Book II Challenges (And How To Address Them)

There is a plethora of information on the web teaching you how to write your first ever book, but that doesn't necessarily prepare you for the new challenges you'll face with your second book. I'm currently writing CAPTIVE, book II in my Christian dystopian series, and it's definitely different from writing book I, COLLECTOR. I remember when I was struggling through COLLECTOR, I kept thinking, "If I can just get THIS book done, the rest of them will be easier." In some ways that's true.

But in many ways, it's definitely FALSE.

While there are certain things that are easier and I'm better as a writer now that I have some more experience, Book II has brought with it its own set of challenges that I'm still learning to navigate. Today, we're going to talk 3 of the main challenges I'm facing, and how I'm working through them.

1) The Pressures To Live Up To Readers' Expectations.

This one is difficult. When writing COLLECTOR, I wasn't entirely sure how my book would be received, but I was so in love with the story myself that, quite honestly, I didn't care. I knew my book would be difficult for even Christians to read, knew it would teeter on the edge of being too, well, edgy or even controversial. But I wasn't going to let my fear of, "What if ____ doesn't like it?" stop me from making my story. With book II, it's different. I have readers now. I've gotten feedback, and a lot of it is positive. But while the positive feedback is said with a good heart (and I do truly appreciate it) I - for some reason - flip it in my mind to think, "Ok, now you have to measure up with book. Now you have people who have opinions that you DO need to care about. You have to meet their expectations of quality, style, excitement, etc. It has to be PERFECT."

Of course, this causes me to look at my first draft and ask, "How can I make it better?" Or say, "This isn't good enough. Maybe I'm not cut out to be an author." And imposter syndrome sets in BIG TIME. It's rough. 

2) A Persistent "Disconnection" With My Main Character.

I put Disconnection in quotes because it's not entirely accurate. In some ways, I am closer to my MC. She's established as a character, she's someone I "know" and "understand." Her reactions and mood aren't necessarily having to be discovered in the same way they were with COLLECTOR.

BUT on the other hand, there is a level of contentment and LACK OF DISCOVERY when it comes to my main character and even my story. I find that I'm not challenging her or myself to grow when she should. I'm struggling in some ways to know what my character is going to say that she hasn't already said before. And this is happening with my main character, but it's also happening with my other characters. Dialogue, behavior, and even physical features are starting to become muddled in my mind.

3) Temptation To Rush My Writing Process.

With COLLECTOR, I was a slow writer. With CAPTIVE, I'm pushing myself to speed up, to go faster and, while yes the first draft should be messy, it shouldn't be something that I am confused on. And THAT has been what's happening. I'm pushing myself to rush, and for my own head, that doesn't necessarily work. It makes me panic, it stresses me out, because when I'm writing, I'm thinking, I need to hurry up. I need to go faster. I should be further along. It keeps me from focusing ON the story and tempts me to just rush through a chapter, rush through a section, and ignore glaring inconsistencies that will make life difficult later.

Ok, so we've talked about the three challenges I'm facing with Book II.

Now What?

I'm still facing these challenges. I'm still working through them, so my "solutions" are only what is working right now. Writing isn't a set-in-stone things. Each book is going to come with its own difficulties, and each book (and author) will have their own solutions.

Here's what I'm doing...

THE PRESSURE TO LIVE UP TO READERS' EXPECTATIONS: I'm remembering my "WHY." Why did I write this story in the first place? Why is it so important to me? Is it for good reviews? No. I'm not writing to have a 5 star rating on amazon. Would that be nice? Yes. But that isn't my end-all, be-all. I'm writing this story to touch readers' hearts and minds in ways that perhaps no story has. I'm writing this story to inject truth into the world and challenge Christians all over to grow in their faith. And the biggest reason of all: I'M WRITING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! I'm not writing for the praises of man. My "WHY," my reason for writing is bigger than those little gold icons.

Again, there's nothing wrong with hoping and praying and WORKING FOR 5-star reviews. But when you put that rating as your identity as an author, you'll be crushed when that first 2-star review comes in. It's like chasing perfection in a world that isn't perfect: you just can't reach it, and striving for perfection, not giving yourself the grace to fail... that is going to kill your confidence with writing and cause you to give up. GIVING UP IS THE VERY LAST THING YOU WANT!!! So let's avoid that. Remember your WHY, and accept that you can't please everyone. Do your best, work hard at this writing thing, learn from others, and learn from your mistakes. But don't chase perfection. It just doesn't work.

DISCONNECTION WITH MY MAIN CHARACTER: The best solution I've found for this disconnection is actively working to learn more about my character. I've made a list of what is different about her in book II, and what is the same. How has she grown? What has she failed at? How does she speak about herself? How does she speak TO herself? Writing is the process of continually learning about your main character and how they are changing throughout the story. Actively learn about your character, actively spend time getting to know them, and that is going to help the disconnection.

If you're writing in 3rd Person, try writing something in their POV to get in their head. If you're writing in 1st person, try writing in 3rd Person to get OUT of their head and see how they interact with the world from a distance.

TEMPTATION TO RUSH MY WRITING PROCESS:

I have to focus on getting into the story. When I write, I work on getting into my story. I listen to music beforehand, I spend some time in imagination. I get myself to ENJOY THE WRITING - not rushing through it. This takes some active thought, this takes some process, but it has helped me trust the writing process. While I'm speeding up what I was doing, but I'm also remembering to take the time to put in the effort.

If you're writing book II in your series (or just your second book overall), what are some new challenges your facing? What are some solutions you've found? Let me know in the comments!