series shape and intermediate points of closure

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

I'm thinking in terms of something that's going to be a series, and mulling on the scale of closure a story has to have to feel complete.

I think the DF is an excellent example of individual books having solid book-scale endings while still having lots of ongoing series-scale plot.  But I can't think of anywhere the DF as we have them could have stopped and felt like a complete series.

What I have in mind would be three books, with a solid endpoint there such that if nothing more gets published readers would be happy.  And another layer of stuff going on such that if they did do moderately well there would be four more books and then another solid endpoint. 

I'm aware that I kind of want two contradictory things, in terms of wanting a book 3 that feels like a satisfying last book and at the same time works as a natural flowing middle if I get to write four more; can anyone think of any examples of things doing that that work ? I can think of plenty that don't; the closest I can imagine to what I have in mind is the jump from book 3 of the Black Company to the Books of the South, and I have not found the Books of the South/Glittering Stone to really work all that well for me or to feel really much of one thing with the first trilogy.

[Nickeris86]

i never start a story with a definite ending i just keep writing until it feels done.

[Starbeam]

The couple series I can think of off the top of my head that do this are the Shannara books and the Belgariad and Mallorean books.  But those tend to have really long times between sets of books, or have no real reason to have been written.  Other than those, everything else I can think of is pretty similarly structured--first book has a completed feel, but still enough to keep going if it does well.  So maybe take that idea and build off of it so that the first story encompasses the first three books?

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

The couple series I can think of off the top of my head that do this are the Shannara books and the Belgariad and Mallorean books.

Not exactly options I feel particularly minded to emulate.

Other than those, everything else I can think of is pretty similarly structured--first book has a completed feel, but still enough to keep going if it does well.  So maybe take that idea and build off of it so that the first story encompasses the first three books?

I have pretty defined book-by-book stories for the first bit, and expanding the first of those to threee volumes is not really possible that I can see.

[Aludra]

I'm not well-read enough to give you an example from literature, but for story-arch and closure ideas you might look to video games.  Weird I know, but it's a common enough thing in games to do an Intro Trilogy where the player learns the moves and afterwards there's resolution followed by a game-changing event that requires more episodes to resolve.  This happens in Ocarina of Time and Okami off the top of my head.  Successful video game franchises, in general, are pretty masterful at open-ended and still satisfying endings.
 

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

I'm not well-read enough to give you an example from literature, but for story-arch and closure ideas you might look to video games.  Weird I know, but it's a common enough thing in games to do an Intro Trilogy where the player learns the moves and afterwards there's resolution followed by a game-changing event that requires more episodes to resolve.  This happens in Ocarina of Time and Okami off the top of my head.  Successful video game franchises, in general, are pretty masterful at open-ended and still satisfying endings.

Not a direction with which I am widely familar; Wikipedia here I come, and thank you.

[Aludra]

Not a direction with which I am widely familar; Wikipedia here I come, and thank you.

You're welcome, and I hope it's fruitful for you.  I'm always happy to provide a new angle to attack a problem with.