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Question: Writing long books and potential book plot!?
i'm forming the world/characters for a series i will one day write!. but i have a couple questions:
1) I plan on 6 books in the series!. i have the major plot for book one, four, five and six down!. but i need plots for two and three!. so i was thinking, would a plot for book two or three be good if it was this: something similar to the Holy Grail story!? when i come up with ideas, i either create them myself, get them from mythology or read other books and adapt their plots!. so, if i tweaked it, would a 'holy grail' type plot be good!?
2) also, how do you write longer books!? i want all six to be potentially at least as long as the third hair potter book!. so, how do you make them that long!? with numerous sub-plots!?!?!?!?
thanks for bearing with all of that!. =DWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
You may have to ask yourself, why do you feel the need to have six books!? Is there any particular reason!? I am not saying I do not like long series, but sometimes authors drag a series out longer than it needs to be because they think they need a certain number of books for it to be an epic!.
I am in no way saying this is you!. But perhaps you could start by writing book one and seeing if you still want to write six!. A four book series is still a great achievement, and you already have a plot for four books ready!. You can try fleshing out what you already have with sub-plots, but do not overburden your series with them!. They have to be crucial to the main story, otherwise they are just fluff!. Fluff can get tiring very quickly!.
Like you said, you may add another quest into the mix as well!. If you want to do the Holy Grail, make the reason the characters are seeking it something special!. Everyone wants the Holy Grail, but not always for the same reason, especially if they learn it has some new power or purpose for its existence!. I do not think it can occupy an entire two books, unless you have them obtaining it in the first, and then fighting the villain to keep him away from it in the second!. But while developing your world like you are doing right now, you can come up with problems that it has, and ways the characters can fix them!. This will keep your series flowing nicely as well as keep the reader interested!.
Good luck on the world building and writing!Www@QuestionHome@Com
first, Good on you for planning
I enjoy writing myself, and am now working on my longest running book I've ever worked on
(40 Chapters, almost finished writing)
Planning is the key to success in MOST novels!.
(I learned this the HARD way)
Now, onto the more trivial work!.
You need to ask yourself questions when writing this novel!.
First, are your characters believable!? Do they stay true to how you write them!?
Second, will this story make sense to a reader!? Is the story line followable!?
Third, is the setting written like a character!? Does it have the same value as a character should!?
Fourth, is there enough DETAIL!?!?!?
There are more questions you can ask, but they are straightforward enough!.
If you would like, and have time too, would you email me two or three of the chapters!? I would love to critique them!.
If this is outside your comfort level, then never mind!.
I'm just a very intuitive reader for my age, and if you'd like another writer's opinion, I'd be glad to help :)Www@QuestionHome@Com