Developing Story Arcs

[Mário]

Where do we find good information on writing full story arcs for sequential episode-like structure in short story?

Any suggestions on how to go about it?

I ask this because if I am going to write a short story a week, I would really like there to be some continuity to the thing... at least later on, since success stories with pre-written story-arcs like, Avatar The Last Air-bender, Babylon 5, Stargate and Battle Star Galactic (re imaged), really appeal to me... Very different from BSG original (or the short-lived 1980 done on weekly pressure)...

This is my first post on a forum, so please be kind, I hope I am posting properly. If I made a mistake or offended somebody, I appolgize...

hugs and healing from Brazil,
Mário Lopez

[Steven Barnes]

You're doing fine. All right: you might want to take a look at the Martian Chronicles, which are a series of linked short stories telling a larger saga. The concept of "Soth's Fractal" suggests that the basic story pattern repeats in internested larger and smaller cycles--so that every scene is a complete story, as is (ideally) every single exchange of dialogue! So the first step is to understand what a story is in the first place. Simplest explanation: someone wants something, and something gets in the way. So you have a huge over-arching story situation. Within it will be victories and losses, love and loss and life and death. Characters will rise and fall.
I would suggest mapping out the entire "book" Then breaking it into a dozen or so major incidents (how many "incidents" would you have to break World War II into? In how many theaters of operation? From how many points of view?) If the event takes 12 years, how about twelve stories, one taking place each year? There are many ways to do this. The most important thing is to be VERY clear on your overall story, then break it into pieces, and re-apply your knowledge of story structure. Heck, every episode of "24" is a separate story AND a cliffhanger leading to the next episode. Examples abound. Good luck!