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Trilogy troubles...
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Well, firstly, are their issues with Book 2 things that will be resolved as the book goes on? Or are there fundamental issues with the plot, pacing, or something else? You should examine the issues they're having first before you toss it to the side in favor of starting a new project.
I'm ready to put out book 3 of a series. While I was writing I had many ideas for other books. But I chose to stay focused. There also came a point in book three where my protagonist would not tell me where she wanted to go. It wasn't writers block, it was story line problems. I sat down and wrote her a love letter. I told her how much I loved her and cared about her. Three days later I was back writing. What does that have to do with your problem? Who knows you characters as well as you do? Who knows the story as well as you do. I don't believe in writers groups or other people telling me where my story should go or what it should be. If that's the case let them write it for you. If you start another project I can't help but think it would suffer because of the nagging feelings from the incomplete second book of the trilogy.
These are my feelings and mine alone. What I have discovered about this writing thing is we all have our own path and it is very different for each of us. I would stay on my path and finish what I started. The decision you have to make is an alone decision. You must do what's right for you and nobody can tell you what that is. Prayer works, just sayin.
Oh, I have no intention of tossing book 2 aside, or ignoring any piece of advice my writer's group gives. I was simply wondering how long is too long a wait, between books 1 and 2, as well as if it would be a bad idea to publish something else between 1 and 2.
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Ultimately, only you can answer these questions. Only you can determine when is the right time to work on a project or to publish a finished one.
If it were me, I'd probably go with working on something new while in the background hammering out whatever objections the writer's group had to my other work. I have to always have at least two or three projects going, just in the case of snags like that. Sometimes putting focus on something else for a while will help me return to the first project and see it with clearer eyes and mind. But, that's me. That's how I work.
If you're feeling compelled to work on something else for a while, perhaps that is what you should do. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try and see what happens. You wouldn't even necessarily have to take it all the way to publication. You could write the rough draft, then return to the second of your trilogy and look it over again.
Well.... look at how long GRRM takes between books, or JV Jones. And their readers don't stop reading the series, they just wait, and wait, and wait, because the books are so good.On the other hand, I personally avoid 1st books of a series by unknown authors, because so often they end on a cliffhanger and then book 2 never materializes. However, I might binge-buy an entire trilogy once it's finished, so the less time between books, the faster you get my money. But that's just my personal opinion.
If you feel you need/want a break from the trilogy, then take a break. If you happen to have another project during that time, I say go for it.
Jack wrote: "I'm ready to put out book 3 of a series. While I was writing I had many ideas for other books. But I chose to stay focused. There also came a point in book three where my protagonist would not tell..."It does sometimes feel like the writer's group wants to write the book for me, but without them, I would have published a seriously CRAP first book! There's good and bad things about any group. Mine just doesn't either read or like fantasy, which is the main difficulty they seem to have with my writing.
I'm starting to think you're right though. Putting book 2 aside would feel like quitting. *Sighs.* Looks like I need to think about writing love letters to my characters! 8-) Thanks for the advice!
Dwayne wrote: "Shannon wrote: "My questions...if I were to work on another book and publish it BEFORE book 2 of my trilogy, would that be a bad idea? And my last question, how long is too long between book 1 and ..."I do that too, have several projects going at once. This still leaves me with the question of how long will a reader of book 1 wait for book 2 to come out, before they forget. Any idea on that one??
What Dwayne says has merit and so does what Kat says. If the words just aren't flowing, don't force them. Sure, it may take longer to get to the end, but remember how long it used to take for sequels to come out? Lots of authors work on more than one project at a time.Yes, there are going to be people who won't read until your series is done. That's perfectly understandable, but not only that, it works in your favor. You will have a whole new audience to woo when you are finally done!
Kat wrote: "Well.... look at how long GRRM takes between books, or JV Jones. And their readers don't stop reading the series, they just wait, and wait, and wait, because the books are so good.On the other ha..."
I was thinking about GRRM when I wrote this. One of my favorite writers is an indie author whose book 3 will be out at the end of October. She waits a year between books and has a HUGE following. Mine is not huge in the least. I haven't sold a book in several weeks. Ugh. Yeah, getting back to work on book 2, if it, or my writer's group kills me. 8-)
Well, you said your writer's group is only 12 chapters into the second book; how long is the book? It's probably best to let them finish before you start trying to make revisions.
Christina wrote: "What Dwayne says has merit and so does what Kat says. If the words just aren't flowing, don't force them. Sure, it may take longer to get to the end, but remember how long it used to take for seque..."Do those authors PUBLISH other books while working on sequels? Is that going to turn off the people who are waiting for book 2?
Yep! Lots of them do. If you look at some of the bigger name indies, you'll see two, three, and more series going at the same time. I considered it, but I don't write exclusively in one genre, so I'm *trying* to finish off my current series before a new release.
