Second novel syndrome

Never had any problems writing mine, but I don't write in a series and have vowed never to write a sequel to any of my books.

I personally wouldn't aim to write a series straight away. Is this your first ever novel? If so, you've enough to worry about, let alone sequels. Make your first novel stand-alone - write sequels if they make sense.

I know that when I began my first story, I couldnt wait to begin the sequel. I hand wrote both of them. It took me three and a half months to write the first book which reached 196 handwritten pages of looseleaf -.-;;

Then I started to handwrite the second one.

I got to about 65 pages and I just stared at what i'd written like: oh my god...why am I even stopping? and then I realized i just didnt know what to do. So...its still the hardest to do at the moment. I've been working at it for a few years while I type up book 1. ^^;

loquax is right. Don't even think about sequels. If the first book doesn't sell there aren't going to be any sequels. And the first book won't sell unless it is complete in itself.

I have to agree with what's been said on this.

I wrote my novel so that it can be a series. I've left my characters in a place where I could easily create a new adventure for them and create dozens of new books, with the same characters.

I even wove into the novel hints about what the second book would be about (It's a scifi novel and throughout the entire book, there are references to a race called the Zerons who attacked Earth in the late 21st century. The characters keep saying if the Zerons come back, etc. etc. It could easily be just a device to move the novel along and it could also be the threads of a sequel.).

That said, I'm deliberately not starting on a sequel to the novel until I've sold the first one. I intend to start a different novel completely. I see no reason to commit to the work involved when I don't know for certain that I'll be able to get this one published.

And the novel can easily stand on it's own without there ever being a sequel in case this one does sell but doesn't do well enough to justify a sequel. The only thing I'm doing for a sequel is possibly to write a short synopsis of my idea for a sequel in case I'm asked, but I'd never start writing an entire sequel until this sells and I know that they want one.

Also, I have to disagree with your friend. I know my characters now. I know how they act, how they feel, what they would say and do. I'm comfortable with them. The idea of creating a whole new cast of characters is much scarier for me than of continuing to tell the story of the same characters I already created.

For the very same reason, I'd have preferred to have written a Star Trek novel instead of creating my own cast of characters. I'm a life long trekkie and would have found it easier to write Kirk and Spock effectively than to write my own characters. . .

the best way I ever saw that put was something from Ann Crispin where she says something writing Star Trek feels like swimming in warm, familiar waters whereas writing your own feels like swimming against the current. . .very true for me at least. . .but I suppose to each his or her own.

Eric

One, you shouldn't worry about the 2nd novel until the 1st sells.

Two, I'm not sure if the follow up books are actually more difficult or not.

Like everything else there are good and bad sides. Good side: you know the characters better. You have the rules of the world established.

Bad side: when you're writing a series you're always worrried about "how much backstory from the previous books do I need to give people who didn't read the previous books..." Plus you worry about characters growing at the right pace and stuff like that.

Each individual novel comes with it's own sets of rewards and challanges.

Stop listening to your oh-so-helpful "friend," obsessing about second novel syndrome, and using up writing time reading every post here.

I've done several series, and 2nd, 4th, and/or 11th novels are no more harder to write than the 1st.

You block out the static just DO it.

Now get outta here and WRITE.


.

Second novel syndrome is like writer's block - it only exists if you believe in it, and even then, I'm not so sure.

I agree with all that's been said. Just focus on the one you're working on.

That being said, I am finding my second novel way harder than the first at the moment. However I haven't written a third or fourth either so who knows maybe the one after this will be even harder!

eric11210 said:

I have to agree with what's been said on this.

I wrote my novel so that it can be a series. I've left my characters in a place where I could easily create a new adventure for them and create dozens of new books, with the same characters.

I even wove into the novel hints about what the second book would be about (It's a scifi novel and throughout the entire book, there are references to a race called the Zerons who attacked Earth in the late 21st century. The characters keep saying if the Zerons come back, etc. etc. It could easily be just a device to move the novel along and it could also be the threads of a sequel.).

