Have you ever?

[whitehawke]

Tell me, has anyone here ever written a book, only to find that you want to write a series? Not only that, but you know so much about your main characters that you want to write about their lives before the time of your first book? Is it okey to write books back into the past, as well as into the future and would you handle it? :D
Rulan

[ChristChild]

I am doing this in my present series. I will probably always write series. There is too much to explore in my characters' lives not to.

To delve into the past you just use reflection upon something in their past related to what is happening in the story, or you can use questions by other characters to have the character open up dialogue about their past. I guess you could even do separate books on different time periods in the characters' lives. :)

Shane

[whitehawke]

I am doing this in my present series. I will probably always write series. There is too much to explore in my characters' lives not to.
I guess you could even do separate books on different time periods in the characters' lives. :)
Shane

Yeah, thanks Shane. :) It's the separate books about the character's lives that I'm interested in. I've got so caught up in who they are, before and after, that I want the readers to know them as well. How many books have you written? This is my first.

[ChristChild]

I am a few chapters away from finishing the manuscript for my third book. They are usually twice the size of the average novel, so I feel like I'm near the end of a sixth one. ;)

How close are you to finishing your first book?

Shane

[whitehawke]

Cool. :)
Hopefully, and I do mean hopefully, I am on my last edit.:rolleyes: Being my first book, I've had to learn a whole lot. Can't remember how many drafts I've done on it, but the first draft took me about 18 months or less. It's a lot of fun. I think I may have finished it sooner, but a while but I had to go to hospital. I didn't wanted to, but I had been in agony for three months.
How many books do you normally have in your series?
Rulan

[whitehawke]

LOL, as you can see, I was really tired when I wrote that last post. Sorry for the typos. :eek:

[wgjones3]

I've never really felt like I wanted to do a series. I guess I'd just be thrilled to get one book published and the thought of having multiple books in print is too much to hope for. ;)

Honestly, though, I know what you mean about knowing the characters in and out, but I just use that for texturing the story. The idea of doing a series, especially a long series like the Left Behind novels, bores me.

[whitehawke]

[QUOTE=wgjones3]I've never really felt like I wanted to do a series. I guess I'd just be thrilled to get one book published and the thought of having multiple books in print is too much to hope for. ;)
Honestly, though, I know what you mean about knowing the characters in and out, but I just use that for texturing the story.

LOL... :D Guess I'm just a hopeless romantic or something. Or perhaps it's because God has done a lot of healing in me through the writing of this book, that I just want to see how much more He wishes to do. :) I have been amazed at how the book pulled together and how things lined up.

[writegirl1949]

Whitehawke:

I originally planned on a series of books ... not necessarily books in a series, if that makes sense. The idea was to have books set in the same general area with a cast of characters that readers could identify with and then those characters would show up in different books. Sharyn McCrumb is an author who has done this well and there is always a sense of familiarity with her books BUT I don't have to read the first to in order to read the others nor do I have to read them in order.

Publishers do like the idea of series or at least recurring characters as they have a tendency (if the author is good) of garnering fans who care about the characters and want more.

And prequel is good ... just look at the Star Wars movies.

Anyway, with my first book nearing publication, I'm working on the next which has turned out to be more closely tied with the first BUT will introduce new characters and bring back some of those in the first book.

Francine

[whitehawke]

Thanks Francine, that's very encouraging. I tend to get attached to characters and when I've enjoyed reading a book, I'm sad to put it down. In my book, some of the characters won't make it through to the next one, due to what happens at the end, but I don't want to stop writing about them either. I'm not totally sure how I'll work my prequels, but I hope they add to the story.
I hope you will let me know when your book is out, I'd love to read it.
Can we keep in touch by PM or email so we can continue this topic, please?

[writegirl1949]

Whitehawke -- sure we can keep up this discussion -- I'd enjoy that :) . And anyone else who's interested. !thumbsup! Email is probably better for me ... writegirl1949@yahoo.com

Blessings, Francine

[whitehawke]

writegirl--That'll be so cool :) This is my handle: rulan@gmail.com
Rulan :D