HELP! Between a rock and a hard place!

Hi gihidalgo, and welcome. I haven't been a member here long myself but from what I've seen you'll get some excellent advice hanging around here.

May I ask why you feel it's going to be a 7-novel series? That's quite a lot of books to write, especially when you don't have any kind of idea/outline where they're going. It seems to me you're putting a lot of expectations on yourself when you don't need to. You say you're on the third draft of the first book so ideally you really should know your characters. I too am writing a series, but only three books long and this has only come about because of the characters and where they are leading. It wasn't planned from the outset and has simply developed into something much bigger than I had originally anticipated, which makes me think you're striving for a 7-book series simply because that's how many you want it to be, rather than that's where the story is headed. Am I right? My advice would be to finish this first book and when you're absolutely done with it and if you feel it will/should progress to a second (or third) book, then start outlining. But don't force it. If it's a standalone book then leave it at that, a 7 book story is a lot of hard work - and a lot of story. Strive for something a little simpler and if it grows into something bigger - bonus

Hope that helps, and best of luck.

Lady F.

P.S. Your English is super

I am also currently writing the first novel in a series of possibly three novels. I haven't got past the first yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

First of all, planning the amount of novels before knowing the overarching plot might not be wise. Not that it can't be done, but it might force you to shape your story unnaturally to fit it into that mold.

One important thing that I think is relatively universal, is that each novel should be able to stand on its own. Not to the point that someone can pick up novel #4 without reading #1,2,3, but such that each book has a beginning, a middle and an end, so that every novel leaves the reader satisfied.

I can tell you that, personally, the only series I can write are series of standalones, where the novels are only interconnected by an higher-level plot and the world setting. Characters may recur, but each book must be tightly self-contained. But that's only my style, and definitely doesn't have to apply to yours.

World-building and outlining is up to you entirely. The degree to which each writer outlines their story is highly variable. Though if you do want to plan such an expansive arc, you might want to plan at least major plot points.

Regarding taking a break . . . again, entirely up to you and your process. I'm sorry I cannot give advice there, but I won't pretend to know you better than you know yourself.

Good luck with your series and congrats on getting to the third draft!

P.S. Another non-native speaker here. Your English is great.

Some people here will tell you to sit down and write--anything--related to the story and see what comes out; you can always cut the garbage later. Others will tell you to take time to outline, plot, develop character profiles and get really analytical. Both have worked for me at different times. Being that you are on your third draft and experiencing the same issue, I wonder if getting analytical might be the better option.

You seem to have identified why you think the novel is falling short:

I don't know the characters well enough yet

Click to expand...

and

it really falls short on being a self-contained-story

Click to expand...

.

So what's going to fix that? What would knowing the characters well enough look like, and what would make it a self-contained story? What is missing? Which other writers have done this well, and what is it about these other writers that tell you they have done it well? How can you do the same thing in your story? Only you know those answers. If you have read a lot and know they type of story you want to tell, these questions might not take very long to answer.

No problems with your English, by the way.

If you believe there is a great story to tell, I say write on. Focus on "Destiny's Arrival." Perhaps I'm misreading your words or assuming incorrectly (and for that I apologize in advance), but it sounds to me like you're doubting your story. I say this because in the earlier/formative drafts of my current WIP I too struggled to connect with my characters, my world as well. The spirit of the idea that captivated me with possibility before I began writing wasn't manifesting in those earlier drafts. Thus, because of this, I was pulled to other ideas for other novels, or I just gave up (twice, in fact). But in both occasions I came back to my WIP. I'm grateful for this because now I can connect with both my characters and their world.

The way I see it in life is that, once it gets going a bit rough, because the luster of your original vision has been diluted by results that aren't meeting your expectations, then your mind starts wondering for a way out. It starts exploring other ideas that become captivating in relation to your current idea, which has begun to fall out of favor. I see this with my mother's boyfriend all the time. He sets his mind on a singular idea, but after he starts working away at it, and he begins to realize that it's not going how he had planned it or envisioned it, he starts exploring other opportunities, which eventually he gives in to their temptation and moves on. He doesn't stick with a single thing, but bounces around from one thing to another. It becomes cyclic. Thus it becomes a bad habit.

I'm not meaning to imply this is you or is becoming you, I'm just using it as an analogy: it's way too easy to move on rather than commit to completion. Commitment takes faith, understanding and an earnest attempt to both improve and learn. The best thing about it is that it gives you confidence that, though your idea may not be to your liking at first, if you stick with it, you will create a product that you're proud of. But if you begin to go from one idea to the next, well, if you're not careful, this could spin out of control. Then you're sabotaging yourself and you're not even aware of it. Who's to say you'll come back to it at a later date? Who would hold you accountable to that?

You're on your third draft, and maybe you see that as growing evidence that with those number of drafts already and your story still isn't to your satisfaction, it's time to explore other options. But three drafts in to my current WIP and I wasn't satisfied with it either. I'm probably on my seventh or eighth draft now, where at long last I have the fullest amount of faith in. After the third draft I rewrote the story in its entirety. I also did some major revising at least twice thereafter. By the time I publish this thing I'll have spent nearly or at a decade on it. Just to get to my silver lining.

But through this process it's taught me the value of endurance/dedication/commitment: stay faithful to one thing, one idea, and behind earnest effort good things will come. So that's why I say stick to your "Destiny's Arrival." However, it's your decision. Do whatever you think best.

Focus on your core story and see where the current #1 leads.

Maybe you are trying to cover too much too soon or trying to give the reader more information than is necessary. Readers need infinitely less background and backstory and set-up than we think. We may need to know all that in order to write the story, but the reader doesn't need to know it up front in order to follow what's happening.

Readers get drawn in to stories that involve people -an interesting character in an interesting situation - not scenery and centuries of worldbuilding.

Start with your main character at- or close to - the point where his 'normality' is broken and he is set on a path from which there is no turning back. Let us see things unfold as and how and when he does.

This is your first novel. Full marks for having actually finished a first novel. That's quite an achievement in itself. Many folk don't finish. And it's perfectly normal to polish and revise many, many times.

Rome wasn't built in a day. You can't learn to fly a jumbo jet in one hour etc., etc..

And there's nothing wrong with your English or grammar.

Keep going- you'll get there.