’re thinking about writing about the same characters for decades. Make sure you miss them before you start writing about them again. You must find the main characters to be funny and endearing and mysterious and sort of egging you on in your imagination in order to go back to them again and again. Wait until you hear them calling to you as they take off running through a forest of possibilities. Start chasing them immediately or they will get away from you.

Jill again. Thanks so much for talking with us, Robin. What a fount of wisdom you are! I need to read Christy & Todd: The Married Years...

We're giving away a copy of one of Robin's Christy & Todd books. I'm going to let you choose which one. That way, if you're part-way through this series, you can get the next book. And if you're never read a Christy story before and want to start at the beginning, you can do that too. One print book is the prize. Enter on the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

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