Are you ever afraid that...

If you're worried about that why not just write one book?

You don't have to do a series, surely you would only write one if you had too many ideas for one book?

There is a huge problem with many of those epic fantasy series where the books in the middle sag and drag precisely because of this problem.

IMO, it is better to write one fantastic book with all your best ideas in it and many mediocre ones than to only write mediocre ones because you stretching your good ideas out to make them last longer...

With all due modesty, ideas have never been a problem for me. I have rough outlines for my next six books, and a conclusion to the series. In between will take care of itself. Only thing is, I have to clean up my act and get the first one published. There's always something, isn't there?

MisterFuzzles said:

If you're worried about that why not just write one book?

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Agreed. If this is the fear you're experiencing, just condense it to ONE kick-ass book.

I do understand your thought process though. Here is my view on the structure of fantasy series.

Book one's primary purpose, IMHO, should be to introduce the conventions of the "world" or "society" you're creating, which, if it's in the SciFi/Fantasy genere, is obviously going to differ from the real world.
Don't use your huge twists and best moments in book one. Sure, it should have an engaging plot in itself but the Majority of the draw should be Drawing the reader into your World, not necessarily 'Where that world is going.' (give hints/inklings of where it's going, though)

This is why When I look at the Harry Potter series, Book One is the one I'd be the least excited about reading.

When I read that book for the first time I felt, "Wow, this is great, this world is so different and interesting..." etc. and that worked well as an attention grabbing book. But after you've read the whole series and all its supernatural elements are second nature, Book One loses the allure that it had during your a first reading. Nothing wrong with that at all, in my opinion.

I'm writing a Four Book series at the moment and I have it planned out so that Book 1 will be engaging and will feel like it could stand-alone, but all the big twists to come in future volumes will make book one in retrospect look a bit bland (Only in comparison, not inherently). It's a necessaily evil to set the pacing of an ambitious project.

Kindness said:

...by going all-out in the first book you won't have as much (if anything) impressive left to use for book two, three, etc... in your (projected) series? That if you pull out all the stops, you might struggle to make the other books live up/worth reading?

Is this a valid fear?

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No.
At least not for me.
You learn so much in writing the first book. If you develop your characters properly then they will generate more ideas than you can use in one book.

I don't worry about running out of ideas - that's the easy part. I do worry a bit that, having worked on this one for four years, I've had time to put so much depth and personal feeling into it that I won't be able to reproduce that feat in the much shorter time I'll have to write the next book. And yes, that will be a sequel because I've been asked for a second synopsis to go with book one, to form a potential two-book deal.

OTOH I know this is just nerves talking - most of that four years was spent climbing the learning curve, and I now have some wonderfully complex characters to take into the sequel. Just got to step up to the crease and do my damnedest!

Anne Lyle said:

I don't worry about running out of ideas - that's the easy part. I do worry a bit that, having worked on this one for four years, I've had time to put so much depth and personal feeling into it that I won't be able to reproduce that feat in the much shorter time I'll have to write the next book. And yes, that will be a sequel because I've been asked for a second synopsis to go with book one, to form a potential two-book deal.

OTOH I know this is just nerves talking - most of that four years was spent climbing the learning curve, and I now have some wonderfully complex characters to take into the sequel. Just got to step up to the crease and do my damnedest!

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Seriously. My fear is that this book will never see the light of day. The idea that it's wildly successful and I'll have to struggle through writer's block for my second seems like a fantasy to me, at this point.

no. And it goes back to two things:

first, an interview I saw with George Lucas some years ago. He was talking about the original trilogy and the first movie.

He said that the first movie was originally the whole trilogy. And since he thought he'd never get to make 3 movies he put it all into one.

Second: author after author has said that when it came to their first big success they wrote as if it would be the last thing they ever wrote. They crammed all their ideas into that book.

So, the lesson here is to shove it all in. Hold nothing back, keep nothing up your sleeve for a sequel or a follow up or whatever. Because if you don't get that first one, the others will never happen.

I really don't like my first book - there are some cool scenes, and it's better than the 15 drafts that preceded it, but generally speaking...not one I like, or go back and reread.

Book 2 - too short, it's still not the book it's supposed to be. Did get to expand out on the mythos a bit, so it has that going for it.

Book 3 - really started to hit a stride here, the plot is a lot better, even if the pacing is a little odd (simply because of the story that has to be told), a lot of cool moments, and started to perfect my odd little mood-whiplash thing (ie, one chapter has a girl being skinned alive...FOR SCIENCE [it's ok, she can regenerate it] but that it totally overshadowed by a verbal smackdown that her doctor delivers on the guy who ordered it).

Book 4 - other than being terrified that people will think one character is turning into a woobie, it's pretty good.

As to the rest of the series...got book #13 rattling around my head something fierce, and I can't wait to write that. Book #15...been wanting to write that for ages, it's all plotted out. And now a two-part war story is starting to rule my thoughts. -_-

whistlelock said:

no. And it goes back to two things:

first, an interview I saw with George Lucas some years ago. He was talking about the original trilogy and the first movie.

He said that the first movie was originally the whole trilogy. And since he thought he'd never get to make 3 movies he put it all into one.

Second: author after author has said that when it came to their first big success they wrote as if it would be the last thing they ever wrote. They crammed all their ideas into that book.

So, the lesson here is to shove it all in. Hold nothing back, keep nothing up your sleeve for a sequel or a follow up or whatever. Because if you don't get that first one, the others will never happen.

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Protip: Don't take as fact anything Lucas says about writing Star Wars. He likes to say that he had the entire saga planned out from the beginning, when that has been proven time and time again not to be the case. Not that I mind, I don't think authors/filmmakers should have to plan everything out, but at least be truthful about it

This isn't my genre, but I will say this: writing is a muscle. It gets stronger the more you use it.

I defintely need more exercise.

Ideas are rarely the problem. Stakes are usually the problem with pulling out all the stops. Ideas will come to you; don't worry too much about it at this point.

Kindness said:

...by going all-out in the first book you won't have as much (if anything) impressive left to use for book two, three, etc... in your (projected) series? That if you pull out all the stops, you might struggle to make the other books live up/worth reading?

Is this a valid fear?

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Well, do you mean story-wise, or world-wise?

I believe a story should be told in the amount of words that feels right and natural- if you're stretching to extend your story past the first book, that probably means it should be a self-contained one off. There are way too many series out there that ended up tired and bland because the author pulled the plot too thin and forced the story to be a trilogy.

If you mean world-wise, I don't think there's any reason to pile on every fantastic element into your first book. Savor the reveal. Put enough in to give your audience the "wow-factor" but don't flash your whole hand. That way your readers can be excited by your world over and over again.

Hope that helps!

Kindness said:

...by going all-out in the first book you won't have as much (if anything) impressive left to use for book two, three, etc... in your (projected) series? That if you pull out all the stops, you might struggle to make the other books live up/worth reading?

Is this a valid fear?

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Is it a valid fear? Hmm. Let's just say maybe it's a normal one (self doubt is a snake that swallows its own tale). But here's what successful authors have told me about this subject:

Never, ever hold back. Put everything you know into each book. Every story deserves the most that you can give. Holding anything back cheats your audience, diminishes your story, and stunts you as a writer.