Stand Alone Novels or a Series?

I think it's impossible for me to tell a story in a single novel. Once I get started, the ideas just keep coming. And they won't stop with just one book. I have to keep going until the story is told. And most young adult novels aren't 600 pages long.

I suppose I could give it a try, but I don't really know how it would go. Maybe I could do an adult novel, but I don't know how to write those. I'm kind of stuck in adolescence in a way. Mostly because I never really got to live mine. I grew up way too fast.

And I like the idea of a series rather than a stand alone novel. Mostly because there are so many other things you can do with a series. In a series, you can explore so many other themes, you can get to know your characters so much better, and you can see a multitude of other characters who aren't "main" characters and see how they behave and fit into the larger patchwork of the story. I like series better. Maybe because I don't want to let the story end.

Maybe I also like writing my stories in a series because I prefer to read stories in a series. The longer, the better in most cases. There's only a few instances in which the series has gone on too far for my tastes. But I keep reading! (Darn you P.C. Cast!) That's what happens with a good author. I hope I end up one of those authors one day.

So in the end, I think I'll be an author who writes in a series. The stand alone novel might not be for me. At least, not until I write my memoirs. And at 27, I think it's a little pretentious to write them now.