7 Reasons Why the 2nd Book is Harder to Write than the First
I'd like to call this post
But I guess that's really not that professional, so let's go with this:
7 Reasons Why the Second Book is Harder to Write than the First
As I've been writing my second book, I've discovered the dire need for a post like this. Moving forward in a series is no easy task....
Let's repeat this: MOVING FORWARD IN A SERIES IS NO EASY TASK.
You want to quit (often) and start something new (after almost every chapter you finish) and just grab some fresh new characters that you haven't gotten to know yet (not as often, but still). It's easy to walk away, but it's much more rewarding to stick it out.
But how, you wonder? Believe me, I ask myself that every day. How do you keep going when you can hardly force yourself to open up the Word document and type out a single sentence?
Well.... first, if you're like me, you have to think of all the reasons you don't want to write. This might not work for some people, and it doesn't always work for me. But, if you think of the reasons you DON'T want to write, it becomes a lot easier to look those reasons in the eye and say
SO WHAT?!
That's write (yeah, my favorite pun)! You tell them!
But, to tell those stupid reasons, you have to first understand them! And that's what I'm here to help with; I've spent a darn lot of time trying to understand them, so hopefully this helps you too.
So, here are the 7 Reasons preventing you from writing that book.
1. You've written your way into the world, and now you're stuck.
That's right-- you're trapped in your own world, and there is no escape until you're done. This can be disappointing, whether you've done something wrong or not. As readers, we're adventurers who love to explore new places and see new things. As writers, we're the same way. We want to tell new stories and visit new places, with brand new friends to bring along. That makes it hard to keep going in the same world you've already written in, and it's one powerful reason.
2. Your story's just not as exciting anymore (AKA, you can't write off of story-drenaline)
Yes, you heard me. There is such a thing as story-drenaline, and it's a strange occurrence happened upon when writing your first book (and sometimes others in the series, but only in sporadic chunks). You get so excited by the story that you just keep writing with little-to-no willpower required. WIthout the story-drenaline to fuel you, motivating yourself can be quite the war.
Now, don't get me wrong on this one. Writing any full-length book is a war. It's a war of words, and to win you have to have willpower made of steel. It's a war that you and anyone else can win, as long as you have the determination to do it.
Writing any book is hard, but writing the second book is even harder. Novel writing isn't an easy work or way of life, but it's more rewarding than any of us can express. Pushing through even when the story-drenaline isn't there is rough, but it's definitely doable!
3. You don't get to introduce your characters anymore-- now you have to put them in sucky situations to help them grow
Yeah, this one's killer. In the first book, you have your inciting incident, rising plot, all that good stuff that people make instructions for. After that single inciting incident, which is often the only one you get in the whole series, you go off the grid. Thus in books two, three, four... you have to make the map. You're driving the car, and you'd better do it well or people won't read your books.
Now here's the unfortunate part. Rather than an inciting incident, you have a bunch of other issues and incidents and mishaps that are usually sucky. Contrary to popular reader belief, putting your characters in sucky situations sucks for the writers too.
4. Because you LOVE your characters, putting them in said sucky situations HURTS!
I know some people might think this one is ridiculous, but it's completely true! I don't want to subject Penny to Marcus's wiles, I don't want to see my friends in pain. Though characters are fictional, they can still be friends to their writers. The second book kinda sucks to write partially because of the sucky things that happen to those friends.
5. It's hard to write because there are no hard-core fans to make you feel better when you feel down on yourself
Unfortunately, this is true. While writing your second book (or at least writing my second book), whether you self-published or not, you most likely will not have any hard-core fans. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between. Writing your second book means people probably haven't had much time to find your first, so they wouldn't know to love you even if they will eventually.
So, when you get down, there's no loving fan to cheer you up by asking about the second book. It's just you and your iron will, and sometimes that sucks. But you're a writer, and you can do it. You'll make it through that.
