Foreword
Okay, first off when I refer to sagas I mean book series'that are similar in vein to The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games etc - where the narrative arc and the character building spans several books, not one. These can be for adults or as is becoming more and more common these days for Young Adults (teenagers) and children.
1. It Takes A Lot Of Time
You can't write a saga or a series of books in a year or even a few years. They take years and in some cases even decades. It took J.R.R Tolkien 17 years to write The Lord of the Rings series of books and if you are willing to count The Hobbit and The Silmarillion as being part of the same overall saga then the whole composition took decades. The same too can be said of Stephen King's The Dark Tower (8 books) begun in the late 1970's and finished only in 2012. So if you're going to have a go at writing a series of books be prepared to still be working on it years from now.
2. It Takes A Lot Of Passion
Since writing a saga takes a lot of time it is important that the writer is extremely passionate about his or her project. A writer doesn't just write a first draft, send it off to a publisher and then get loads and loads of money. A writer gets rejected. Over and over, time and time again. It's a frustrating business and it leads to LOTS and LOTS of re-writes and re-edits as the writer chips away and tries to make each book the best that it can be. The first book in my Jack Strong series of books has easily been through 15-20 edits and I'm still without an agent and a publisher. But ultimately, I believe in the worthiness and readability of my project so I keep on working away, trying to make it better, trying to make it a more enticing project for any would-be publisher. And that is what YOU have to do too - plug away, keep believing, and never ever give up. Because without this passion and dedication your saga may never see the light of day, never mind a bookshelf.
3. You Need To Believe In Your Characters
Deep down you need to believe that your characters' stories demand to be told. When I write about the characters in my books it's like they are old friends of mine. I can't let a rejection slip get to me; I can't stop writing because if I did that then Jack and Vyleria and everyone else would die too, and I don't want that to happen. Ultimately, they are willing me to write about their adventures as much as any of my readers.
4. You Need To Read A Lot
Tonnes in fact, but in the main you need to read other sagas, other series'that feature characters and storylines that are both similar and dissimilar from your own. Since I'm a YA writer with a penchant for Science Fiction and Fantasy I read anything and everything in those genres - such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Chaos Walking trilogy of books by Patrick Ness. But I'll also read other books such as the aforementioned Dark Tower series that are slightly different in theme and aimed at an older, more cultured audience. Ultimately, if you read a lot of sagas you will, when writing your own work, start to get a feel of what works and what doesn't, and what is ultimately literary gold dust.
5. Don't Be Afraid Of A Little Research
Now I'm not talking about sitting all day in a library here - writers, chiefly should write, not research. No, I'm talking about reading the occasional news article about the latest discovery from Mars for example or else some of those weird sea creatures that occasionally end up in fishermen's nets. Such tales - carefully exaggerated of course - can give you some great ideas for your own writing. For example the volcano planet at the end of my book Jack Strong and the Red Giant is based in part on Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. The triangular American spacecraft featured in Jack Strong in Dreamland come straight from watching numerous UFO videos on YouTube. I could go on and so should you. Don't hesitate to feed your imagination with a few little tidbits gleaned from the weird and wacky world of the internet because at the end of the day it will be YOUR world, YOUR saga that will benefit.
Final Word
If you want to comment on any or all of the points raised above please do not hesitate to do so. Also, if you want to read all about Jack Strong's adventures in outer space check out the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M22USRE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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