Wednesday 17 April 2013

Why Writing a sequel is harder

I had already drafted three books before I sat down and started to write them. They are only 20,000 words each, and perhaps they are really just one book, but they are three different stories that happen within the same group of people at the same school.

The first story of Ellie and Nate wasn't that hard to write, mainly because I could change whatever I needed to as we went along to make it fit. That story is: The Flirting Games on Amazon now.

But now I'm writing the second story, that of Rose and Leo and I'm stuck within the world I created around Ellie and Nate. I cant change it now. If I suddenly want to put a moat around the school I can't or it would have been there before.

This book: More Flirting Games, also has to follow the format of the first one, where other peoples lives and characters and relationships are interwoven.  There are other people who have a Point of View in my books, not just the main characters.

With The Flirting Games, you could read what Ellie and Nate were thinking, but at the same time Ellie's best friend Flora had her own storyline and a couple of chapters mixed in from her point of view.  She is in love with Gabriel, who is Nate's best friend.  But we also have some bits of the book from Gabriel's point of view and his own girlfriend troubles. He has yet to even notice Flora.

Then there is Sophie.  She is like a main character who is never the main character. Her story runs right across all three books.  She had an encounter with Jack, who is the older brother of Ellie, and the cousin of Rose, but Jack never calls her afterwards.  At the end of Book 1 he finally contacts her.  Now in Book 2 I have to continue that story, but not let it get too far alone as it has to carry on to Book 3 as well. And what about Flora and Gabriel? Do I carry that on? Am I assuming too much that my readers will care what happens to secondary characters after the main characters have worked everything out?

Only time will tell I suppose, unless you would like to tell me?

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