6. As a writer, you want to write something brilliant and world-changing, and for some reason, your second book doesn't feel like either of those
Yes, this also makes the second book a struggle. You want people to love your stories and characters as much as you do, you want them to see the messages you're trying to send and just not feel alone as they read your book! But, since you don't have many readers yet, there isn't much of a light at the end of that tunnel. Your writing sometimes feels useless, and that feeling can be detrimental to any artist, but a writer in particular.
7. The 2nd book is the time to introduce new themes, pains, and sadnesses that are alien to you and your characters, and doing so is SCARY!
Honestly, this is one of the biggest reasons it's harder to write. All of them contribute, but... this. You just never know if what you're bringing up is too much for people. If it's too sarcastic, or too quick, or too deep... you'll never make everyone happy, but it's difficult at this point not to want to. You want people to love your book, and if you bring up something serious, they might turn their heads.
But on the other side of the coin, you don't really decide what's going to happen. You give the characters a plot to follow, and then they throw you surprises all the time. Sometimes these surprises won't agree with people, but if your characters have personality, they don't care if anyone else agrees with them.
3 Ways to Make Writing it (and any other book, really) Suck Less
Yep, this is where we get positive! No, the second-book woes don't have to tear you down! You can overcome them with three simple (but complicated) tips.
1. Just keep swimming. Er, writing!
As hard as it is, as much as it sucks, KEEP GOING! Don't give up just because of all the Reasons mentioned above. You might not be tougher than the Reasons, but your willpower sure is stronger.
2. Enjoy the world you already created and bask in the growth of the characters you love
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just have fun watching your characters grow into new, better, and brighter human beings. Enjoy seeing the world change to fit them and others, and just smile at the silly struggles writing brings you, remembering the excitement as well.
3. Most of all, just love your stories.
You write these stories because you love them, right? Because you think they're somehow important and can help people feel like they aren't alone. So write! Write until you've told the story that wants to be said, and then pick up your pen (or laptop) and tell the next story that's dying to come forward.
You can do it. You're a writer because you chose to be, and because of that, you can make a difference. People will read your books, and they will feel something, so just do it.
Write the book.
Someone cares, I promise.
If no one else does, I do. The world needs more stories.
-Sara Summers
PS feel free to comment below or shoot me an email at sarasummersbooks@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!
But I guess that's really not that professional, so let's go with this:
7 Reasons Why the Second Book is Harder to Write than the First
As I've been writing my second book, I've discovered the dire need for a post like this. Moving forward in a series is no easy task....
Let's repeat this: MOVING FORWARD IN A SERIES IS NO EASY TASK.
You want to quit (often) and start something new (after almost every chapter you finish) and just grab some fresh new characters that you haven't gotten to know yet (not as often, but still). It's easy to walk away, but it's much more rewarding to stick it out.
But how, you wonder? Believe me, I ask myself that every day. How do you keep going when you can hardly force yourself to open up the Word document and type out a single sentence?
Well.... first, if you're like me, you have to think of all the reasons you don't want to write. This might not work for some people, and it doesn't always work for me. But, if you think of the reasons you DON'T want to write, it becomes a lot easier to look those reasons in the eye and say
SO WHAT?!
That's write (yeah, my favorite pun)! You tell them!
But, to tell those stupid reasons, you have to first understand them! And that's what I'm here to help with; I've spent a darn lot of time trying to understand them, so hopefully this helps you too.
So, here are the 7 Reasons preventing you from writing that book.
1. You've written your way into the world, and now you're stuck.
That's right-- you're trapped in your own world, and there is no escape until you're done. This can be disappointing, whether you've done something wrong or not. As readers, we're adventurers who love to explore new places and see new things. As writers, we're the same way. We want to tell new stories and visit new places, with brand new friends to bring along. That makes it hard to keep going in the same world you've already written in, and it's one powerful reason.
2. Your story's just not as exciting anymore (AKA, you can't write off of story-drenaline)
Yes, you heard me. There is such a thing as story-drenaline, and it's a strange occurrence happened upon when writing your first book (and sometimes others in the series, but only in sporadic chunks). You get so excited by the story that you just keep writing with little-to-no willpower required. WIthout the story-drenaline to fuel you, motivating yourself can be quite the war.
