I recently finished writing my next book, The Dragonfly Delivery Company. It’s a sequel, which is not something I’ve ever written before. Sure, I’ve had ideas for trilogies and series in the past, but I’ve never actually written one, which made writing The Dragonfly Delivery Company something of a unique experience. As such there are a number of things I’ve learnt along the way that I think you might find of interest.

Sequels Are Easier

Now you might think having to write a story as good or better than the first would put a lot of pressure on you as a writer, and whilst I can see that being true, it wasn’t something I experienced. Quite the opposite in fact.

Writing book two was easier because everything was so familiar. I knew the characters, the landscape, the type of story I wanted to tell. I had fewer decisions to make on style and substance because I’d made them all before. It was more like visiting an old friend than it was meeting someone new, and that was a lovely position to be in.

Fractured Timelines Work

I grew up with chapters being like scenes in a play. You arrive somewhere, you watch what happens, and you depart. But more and more I’m finding that treating my book more like a movie than a play works best for me.

It’s perfectly acceptable to leap from one scene to the next and back again, doling out little bits of information along the way. It’s preferable even, as it allows you to keep the whole thing fresh and interesting. It also stops you getting bogged down in unnecessary fluff and waffle, which brings me to…

It’s Okay To Just Stop

I am cursed with the need to wrap up each section of my writing. To put in a sentence or paragraph at the end that ties everything up with a neat little bow. But guess what, you don’t have to do that! If you’ve said what you needed to say you can just… stop.

Once you’ve got across the necessary information it’s perfectly fine to move on to the next bit. You don’t have to explain everything away, to make everything all nice and neat. Life isn’t nice and neat, so why should your writing be.

Don’t patronise your audience by treating them like children. They get what’s going on. You don’t have to explain it all. Plus, a little ambiguity goes a long way. Nothing make a reader want to move on more than mild uncertainty about what just happened.

I Am An Under-Writer

Book two has ended up sixty-three thousand words long. This is much less than the one hundred and three thousand words of book one. I’m not too worried about this because, unlike most writers, I’ve realised that I am an under-writer. I add words later to make my stories good, not take them away.

I can’t tell you how freeing this revelation has been. It has allowed me to be the writer I am, instead of the writer I thought I should be. I no longer worry about my work being boring, because I know I’ll fix it later. This has allowed me to finish my first draft in just nine months, instead of the usual God knows how long.

Yes it means more work further down the line, but that’s fine. At least I have a first draft to be getting on with. And whether you’re adding words or taking them away, all good books are made in the edit anyway.

The End

I hope you’ve found these realisations of interest. Normally I would write a nice wrap up paragraph here to conclude this post, but because of my third point above, and in recognition of the fact that I’ve said what needed to be said, I’m going to just stop instead.

Happy writing everyone!