Series dilemma, wanting to introduce MC later on.

Cekrit

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Hello all,

So I published my first novel late in 2016, and while it has done well and hit a best sellers list (albeit on Amazon), I have struggled to work on the remaining 6 books in the series. Finally, I've figured out why.

I introduce my MC of course in Book 1, instantly and then run the rest of the novel over a week-long span where everything is told via first person. This makes the book feel like a rush, or adventure, that snowballs with excitement and there really isnt much "rest" and no time lapses. I tell the story from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed for about a week until the final event happens.

While this works, I have so much more story I want to tell around other characters, and any sub-plots that are being acted out by others - say, a bad guy that "suddenly" shows up to do the bad thing - there is no element of suspense or surprise if it just, you know.....happens. I want to show the bad guys work and preparation rather than it seeming like an RNG event.

So now, I'm like shit - I need to rewrite book 1 in third person and tell multiple perspectives (which i prefer at this point).

However, here's the big question, Sage is the main character of this entire 7 book series I have fully outlined, - is it taboo or extremely bad practice to introduce her either at the end of Book 1 or the beginning of Book 2?

I feel as though I can tell an engaging story for Book 1 that sets the world up, gives plenty of backstory, and then introduces my will-be MC in a fully formed world. Otherwise i feel like my telling of the world in her first-person is so friggin limited to her own perception of it, which as a part of her character is flawed.

Thoughts?
 
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Curlz

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How can a character be MC if they don't do anything in 99% of the book? :Shrug:
 

lonestarlibrarian

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One thing some authors do is have two first-person POV characters that flip back and forth throughout the book. The two parallel plots tie together somewhere around the climax/leading up to the climax. It's a bit of an adjustment as a reader, because the breaks usually come when you want to see what happens next with Storyline A, and all of a sudden, the author has dragged you off to Storyline B. But eventually, when both storylines prove to be interesting, and relevant to each other in some way, you appreciate the dual perspectives.

Another thing you find in some series is having the main characters swap out throughout the series. So the MC in Book 3 might be a supporting character in the rest of the books. Or perhaps might only make an appearance in their book, and then be presumed to be elsewhere taking care of other stuff offscreen for the remainder of the series.

But chances are, if it takes an entire book to set up your main character's series--- you might consider reorganizing your information. A story starts when Change happens. You don't want to spend 60,000 words explaining what's normal so that people can appreciate it getting turned on its head--- you want to jump in, and then catch your readers up on the important bits as they become relevant.
 

Elle.

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I think you over-estimate the amount of info and set up readers need to enjoy a story. JK Rowling didn't write an entire book of world building and backstory before she introduced Harry Potter. Book 1 was immersive and dived straight into Harry's current story. The back story and world building were revealed alongside not beforehand.
 

Cekrit

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Well, that's the issue. book 1 its from their perspective, but i want to shift to third person. Perhaps I should clarify i want Sage to be the MC of the series as a whole but not necessarily have a major role in book 1, allowing the first to focus on the other characters/background to build up to her in books 2-7?

- - - Updated - - -

One thing some authors do is have two first-person POV characters that flip back and forth throughout the book. The two parallel plots tie together somewhere around the climax/leading up to the climax. It's a bit of an adjustment as a reader, because the breaks usually come when you want to see what happens next with Storyline A, and all of a sudden, the author has dragged you off to Storyline B. But eventually, when both storylines prove to be interesting, and relevant to each other in some way, you appreciate the dual perspectives.

Another thing you find in some series is having the main characters swap out throughout the series. So the MC in Book 3 might be a supporting character in the rest of the books. Or perhaps might only make an appearance in their book, and then be presumed to be elsewhere taking care of other stuff offscreen for the remainder of the series.

But chances are, if it takes an entire book to set up your main character's series--- you might consider reorganizing your information. A story starts when Change happens. You don't want to spend 60,000 words explaining what's normal so that people can appreciate it getting turned on its head--- you want to jump in, and then catch your readers up on the important bits as they become relevant.

This is all great advice :)
 

Cekrit

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I think you over-estimate the amount of info and set up readers need to enjoy a story. JK Rowling didn't write an entire book of world building and backstory before she introduced Harry Potter. Book 1 was immersive and dived straight into Harry's current story. The back story and world building were revealed alongside not beforehand.

I also get this, although I found it difficult to give significant "world-spanning" backstory to events my MC never directly experienced but the reader needed to know. Like events that occured before she was born, were legends, or she had no right knowing- stuff like that. But things i still wanted the reader to know, which i couldnt given the first-person nature.

Currently the novel caps at 125k words, and i tried to keep it short so I could appeal more toward the YA audience, albeit still long for the genre. The novel sold well, and it was certainly worthwhile but as age and experience is surmounting Im finding myself wanting to write more Epic fantasy rather than YA - so, like books the length of Sanderson's "Way of Kings" -where I can commit 150k words to world building and introduce my MC halfway through and give the reader another 150k words of the start of her story etc.

