Prequels and Sequels: Are Series More Successful?

The thought came to me the other day, as I was watching something... I can't remember exactly what I was watching, but I remember something that stood out to me.  I remember considering taking part of my novel and turning it into a prequel, and then followed by a series that I came up with a while ago.  The series was going to be a stand alone series based on a totally different storyline and in a different setting and everything.  However, one moment it hit me... BAM!  Why not tie all three together?  It seems to me that the most successful stories tend to be those told in a series of some kind.  I'm not saying that single, one-off, one-shot novels aren't successful, but I do see a trend and in the publishing business trends are important to take note of.

As a creative writer, we have to go with the flow of things and pump out those creative juices in large quantities and wrap it all in a nice little package for the masses to consume.  I'm not sure if mine will be too much of a mind trip for people to handle... it's a pretty trippy rabbit hole I'd be taking my readers down, but guaranteed to entertain I think.  Originally, I had a flashback sequence at the end of my story that took the reader back to relive the story but from another perspective in quick sequences.  I think this might be confusing however, and I've been thinking of ways to clean it up.

Well, I'm considering it and I love the idea especially since it gives me an opportunity to cut down that 100,000+ word count that I have now!  Yikes!  I know, I know, I get it from my mother... bless her heart!  Sometimes we can be a bit long winded.

It also gets me excited an enthusiastic about sitting down and writing again which is very important if you read any of my previous posts on motivation and inspiration.  I love the novel as it is, don't get me wrong, but I think it might work better if I take out some of the confusing bits and pieces that could stand alone as a prequel and help set up the story arch.  What I plan to do is to read the novel through once and then determine if it flows or not.

Inspiration

Writer's block = Kryptonite to a writer.

Writer's red sun = Inspiration

How does one find inspiration when attempting to tangle the daunting task of writing a novel, short story, etc.?  There were many times during my writing process that I hit a wall and it caused all creativity within me to cease flowing.  Usually my own thoughts caused me stress which blocked my creative flow.

Some things that I typically would stress over were:

1. Names - when I can't think of a name for a character or place it causes me a great deal of stress because I believe that the name is crucial and significant to the character or setting.  In Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, he named his villain "Darken Rahl."  The name "Darken" has the word "dark" in it which we tend to associate with negative things or bad feelings.  Would you get the same imagery of his antagonist if the character were named "Mary Poppins"?

2. Backstory - deciding how much or how little of a character's backstory to put into the story usually causes me a bit of stress.  Whenever I read, I tend to cringe during flashbacks or parts in the book that take the reader away from the contemporary action (unless it is done extremely well).  Needless to say, when it comes to my own writing, I try to find interesting ways and places in the story to give more history of a character or a setting.

3. The middle - you know that part of your story other than the beginning, climax, and denouement.  I typically know how the story will start, peak, and resolve before I begin writing.  However, the middle can sometimes serve as a speed bump, which is why I love chapter by chapter synopses, but I'll save that for another blog.

4. Premature criticism - occasionally some people have a tendency to want to critique your work when you've barely started.  I consider the creation process to be very delicate, like a newborn baby.  If it were up to me I'd lock myself in a room and not come out until I was done!

So, I'm sure different people have different things that tend to cause stress and block their creativity.  I named just a few things that definitely hit the mark for me.  Here are some things that help to inspire me:

1. Watching The Lord of the Rings - YES!  And no, not just the first movie, but the ENTIRE TRILOGY.  I even watch the special features... EXTENDED EDITION!  My favorite is The Fellowship of the Rings.  I also love watching the special features that talk about Tolkien and how he wasn't so confident in his writing sometimes, and that he even threw away the first draft of his manuscript!  Can you believe it!?

2. Light exercise - about 30 minutes or so usually helps to get my blood pumping or sometimes just a walk around the block.

3. List of names - a friend of mine once suggested a solution to my problem with coming up with names.  She suggested creating a list of names that I keep.  I often hear interesting names, or someone's name makes me think of an alternate funny or strange version, but I never used to write them down.  Now, whenever I come up with a name I just add it to the list.  So when I'm working on a story I simply refer to my list when I need names.  Thanks Viva!

4. Chocolates - self explanatory

5. Substitute this last one for whatever it is that brings you happiness (within reason of course)... for me it would be playing a video game, listening to relaxation music, or even joking around with family and friends.  I think the idea is to basically get up and not sulk or dwell on whatever it is that's causing you stressful thoughts.

Inspiration can often be found in the simplest places that sometimes we forget to look there because of the barriers we set up in our minds.  So I say tear down those walls and let the creativity flow!  Bust out your Rock Band, favorite book, box of chocolates, or whatever your muse may be and let it energize you.

(Recommended reading: Robert's Rules of Writing: 101 unconventional lessons)