That said, I'm deliberately not starting on a sequel to the novel until I've sold the first one. I intend to start a different novel completely. I see no reason to commit to the work involved when I don't know for certain that I'll be able to get this one published.

And the novel can easily stand on it's own without there ever being a sequel in case this one does sell but doesn't do well enough to justify a sequel. The only thing I'm doing for a sequel is possibly to write a short synopsis of my idea for a sequel in case I'm asked, but I'd never start writing an entire sequel until this sells and I know that they want one.

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Me too. The story I wrote could go on a little further but I made sure to wrap up all the immediate conflicts in the first one. I'm pretty confident it can stand on its own.

After I finished the most recent edit, I started on the second book in the series but after I finished the first chapter I had to stop and ask myself why I was doing it. If I couldn't sell the first one there was really no point starting the sequel to it; however, I have written a brief synopsis of the next three books in this potential series. I may end up writing them just for myself. I still need practice, ya know.

Concentrate on the one that is written and start submitting.

Second

My second novel was a sequel to the first, and it was the hardest thing I've ever written in my life, and quite possibly the worst. Writer's block had nothing to do with it. I was sick of the characters, I was writing the book because the publisher requested it, and not one thing went smoothly.

My fifth book was also a sequel to the fourth, and this one, too, was a real struggle to write. It turned out to be pretty good novel, I think, but there was nothing easy about it.

For me, I think both cases were difficult because I wasn't writing what I really wanted to be writing. This second sequel came about because the reviewer in The New York Review of Books said novel four deserved a sequel. Publishers tend to jump on things like this, and as soon as that review appeared, my publisher asked for a sequel.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I have a real hard time saying no to a publisher that's holding a contract in one hand, and an advance check in the other.

I learned my lesson, I think, but I can still be bribed.

Then again, I never find any novel easy to write, and the longer I'm at it, the more difficult every novel is.

Michael Dracon said:

Well, I'm going to take the advice many of you are giving and concentrate solely on the first novel.

It's hard for me to do that though. I have learned from hosting many pen-and-paper RPG games to look ahead and have a good understanding where things will go next.

I guess I have to learn that this is not quite the same.

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It's not the same, in RPG games you have more control your not dealing with first a publisher who needs to publish your book and then the public who needs to buy your book.

No reason you can't plan ahead for your second novel just don't let it slow down the first.

I'm writing the 5th book now but also planning how events in this will play out in the 6th and 7th books. Of course I'm under contract for these books which helps.

I do traditional RPG gaming as well (both running and designing..one of my publishing credits, actually), and also have the urge to think ahead. What I ended up doing is structuring my stuff as an informal series. Many use the same setting, and characters do reoccur. This way they can be packaged as a series should some publisher at some distant point decide to do so, but they also stand on their own.

I know they're a series (after a fashion), but that doesn't so much mean they are a traditional series. A casual reader might not notice, and they don't have to be submitted anywhere as a series.

All I presently write are series and I think what I found hardest to write about the SECOND novel is that it's expected to be as good as the first (if not better!) Now, in one aspect, it's easier to make it better. You learn a TON through the process of the first book, and can avoid a lot of traps that you've already realized you're capable of (like repetitive words/phrases or punctuation errors.) But the first book often has an AWESOME plot---one built just for those characters. Moving them to a different setting and/or situation can sometimes dilute a strong character. Keeping recurring characters true to the original vision isn't easy.

The other difficult thing is that if you manage to sell a two-book deal (which is happening with more frequency of late) they're going to want that second book from you in six to nine months. If it took you five YEARS to write the first, that's daunting. But if you've already got it outlined or half written at the contract signing, it's that much to the better.

One thing I've heard from several authors who write series is that they usually write the first or first three chapters of the NEXT book immediately after finishing the previous one. That way, they're still in the character's "head" and the dialogue and movements sound natural and flow. Then, when the dreaded "stick a fork in me, I'm done" depression after finishing the book lifts, you can read where you left off and pick up the old style much easier.

Good luck with it! I really enjoy writing series, and I know a LOT of authors who write nothing but. So, it can be done.