Now, don't get me wrong on this one. Writing any full-length book is a war. It's a war of words, and to win you have to have willpower made of steel. It's a war that you and anyone else can win, as long as you have the determination to do it.
Writing any book is hard, but writing the second book is even harder. Novel writing isn't an easy work or way of life, but it's more rewarding than any of us can express. Pushing through even when the story-drenaline isn't there is rough, but it's definitely doable!
3. You don't get to introduce your characters anymore-- now you have to put them in sucky situations to help them grow
Yeah, this one's killer. In the first book, you have your inciting incident, rising plot, all that good stuff that people make instructions for. After that single inciting incident, which is often the only one you get in the whole series, you go off the grid. Thus in books two, three, four... you have to make the map. You're driving the car, and you'd better do it well or people won't read your books.
Now here's the unfortunate part. Rather than an inciting incident, you have a bunch of other issues and incidents and mishaps that are usually sucky. Contrary to popular reader belief, putting your characters in sucky situations sucks for the writers too.
4. Because you LOVE your characters, putting them in said sucky situations HURTS!
I know some people might think this one is ridiculous, but it's completely true! I don't want to subject Penny to Marcus's wiles, I don't want to see my friends in pain. Though characters are fictional, they can still be friends to their writers. The second book kinda sucks to write partially because of the sucky things that happen to those friends.
5. It's hard to write because there are no hard-core fans to make you feel better when you feel down on yourself
Unfortunately, this is true. While writing your second book (or at least writing my second book), whether you self-published or not, you most likely will not have any hard-core fans. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between. Writing your second book means people probably haven't had much time to find your first, so they wouldn't know to love you even if they will eventually.
So, when you get down, there's no loving fan to cheer you up by asking about the second book. It's just you and your iron will, and sometimes that sucks. But you're a writer, and you can do it. You'll make it through that.
6. As a writer, you want to write something brilliant and world-changing, and for some reason, your second book doesn't feel like either of those
Yes, this also makes the second book a struggle. You want people to love your stories and characters as much as you do, you want them to see the messages you're trying to send and just not feel alone as they read your book! But, since you don't have many readers yet, there isn't much of a light at the end of that tunnel. Your writing sometimes feels useless, and that feeling can be detrimental to any artist, but a writer in particular.
7. The 2nd book is the time to introduce new themes, pains, and sadnesses that are alien to you and your characters, and doing so is SCARY!
Honestly, this is one of the biggest reasons it's harder to write. All of them contribute, but... this. You just never know if what you're bringing up is too much for people. If it's too sarcastic, or too quick, or too deep... you'll never make everyone happy, but it's difficult at this point not to want to. You want people to love your book, and if you bring up something serious, they might turn their heads.
But on the other side of the coin, you don't really decide what's going to happen. You give the characters a plot to follow, and then they throw you surprises all the time. Sometimes these surprises won't agree with people, but if your characters have personality, they don't care if anyone else agrees with them.
3 Ways to Make Writing it (and any other book, really) Suck Less
Yep, this is where we get positive! No, the second-book woes don't have to tear you down! You can overcome them with three simple (but complicated) tips.
1. Just keep swimming. Er, writing!
As hard as it is, as much as it sucks, KEEP GOING! Don't give up just because of all the Reasons mentioned above. You might not be tougher than the Reasons, but your willpower sure is stronger.
2. Enjoy the world you already created and bask in the growth of the characters you love
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just have fun watching your characters grow into new, better, and brighter human beings. Enjoy seeing the world change to fit them and others, and just smile at the silly struggles writing brings you, remembering the excitement as well.
3. Most of all, just love your stories.
You write these stories because you love them, right? Because you think they're somehow important and can help people feel like they aren't alone. So write! Write until you've told the story that wants to be said, and then pick up your pen (or laptop) and tell the next story that's dying to come forward.
You can do it. You're a writer because you chose to be, and because of that, you can make a difference. People will read your books, and they will feel something, so just do it.
Write the book.
Someone cares, I promise.
If no one else does, I do. The world needs more stories.
-Sara Summers
PS feel free to comment below or shoot me an email at sarasummersbooks@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!
