My debut novel POISON is a young adult dystopian.
It involves quite a lot of action of epic proportions and took me a
number of years to write and rewrite and then edit. The second novel in
the series is mostly written and just needs a
touch up before it goes to a professional editor. I worked on book
three for Camp NaNoWriMo and am having the hardest time advancing the
plot. Due to all the earlier epicness in the first two books, I feel
like whatever happens in book three needs to be bigger
and badder. I’ve already pulled out the big guns for the previous books
and am left with what I can only describe as plot exhaustion. So much
has happened to the main character that it’s a wonder she’s still
functioning. With each new chapter I have to try
and find ways to increase the tension but everything that could happen
has happened and now I’m delving into territory that is just plain
unbelievable in order to keep from stalling. So this month I’m having a
hard time completing the novel and it makes me
regret not having a more solid outline when I began writing.
I guess if I get nothing else from
this experience I will have learned that I should pace my novels better
so that I have something left for the grand finale! What about you guys?
What’s making you insecure this month?
Oh dear. That's not good. I don't know how much more your poor MC can take. I was shocked at everything that happened in book one. Sadly, I have no advice.
ReplyDeleteBounce what you've done off some other authors - I bet they could come up with some new stuff that wouldn't kill your main character.
ReplyDeleteI think I pretty much threw the kitchen sink at Byron in my third book...
I'd give myself a break from Book 3. Book 2 isn't even out yet. Volume 3 ought to tie up all the loose ends and finish with a satisfying conclusion, happy or not, that makes sense in light of how you started.
ReplyDeleteI'm saying all this as a reader, not a writer. I know how I like a trilogy to end, though to be honest I prefer standalone.
All you can do is learn from your mistakes I guess. Plan ahead and save the best for last. Hopefully, you'll figure out something good for Book 3, though. Just have to figure out what the purpose of it is and meet it.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I am just starting to work on a series, and I'm still torn about it. I thought I had it mostly plotted out, and then I started writing the first one, and...argh. It's coming out completely differently than I planned! I'm afraid the same thing may happen to me--I'll get to the end and be completely empty, it'll just be a rehashing of the first two or something... Argh. Why isn't this writing thing easier? ;-)
ReplyDeletewww.kelsieengen.com
Hi Lan,
ReplyDeleteThat stinks. I can imagine writing a series, and by book 3, feeling all out of ideas. Seriously, I can imagine that by book 2! You'll get it eventually; I know you will. It sounds like it may be a hard go of it, but I'm sure you'll get there. Also, I posted my reivew of Poison today :). Thank for the book, and I'm anticipating book 2!
Ninja Girl