Why I Have Yet to Write a Sequel

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When it comes to reading, I’m a big fan of the series. I love watching characters grow over the course of several novels and really getting to know them as they face increasingly difficult challenges. I love diving back into the world the author has created and discovering new rules and aspects of society that I hadn't previously learned about. And most of all, I love being able to spend extra time with characters that I've really connected with.

And yet, I have yet to write a sequel.

Well, that's not entirely true—after writing my very first novel, I wrote half of the sequel before realizing that I wasn't going to be able to sell the first book of the series and I'd be better off spending time writing something new.

And there lies the problem with writing a series while you're unpublished and seeking a traditional publishing route—if you don't get the first book published, you're going to find it very difficult to find representation for the second book.

At this point I've written eight novels—and with each book I had ideas for a series. And yet, when the time came to put those WIPs away (for those that have been shelved, that is), I didn't allow myself to even consider writing the sequel—and not because I didn't want to.

The thing is, when you're an unpublished writer and your goal is to publish traditionally, writing a sequel before you've sold the first book is an enormous risk, because it doesn't matter how fantastic that sequel is if you can't get the first book published.

It may seem like defeatist thinking to refuse to write a sequel because you might not be able to sell the first book, but rather than focusing on the this might not get published part, I like to think of writing a sequel as a reward, or a celebration of sorts. You see, I've made this unwritten pact with myself that I won't write a sequel until I've sold a book, so the ability to write a series has, in a sense, become a sort of milestone for me.

For now, I've written eight different worlds with eight different sets of characters and eight different adventures—and I don't regret not writing a sequel for a second. The experience of starting fresh with every WIP has taught me that I'm capable of writing more than one unrelated novel, and that it's perfectly possible to fall in love with a new cast of characters over and over again.

And those are two important lessons that I might not have learned otherwise.

Have you ever written a sequel? Why or why not? If you don't write, do you prefer reading series or standalone novels?

Why Writing Books Are Essential for Writers

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It goes without saying that most writers are also pretty avid readers (and those who aren't read anyway, or at least they should). While writers don't often have to be reminded to read books in their favorite genre or whatever genre they write in, it can sometimes be easy to forget another very important genre that all writers should be frequenting, namely, writing books.

Books on the craft come in all shapes and sizes—from enormous writing kits, to pocket-sized writing prompts and tips. Some cover a huge gamut of writing topics, while others focus on a specific aspect of writing like dialogue or plotting. What kind of writing book you choose will depend on your current goals or obstacles that you're trying to overcome, but the point is that you read them and, even more so, you actually do what they say.

What I mean is most writing books (and IMO, the best of them) include various exercises and prompts so that you can practice the new techniques and tips introduced throughout the book (a great example of this is The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass, as I mention later), and if you don't do any of them, then you've basically wasted your money buying the book to begin with.

Because the point of reading writing books isn't so that they look pretty on your bookshelf (although if they do, I suppose that's a bonus)—it's to improve your writing. It's to learn new techniques and tips that will ultimately lead to tighter, better-written manuscripts. But reading writing books without applying what you've learned is like taking a class and completely ignoring everything that's said—in which case you would have been better off staying home.

But if you read books on the craft carefully and actually do the exercises and apply the techniques to your work and—dare I say it—re-read them and highlight especially relevant information, I think you'll find that you'll get a lot out of the experience, and, better yet, your writing will start to improve.

Now that's not to say that by reading writing books you're guaranteeing publication or a best-selling indie title—regardless of what anyone tells you, there's never a guarantee like that in this field (or any field, for that matter). But if you want to improve your odds and you want to become a better writer, I can't recommend writing books enough.

Now this post would be pretty useless if I didn't give any examples of great books on the craft, so here are my top five favorites, in no particular order. I've also included the subtitles as they effectively summed up the purpose of their respective books:

1. The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass— "Passion, purpose and techniques to make your novel great."
   
   I actually wrote a review that explains in better detail why I enjoyed this one so much, but in short, it covers a large variety of writing topics and the exercises are fantastic.


2. Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell—"Techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish."
   
   This is one of the many writing books from the Write Great Fiction series and it's one that's pretty well known for its great techniques and insight on plotting. Great for plotters and pantsers alike.


3. Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell—"Techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel."
   
   This is also part of the Write Great Fiction series, and it's one that I found so incredibly helpful that I re-read it with a highlighter. Not only does it have fantastic advice and tips on how to revise your manuscript, but it has great quotes throughout the book with little extra nuggets of wisdom.


4. Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress—"Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints."
   
   This is another from the Write Great Fiction series that I found so helpful that I re-read it with a highlighter in hand. The sub-title describes it pretty well, but this book is chock full of character development gold.


5. Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb—"A published author and top agent share the keys to achieving your dream."
   
   You don't have to be writing your first novel to benefit from reading this one. Although it's a little outdated as it was written before the indie explosion, it still has great advice on getting your book written, and fantastic insight behind the traditional publishing curtain and what exactly an agent does.

Writing books are a hugely important resource for writers— one that every writer would benefit from taking advantage of.

So those are my top five favorite writing books. Now it's your turn: do you read books on the craft? If so, which are your favorite? If not, why not?