When Writing A Series...

1. Decide even before you begin the first book whether it will be a part of a series or not.
2. Treat each story as an individual book, focusing only on one pair of characters. 
3. Stir readers' curiosity about your other characters (the lead/s on the next story/ies) by making them 'look' and 'sound' interesting. Introduce them but don't give too much details, to the point that they outshine the leads.
4. Make sure that majority of the scenes in a novel will focus on the lead characters of that particular title. If a minor character will appear on more scenes than the major leads, it might confuse your readers.
5. Use the point of view of either the hero or the heroine.  
6. Each story must be different from the others. Different characters, different personalities, different goals, different conflicts; different gestures, manner of speaking and ways of thinking, too.
7. Do not overwhelm the readers with too much details.
8. Keep a series 'bible' to make sure there are no loopholes or inconsistencies, and timelines match. 
9. There should be a central theme to give your series its own sort of 'character' or identity. *
10. Give 'parallel' titles. *

*Note: For marketing and aesthetic purposes. :-)   

Tag It!

A 'dialogue tag' is the phrase or words you add after a dialogue. 

Example: "Hey!" Chris called.

In this sentence, 'Chris called' is the tag.

The main use of dialogue tags is to tell readers who is the speaker. If it's clear already who is speaking what, you don't need to add tags. It will only interrupt the flow of dialogues. 

I suggest you mind your tags later after finishing your manuscript, during the 4Rs (Read, Review, Revise and Rewrite) phase, not while writing the dialogues.

TIPS WHEN USING DIALOGUE TAGS.

1. Avoid redundancy. 

Example: "I'm shy," she said sheepishly. 

2. Avoid too many adverbs.  

Example: 
"I loved you then," he whispered sincerely.
"That is not true," she said indignantly.
"Nagsasabi ako ng totoo!" he raged violently. "Why can't you trust me?"
"Nooo!" she cried miserably. 

3. Make sure the tag matches the dialogue.

Example: 
"Get out!" he whispered.  (incorrect)

4.  English word + Tagalog word = not correct

Example: "No way!" yelled niya. 

Use either, 'she yelled' or 'tili niya'. 

5. Don't abuse 'sabi niya'.  

It's simple and straight to the point so this is actually the best tag, but don't overuse it. There are other--and more 'descriptive'--verbs you can opt for. 

Here is a list of verbs you can choose as replacement for 'sabi' or 'said':

amin
anas
angal
anunsyo
banggit
bulong
deklara
sagot
sang-ayon
tili
tudyo
udyok
untag
usal

acknowledged
argued
barked
bragged
confessed
demanded
hissed
mumbled
muttered
promised
replied
snarled
sobbed
threatened
wailed
whined

6. Make sure you're using the correct punctuation marks. 

Best Writing Tip:  READ.  

Common GRAMMAR / SPELLING Mistakes Tagalog Romance Writers Make

FYI.  Refrain from making these mistakes if you can... :-)

• Excessive use of exclamation points (!) and ellipses (...) 
• Misuse of 'NG' and 'NANG':

          NANG - when, once
                      - same as 'noong'                       
                      - synonymous to 'upang' or 'para' 

                      - na + ng 
                      - more or anymore
                      - used as an adverb of manner 
                      - ligature for repeated words (ex: tawa nang tawa)
          NG      - of 

• Interchanging BUKOD and MALIBAN

          BUKOD - aside from

          MALIBAN - except 

• Switching KUNDI and KUNG DI

          KUNDI - but 
          KUNG DI - abbreviated 'kung hindi'  ; if not.

• Misuse of MALUWAG and MALUWANG

          MALUWAG - loose
          MALUWANG - wide, roomy

• Interchanging: 

          YOUR and YOU'RE
          ITS and IT'S
          HE'S and HIS
          LOOSE and LOSE
          LEAVE and LIVE

How To Crop Your Manuscript

Sure you spent a considerable amount of time constructing that scene; researched for that specific detail, and even used encyclopedia for that piece of information, but if it's making your novel impossible to fit in a 96-page book, you would need to press DEL whether you like it or not.

Here are some pointers on how to make your manuscript shorter:

1. Delete dialogues, monologues and other details that are not that important.
2. Apply SHOW vs. TELL Rules. If a scene/action/detail is of minimal significance to the story and can be narrated, do the latter to save space.
3. Scenes where not one of the leads is present can be deleted, especially if it does not have direct effect on the story line. 
4. Amputate dead scenes.
5. Remove 'chitchat' scenes.
6. Shorten narratives.
7. Simplify descriptions of places.
8. Reduce the number of chapters. Instead of having the usual 10, reduce it to 8. Chapter headers occupy a great deal of space.

Important: Don’t get too attached to your manuscript. Revise with your mind (preferably open at the time you start this) and not with your heart. 

Happy cropping!