It’s a weird thing leaving one book behind. Even weirder starting the new one. One moment you’re obsessed with a group of characters, interrupting conversations to scribble down a plot note, and the next… You send them out into the world for readers, and you move on.
Technically my last project was three books, but they had the same characters throughout. I feel like I know Jay and Kayla inside out by now! By the third book, it was pretty much instinctual to write how they’d react to certain situations. Not to mention, to each other 😉
After leaving them behind I meant to give myself a bit of a break. Which I did…for a week. Then I couldn’t ignore the burning niggle of a new story, and told myself I’d just write a couple of pages to see where it went.
As you’ll see by my last few blog posts, I didn’t stop at a couple of pages! (By the way, do you like seeing my book progress? I thought it was a bit of fun, and it’s one way to stop me slacking.) The new story is quite a different one from the lighthearted fun of Kayla and Jay, and the change of pace is refreshing, I’ve gotta say.
One thing I wasn’t expected is that new characters and a new tone has led to a different structure. Not radically different, but the chapter length and frequency has certainly changed. Not to mention there’s a bit less description, because, well, we’re not in Hawaii anymore.
If you write, do you find new characters change the structure of your book? And what do you think of my book progress updates?
(Current book progress: 20,149)
Libby Cole 
I have two series on the go at the moment, one epic fantasy and the other urban fantasy. When I swap from one to the other, I write like a different person – not deliberately, it just happens. Totally different syntax, vocabulary, dialogue style, chapter length, book length etc.
I think that’s partly because one is third person and the other first, but it was a bit startling the fist time it happened.
Perhaps I’m just schizophrenic…
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Haha I think we all question our sanity at times! I bet you can almost feel the gear change when you switch genres like that, that’s quite a major one
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Yeah, totally different speed and dynamic. They are really different, but to those who don’t read fantasy, they don’t realise there’s any distinction. Lucky I love them both, it helps keep my batteries charged when I switch – a bit like a Dynamo!
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As above, I love the updates – you showing the process is a real gift for other writers – and I love working with new characters, seeing where they’ll take me and the story.
But I also like reintroducing old ones in different settings, getting back into the rhythms of their actions and thoughts, and seeing how they’ll bump (and grind) against the new ones
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Oh thank you! We’re all in it together, and so many people have shared their process with me, it’s a little thing that I figured could help some people.
You’re so right about the old characters in new settings. I’ve read some sequels that really took me by surprise, purely because the new characters really shook up the old ones!
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New charactes are great because they are so unpredictable that they take you on a ride that it’s amazing, why? because you don’t know where you are going to end up LOL
I like your book progress updates because it makes you accountable to us, readers and followers, and also because I can see how things are going 😛
I have a bunch of characters screaming at me to write them and every week or so I got a new story idea. It’s hard but I have to put fingers to keyboard and write sometime soon if I want to accomplish something with my writing…
By the way… I just have to scheadule the release of the review for your book 1 on my blog already! *goes with that note to make that happen already*
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Ohh that’s exciting, can’t wait! I so hear you on the characters screaming at you… I’ve got about three books in my head at the moment, and they all need to CALM DOWN and give me time to write them.
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Done scheaduling:)
Girl… Jay got on my nerves, sorry in advance for my ramblings to come there LOL
I’ve decided to start a new proyect because if I’m going to keep with the one I was doing I was not going to go forward so… yeah… 😛
Hmmm also I need to write other stuff in my blog beside Book Reviews *thinks of ideas while she walk away slowly*
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Haha don’t worry, I’ve got my big girl pants on 😉
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