I just finished a rough draft of my second novel yesterday. It was a sequel to my first. I actually wrote a sequel because I thought it would be easier, and it was. I knew the characters so well that they were easier to write. The action, and reaction felt so much more resonant. I say the second book in a series is easier than beginning a whole new project.

Let me point out that my first book is stand alone. I agree that if the first doesn't sell, then the sequel won't either, but I know my third book will be stronger for having written the second one. I also will mention in my query letter that although the first novel is stand alone, I have a completed sequel involving the same characters. I think that's a selling point if they like novel 1.
P

My life has regularly run counter to what experts say will happen.

Now I'm going to play expert. When you have young children, you should never, ever tell them they're hurt. If they fall over, they don't need parents to tell them they're hurt. If they are, they'll howl. If they aren't, they won't. If they're not sure, they look to see how Mommy or Daddy is reacting and take their cues from there.

The point of that is, don't anticipate a problem. By doing so, you can create it. Every writer is different, every book is different, every year is different. Go into everything as upbeat as possible and deal with problems only when they start howling without any prompts from you.

End of sage advice. Throw money.

If you haven't finished the first novel, don't even think about the second. By the time you finish the first one, things might have changed in such a way that a lot of your plotting for the second one will need to be altered.

Just worry about the first novel for now. The second one will take care of itself when it's time to write it.

I'm 160 pages into my WIP - an action thriller - and from time to time I get ideas about my main characters that don't seem to fit into this book.
I still write them down in a separate file that I'll be looking at again once my WIP is finished.
So don't worry, just finish your first book, make it good as it can be as a stand-alone story, and ideas for a second will come along.

I recently finished (REALLY finished) my first novel in what I want to become a series. Two things held me back from working full force on book 2 until now. The first was that I had only a vague idea of where the story was going. The second, I didn't figure out until after I'd taken care of it: this nagging subconscious feeling I had that the first book was incomplete -- that a certain scene was almost, but not quite there. But before I realized that, all I could think about was my fear of not finding a killer idea for book 2.

After I reworked the questionable scene until I felt the orgasmic joy that comes (no pun intended) from finally making the words live up to the picture in your mind, my "book 2 energy" built up to overflowing. And lo and behold, I got my direction: I thought of an ending too delicious to pass up within about ten minutes, and I've been on fire ever since.

This long-winded and weirdly innuendo-filled account is just my way of saying, "Yeah, what they said." Finishing the first book "unlocked" the second one for me. Worrying about it before that point didn't do me any good.

~JM.

Just adding another opinion to the mix.... I agree that you shouldn't worry about the second until you finish the first. But I disagree about not writing a series right away. I mean, why not? If your goal is to publish, then you need to make sure that novel 1 can stand alone. That makes sense. But if you just want to write this potential series because it interests you, then go for it and who cares.

In my experience, the writing only gets easier with each story. The first three novels I wrote were a trilogy. Publishing them didn't interest me then and it doesn't interest me at the moment. I had no difficulties with novel 2 or 3. In fact, novel 2 in the trilogy is my favorite. In other words, everyone's experiences are different. Just write and discover what's true for you.

ink wench said:

In my experience, the writing only gets easier with each story. T.

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It sure doesn't for me. With each new novel I see what I did wrong with the last, and wonder how I can make this one better. The more I learn, the less I realize I know. The longer I write, the more I realize how much better I need to be.

I also think it's very difficutlt to say how well you've written anything until someone buys it. I can write a novel with unlimited ease, but can I write one that will stand up in the marketplace; can I write one that's not only better in my untrustworthy opinion, but in the opinion of agents, editors, and the reading public?

I find it gets easier, too. Yes I see where I went wrong before, but this makes me think, "At least I'm improving." Realising I need to get better doesn't make it difficult, it makes me think, "I'll only learn by writing. And at least I know more now than I used to."

It applies to everything with me. The more I do something, the better I get at it, and the easier it becomes.

My first book started out as a stand alone. My second one came out to follow it but can still be a stand alone even though technically it's part of a series. Was the second one harder than the first? Nope. They both have their moments but it's all in how you write and what flows at the time.