Whether or Not to Write a Series

Those of you who have written series--how did you come to this decision? The other day, I was thinking of ideas to add to my diary novel, which I then though could be the start of a new book. I was having a hard time deciding how to end the book. When I began writing it, it sounded like this could be the start of a series, but I wasn't too sure then. But now I think I may just start a second installment. First, though, I need to conclude the first one and will be thinking of how to do so.

Since it's YA/MG fiction that I am attempting, it seems series-worthy, no matter how many books end up from it. Again, thinking too far ahead, but I'm almost certain I'll be beginning another one. And on a side note, I'm still confused if my work will be classified as YA or MG. I recently decided that 12 will be current the age of the protagonist at the time of the events in what I have written so far. Does that make it Middle Grade or Young Adult, once the character ages to 13, which I can see myself writing about next.

Also, I have yet to come up with a title for the first book, let alone an entire series title.  I have already come up with chapter titles, or should I call them diary entry titles? 🙂  
The beginning of the first one reads:

So begins my journal….



HOW I HATE MY LIFE

April 5, 1983



How do I hate my life? Let me count the ways.


I hate the way I look. Curly dark hair, dull-looking brown eyes and teeth sticking out in all directions…an overbite. It should come as no surprise that my dentist said I need braces. Hearing this triggered my anxiety. I was sure Mom would not be able to afford it and I would have crooked teeth all my life. I’d said that I would gladly skip it, but no such luck. My mom is always working to be able to feed the two of us and now she says has to get a second job so that I can get braces. If Rachel Blair won’t let one thing slide, it’s the fact that my teeth need straightening. “You’ll look and feel so much better,” she’s been trying to convince me. But she will say we can’t afford other stuff, like that new thing called a VCR that allows you to record TV shows to watch later. ...

Oddly enough, the boy dreading and then subsequently getting braces seems to be the focus of much of what I have written so far. He calls it "Preparing for Life Behind Bars," the title of another of the entries/chapters.

This site gives five reasons for writing a series, the second of which reads:

A book series takes the pressure off of you to put everything into one book. Too many authors have taken too long to publish their book because they wanted to be sure they included everything ever needed in it. With a single book, you don’t have a way to follow up the information.

I now seem to think this point might work in my favor. But no decisions have been made just yet.