Adventures in Writing

Second book syndrome has several definitions. One refers to the writing process of the second book after the successful publication of the first book. The writer fears that they won’t be able to write as good a book as the first. Or, they fear that the first book was a fluke, and they really don’t know what they are doing. Some authors become so frozen with fear that they can’t move forward with their writing.

The other definition refers to the time after the book has been written and published. The reading audience discovers the writer’s paranoia about his skills were right, and the second book fails to deliver what the first book did.

Margaret Mitchell was so terrified of failure after GONE WITH THE WIND she reportedly decided not to publish another novel. Robert James Waller who wrote the phenomenally successful bestseller, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, proved to be a one-hint wonder. All his other books have failed to even remotely achieve the success of this novel. So, yes, second book syndrome does exist.

I’ve discovered a new kind of second book syndrome in series. In the last month I’ve read two urban fantasies that were a second in the series, and both failed badly for the very same reason. Up to sixty pages at the beginning of the book were nothing but clean up between the plot ending of the first book, and the plot beginning of the second book.

Minor unresolved problems were answered, characters discussed their relationships after such a great change, and lives and careers that had been changed because of the first book were reordered.

I imagine this all was vastly important to the author and some readers, but it was a massive brick wall to a majority of readers.

A second book should start like any book, the reader should be immediately shoved directly into the book with an important plot goal and engaging characters and should be kept there for the remainder of the book.

If you think some things should be clarified or expanded, wait until a bit later and have the character explain to a friend why she no longer works for the police, or why she fears her friends may be targeted by her enemy.

Also, let the reader intuit some changes. If they read the first book, they can usually guess why things have changed, and if they didn’t read the first book, they won’t care as long as you give enough information to cover the current situation.

And, remember, this holds true of all the rest of the books in a series. Successful series writers like JK Rowling or Charlaine Harris never maunder about at the beginning of each Harry Potter or Stookie Stackhouse novel, and neither should you.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Links of Interest

SELF-PUB VIDEO TUTORIAL LINKS:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/self-publishing-video-tutorials_b68391

MAKING YOUR COPYRIGHT WORK HARDER FOR YOU, SELLING OTHER RIGHTS:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/04/make-your-content-work-harder-for-you.html

WHAT IS A DERIVATIVE WORK?

http://chiseledinrock.blogspot.com/2013/04/derivative-who-you-callin-derivative.html

SELLING AUDIO BOOK RIGHTS:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/04/audio-books-for-self-published-authors.html

WORDPRESS BLOGS UNDER HACKER ATTACK, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2034458/widescale-attack-against-wordpress-blogs-reported.html

SECONDARY CHARACTERS:

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/3-tips-for-secondary-characters/

KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2013/04/15/know-your-characters/

A SIMPLIFIED GUIDE TO FORENSIC SCIENCE:

http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/index.htm

WHAT DOWNTON ABBEY CAN TEACH A WRITER ABOUT TENSION:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/04/what-downton-abbey-can-teach-us-about.html

WHAT TO FOCUS IN ON IN FIGHT SCENES:

http://swan-tower.livejournal.com/586989.html

FOR NEXT YEAR’S TAXES:

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2013/04/taxes-and-writers/

KNOWING WHEN TO END YOUR BOOK:

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/knowing-when-to-stop-expectations-for-a-satisfying-ending

HOW TO SET UP A PROFESSIONAL TWITTER PROFILE:

http://www.authormedia.com/how-to-set-up-a-twitter-profile/

WHEN BOOK TITLES GO BAD:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2013/04/when-titles-go-bad.html

PLOTTING AND PACING:

http://www.magicalwords.net/david-b-coe/creative-intersections-pacing-and-plotting/

KEEPING THE MURDERER SECRET UNTIL THE END:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/04/keeping-murderer-secret-until-end.html

WHEN CHARACTERS AGE IN A SERIES, PARTICULARLY A CHILDREN’S SERIES:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2013/04/17/when-characters-age-in-a-series/

FINDING A GOOD TITLE:

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/17/finding-a-good-title

Monday, April 15, 2013

Back Plot

Tell me the plot of "The Hound of the Baskervilles."

Easy enough, you say. A country doctor comes to Sherlock Holmes and Watson. The local lord has died of heart failure. But there were a giant hound's tracks near his body, and there's this family legend about....

But is that the only plot?

Not really. Long before old Sir Charles is frightened to death by a hound, there is a man in South America, a distant relative of Sir Charles, who decides he will be the new lord of Baskerville Hall so he changes his name, makes his wife pretend to be his sister, and....

Some mystery writers call this second storyline the back plot. It is the story behind the story. The detective's plot is the discovery of the back plot. Holmes must reconstruct the murderer's back plot through the clues left behind. He must understand what happened before.

This twining together of two plots is the glory of the mystery and the agony of the mystery writer for she must not only have one plot which is logical and interesting. She must also create a second which intersects it backwards in time.

No, that's not crazy. Think about it. A murder occurs, and the detective investigates. He finds clues, and these clues point toward the past of the victim and the murderer. The detective must decipher these clues to discover the who, what, when, where, and why of the murder. He must travel back in time to the murderer and his motives.

Holmes studies the crime scene, the stories of the butterfly collector, the sounds of the moor, and the ancestor's portrait, as well as other clues, to find that distant Baskerville relative who has designs on the family fortune.

How does a writer create these two plot lines? The answer to that is as diverse as the authors questioned. Some create the back story, pick the relevant clues to pepper the novel with, then set their detective to work.

Other writers are as surprised as their detective at the murder scene and never guess the killer until the last chapter. Somehow the clues, through the miracle of the writer's subconscious and a little judicious rewriting, have pointed to the murderer all along.

Still other writers mix a little of both methods. Cold calculations about clues and the killer's identity are leavened by the spontaneous generosity of the writer's muse. The writer is as surprised as the reader to discover why the killer hums but never sings and how that fits so perfectly into the puzzle.

No one can tell you what method to use to create a perfect blend of detective's plot and back plot. Each writer must discover what works best for her. But the wise writer takes the time after the book is written and before the rewriting to ask herself, "What is the plot? Does it make sense? Is it complete?"

Then the even wiser writer asks the same questions about the back plot. The wisest writer also remembers that in the back plot the killer is the major protagonist, and it here where the true heart of the novel lies.

Now tell me the plot of "The Hound of the Baskervilles."