Christina wrote: "Yep! Lots of them do. If you look at some of the bigger name indies, you'll see two, three, and more series going at the same time. I considered it, but I don't write exclusively in one genre, so I..."LOL, wait...what about the tacos?? There's more opportunity for celebratory tacos the more you publish! !-)
Joe wrote: "Well, you said your writer's group is only 12 chapters into the second book; how long is the book? It's probably best to let them finish before you start trying to make revisions."The way we work is to submit 3500 words, which we edit for each other and make suggestions.
Now that you've published, you get to make up any excuse for celebratory tacos. ;)
Christina wrote: "Now that you've published, you get to make up any excuse for celebratory tacos. ;)"LOL, sweet! *Runs to the store, doing cartwheels of joy all the way there.* 8-)
Hi Shannon, sounds to me like you've got a bit of "second-book-blues" going. For myself, starting book two was like putting on a wet bathing suit. Others, in various topics on this forum have expressed similar experiences. Your writing may reflect this; your story may drag and your writers group may have picked up on it. You haven't said how they responded to your first novel. Go back and re-read the first two or three chapters of your current effort... does the story grab you, or does it depend too much on events from the previous book?
Not to worry, it's all fixable. Jump forward and write an action scene. Get lots of blood an' tears an' slimy sticky stuff all over everything. Kill some characters... essentially yell "clear" and slam down those de-fib pads on your story. Then go back, stitch it to the beginning and clean up the mess. Above all, have fun 'cause yer not likely to get rich until book five (or so they keep promising).
(BTW: Jack wrote: "There also came a point in book three where my protagonist would not tell me where she wanted to go... I sat down and wrote her a love letter." What a fantastic idea!! Thanks, Jack. I'm gonna use that one some time.)
Shannon wrote: "Jack wrote: "I'm ready to put out book 3 of a series. While I was writing I had many ideas for other books. But I chose to stay focused. There also came a point in book three where my protagonist w..."If you write fantasy, and the members of your writers group don't like fantasy... then you need a new writers group (made up of fantasy writers and readers). :)
I am writing book #2 of my romance series, but I also have three smaller projects going at the same time: a short story, a novella, and an unrelated novel. I think it's helpful to have other projects to fall back on while your main project is still percolating in your brain. I bounce back and forth between my projects, but focus mostly on my Book #2 of my main series.
Libby wrote: "This is something I'm dealing with at the moment - trying to get out the entire trilogy so that people have faith it's actually coming! It's a shame that some authors give up so quickly, gives the rest of us a tough time trying to prove ourselves"Is this a real problem? That authors start trilogies (or some series) and abandon them before they are concluded? I didn't realize this was an issue. I'm sure not abandoning my series! You can't give up after one book, because it takes quite a number of books to even begin to make a serious income from writing. It's a multi-year process to get a writing career off the ground.
Mod
Thank you all! You're very helpful! 8-)
I am currently working on book 2 of my series (Which I am planning on being only a trilogy, as well) and my goal is to finish it and get it out as quickly as possible. Of course, I am going to try my best not to be impatient (not my strong suit) and wait until it's ready, but I am writing as much as I can to get through the first draft asap.My reasoning is that I don't want my readers to forget me. This happens a lot to me. I'll read a book and love it, but then forget all about it by the time the next book comes out. Somewhere down the road I may see it again, along with the next two or three books in the series and think "Oh, yeah, I think I read that," but I won't remember anything that happened in the story. Then it's a choice to reread it, or say "Oh well," and move on to the next thing.
With my first book, I let people read it as I wrote it. It helped, because they liked it and pushed me to keep writing so they could find out what happened. With this one, I am trying to finish it first before I show anyone. The only problem is that I am missing that motivation.
April wrote: "Is this a real problem? That authors start trilogies (or some series) and abandon them before they are concluded?"Seems like many authors only decide to write trilogies because 3 books will sell more copies than 1. They don't have 3 books' worth of story, though, so they lose momentum after finishing the first and, well, that's that...
Hey guys, yes, some people do abandon books. Traditionally published authors have done it since the dawn of time, however...Can we please refrain from speculating the reasons why? This begins to get into negative territory. You do not know another's situation.
April wrote: "You can't give up after one book, because it takes quite a number of books to even begin to make a serious income from writing. It's a multi-year process to get a writing career off the ground."totally agree.
in addition, you're already invested in the current characters and world. so instead of going into another story world where you have to build up everything from scratch--unless it's a really short piece or maybe a related side story--i'd stick it out in the current story world.
a friend of mine writes romance novellas and she pumps one out every 1-2 months to keep her books in the mind of her audience and to keep them satisfied.
I jump around a lot. I have way too many ideas and characters that demand my attention. But it works for me. I can work with one series (I call mine a series more than a trilogy because each book can stand on its own and each book may touch on the previous character, but has two new set of characters to focus on) and easily move on to another without a problem. I actually work on several at a time. For some reason, probably because they are so a part of me, I can dig into my story knowing who each character is and how they want to proceed in a story without much issue. Especially going back and forth between project. I say do what works best for you. If you're not happy with it, then do what makes you happy.
My questions...if I were to work on another book and publish it BEFORE book 2 of my trilogy, would that be a bad idea? And my last question, how long is too long between book 1 and 2 of my trilogy???