Writing number two before number one is done!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 11:07AM 
Asphodel
I've always had supreme admiration for the divine Mz Jo (JK Rowling) 's plotting abilities, but I never truly appreciated her skill until now. Imagine plotting all the plot intricacies and character arcs of 7 books before the first is finished! I recently read an analysis of the moment Snape first speaks to Harry: ""Tell me, Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The answer, as any Potterhead knows, is the Draught of Living Death.
Turns out, Asphodel is a type of Lily and its meaning in the language of flowers is associated with the death of a loved own, and Wormwood is symbolically associated with bitter sorrow (like that of grief or regret).
Oh My Giddy Aunt!
So the whole story of Snape, Lily, death and his regret and his living death in the years after, and Harry's "living" death are compactly and elegantly foreshadowed in that first potions class in Philospher's/Sorcerer's Stone, even though we don't hear the full story until the end of the seventh book!
Well, I'm no Rowling (though I am a Jo), but I can say for sure: it's a tricksy thing, writing a series.
I've written sequels before - in my eco-warriors series (Turtle Walk, Rock Steady) and in my Jemina Jones series - but in both those cases the books are very much stand-alone. While there is an overall character arc across the series, and many of the characters reappear in each book, each book has its own self-contained story and adventure.
It's very different when you try your hand at writing an overarching story across several books. Very different and very challenging. Now not only do I have to remember characters' hair and eye-colour, and a bit of their backstory and family set-up, I also have to think very long-term about how the story will develop, who will make what choices (for better or worse) down the line, what big revelations need to be foreshadowed in earlier books.
Also: I'm taking a fat chance by writing number two before number one is sold. Confidence or craziness?
Opinions differ wildly on whether this is good practice or not. I'm half afraid I'm jinxing things, tempting the fates, and investing a bunch of time and energy in a project which may never come to fruition. It's a supreme act of faith in one's own writing - but hey, if I don't have faith in my writing, then what am I doing here?
The good thing about doing it this way is that I still have the chance to tinker with number one while I'm writing number two in the series. As I think of things, I can go back and add details, clues, foreshadowing of plot and character, and useful little factoids that will become big (*HUGE*) in the following books. As soon as I started book II, I realised I'd written myself into a corner in the ending of book one. How the heck I would have gotten my protagonist out of that fix, I don't know. But luckily, I was able to go make and make a couple of minor tweaks, and now she's good to go for the opening scene of book II. Frankly, it's fun!
I have no idea how other authors manage it when the first book is published and they start the next, without having plotted it down to the last detail - ala JKR.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences - sound off in the comments below.
Asphodel and wormwood, man, asphodel and wormwood...
Reader Comments (2)
How fascinating and complex as you say. I once read a book by Stephanie Meyer which was actually a collection of all her notes for the whole Twilight series. It included family trees, character descriptions (incl. pics of clothes wore), backstories of all the characters, historic timeline, character timeline, etc. and was so interesting. There too I was amazed at how much detail had gone into every character even though some may have not featured prominently. Anyway I wish you luck! What type of books are they?
Thanks, Shanna - I'd be interested to see that book. It's always fascinating to get a peep into another writer's process!
The series I talk about in this post refers to a new Young Adult Dystopian trilogy - a whole new world for me :)