Although, this would make the writing less accessible due to the average reader not wanting to pick up a tome.
 

KBooks

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If you've already published book one, and it's been well-received, why would you pull it down and do a massive rewrite, especially if it's been out in the world for three years now? To me, this feels like one of those things where you accept that you might have done things differently in retrospect (and use it to make your next book/series even stronger going forward), but not a reason to completely tear apart what you've already put out there.

What about using a different MC in each book? What about using the same MC in each book, and adding more subplots in the next one?

Im finding myself wanting to write more Epic fantasy rather than YA - so, like books the length of Sanderson's "Way of Kings" -where I can commit 150k words to world building and introduce my MC halfway through and give the reader another 150k words of the start of her story etc.

Although, this would make the writing less accessible due to the average reader not wanting to pick up a tome.

I would suggest however you started the series, continuing on in the same style is probably the best way to get sales.
 

ALShades

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I also get this, although I found it difficult to give significant "world-spanning" backstory to events my MC never directly experienced but the reader needed to know. Like events that occured before she was born, were legends, or she had no right knowing- stuff like that. But things i still wanted the reader to know, which i couldnt given the first-person nature.

Currently the novel caps at 125k words, and i tried to keep it short so I could appeal more toward the YA audience, albeit still long for the genre. The novel sold well, and it was certainly worthwhile but as age and experience is surmounting Im finding myself wanting to write more Epic fantasy rather than YA - so, like books the length of Sanderson's "Way of Kings" -where I can commit 150k words to world building and introduce my MC halfway through and give the reader another 150k words of the start of her story etc.

Although, this would make the writing less accessible due to the average reader not wanting to pick up a tome.

Are you saying you would write a book where the first half is purely backstory before jumping into the main story? If so, that's not what Sanderson does. He interweaves the backstory into the main story so that the reader doesn't feel like they're reading non-fiction.
 

Dan Rhys

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Very simple...if you think you can keep the reader intrigued all the way up to the introduction of the MC then go for it. I am all for pushing the envelope and challenging conventions. If you lose the reader before the MC enters, though, it's all on you.
 

Cekrit

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Are you saying you would write a book where the first half is purely backstory before jumping into the main story? If so, that's not what Sanderson does. He interweaves the backstory into the main story so that the reader doesn't feel like they're reading non-fiction.

I guess my phrasing is off, I apologize - I personally dont see backstory as "boring" especially if its not all flashbacks. If the backstory isnt presented as a backstory and is presented as action, political movement, world-changing events leading up to the birth of my MC so the reader can be like oh shit this child was just born and we now fully understand XYZ reasons why - than I think it could work? Including a time skip between when she was born and when shes 20...is the current thought.

I just started it with her at 20 in first person and i guess am having a difficult time weaving backstory into things or Lore that she wasn't present for. I suppose that comes with more experience or just getting my head out of my butt.
 

Cekrit

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Very simple...if you think you can keep the reader intrigued all the way up to the introduction of the MC then go for it. I am all for pushing the envelope and challenging conventions. If you lose the reader before the MC enters, though, it's all on you.

This is true- also only I would know the MC isnt getting introduced until later on. If its written well the reader would just think its a story told from multiple perspectives so long as each storyline is moving? Then a character gets introduced later on that ends up playing the biggest role in the series?
 

WeaselFire

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Many series authors write the first few in first person and switch to third person as they become better writers and need that perspective to tell the story. Nothing wrong with that. Other writers stay in first person for the entire series. Nothing wrong with that either. You write the story that needs to be told.

Jeff
 

frimble3

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I guess my phrasing is off, I apologize - I personally dont see backstory as "boring" especially if its not all flashbacks. If the backstory isnt presented as a backstory and is presented as action, political movement, world-changing events leading up to the birth of my MC so the reader can be like oh shit this child was just born and we now fully understand XYZ reasons why - than I think it could work? Including a time skip between when she was born and when shes 20...is the current thought.
Yeah, but how much of that does the reader actually need, absolutely necessarily need to know?

I just started it with her at 20 in first person and i guess am having a difficult time weaving backstory into things or Lore that she wasn't present for. I suppose that comes with more experience or just getting my head out of my butt.
How much is absolutely needed to follow the actual story? What the book is specifically about? She's 20. In her world, doing whatever she's doing.
If you were writing a story about a contemporary woman, would you start by describing the history of the United States? Female emancipation in the USA? Women's rights? There are wonderful stories about all these things, but not every story is about them.

If you were writing about a contemporary black American, how much of the history of racism, slavery and a couple of centuries of neglect and abuse of his family are you going to spell out?

You don't need as much as you think.
 

CJEvermore

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I personally like the idea of having an MC introduced later in a series or story. Anything that subverts expectation. Kind of the opposite of Psycho, where we are given an MC, only to have her killed off 30 minutes in. If you can do it well, go for it!
 

Cephus

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You can change main characters later on in the book, but you can't really introduce your main character late, otherwise, what is the rest of the book about?