Pantsers and Series: A Tale of Writing

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being a pantser, learning the story as you write, revisions, thoughts, writing, writing a series

Yesterday I finished revisions on Doors, the first in a three book series.

I have posted before about how after writing books two and three, book one was, well, a mess.

Truth, Doors was written as a stand alone. When I began drafting book two, then book three, some stories hadn’t been told. Some worlds hadn’t been built. There were secrets. SO MANY SECRETS!

Until I finished the first draft of book three, when all the information had unfolded.

I don’t plot. I don’t plan. When I have tried, I have failed. It just doesn’t work for me. So to write a series, I have to write the series, let it evolve, learn as I go. Then fix everything.

My Bryn is a powerhouse. A survivor. I didn’t even know what she could do until book three.

Somewhere in book two the Dorn announced themselves as a non binary race, pronouns they/their. Their world, their purpose for being was also revealed as I wrote book two, and, holy moly, are they important!

The Gether world has a history, one I didn’t know until book two when I returned. A war. An outsider. A jewel. Hints at all of this had to be added, a few key characters had to be brought in book one.

The Darkness. He appeared in book two. He snuck in and took control and made book two a bit dark and AWESOME! But he wasn’t what I thought. Only while drafting book three did I really hear him.

The Doorman. I love him, but he surprised me. That’s all I’m saying.

Languages. I made up so many worlds, I stopped keeping track. Every world has their own rituals, their own way of speaking. As I went through book one, I learned how I messed them up. Suddenly the nots were speaking like the Neathers, what a mess. I think I straightened it out. Maybe.

The ending. When I started book two, I had an idea of where Bryn’s character arc was headed. I was wrong. Slowly she let me know what she wanted, she let me know she wasn’t going to choose what I thought she would. And we all know fighting characters is insane.

Book one is about believing.

Book two is about doubt.

Book three is about choices.

I am so happy with how this series went. My mess of notes and strange brain made it a frustrating journey, but the whole thing will come together. I got this.

There is no way I could have known all the secrets. Even if I had sat and planned the trilogy, I would have been wrong in the end. Writing is a process for me. I have to learn with the characters, grow with the story. Let all the creativity flow. This is how I work best. I will never fight it. I will never question it.

I was afraid when I began revisions for book one. I have a habit of overthinking. I worried that I would panic. What if I mess it all up? What if my editor takes one look at the revisions and laughs at me? Seriously.

Then I let it all go, gathered my thoughts and dove in.

I had a great time! I am so happy with it. In a couple weeks, I will hand it off and wait for fresh eyes to show me all the possibilities, all the places to make it better. EDITING TEAMWORK BABY. I am super excited for the next step in the publishing journey!

I’ve done the best I can. This is enough.

Tomorrow we leave for vacation. A week of camping in Glacier National Park in Montana. I will leave Bryn and all her doors at home. I will let my brain digest everything in peace, to make sure nothing else pops into my head.

So now I shall go clean and pack and panic at leaving. I will go run around and hopefully get things done. Hey, I blogged. Point to me.

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Much Sand in the Sandbox!

Tags

first draft, revisions, thoughts, writing, writing a series

So, just stopping by to say hi…

AND I FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT OF DOORS, BOOK 3: THE DARK TRAVELER!

That’s all.

No big deal.

HAHAHAAAAA! Such a big deal.

25 chapters.

One epilogue.

99,404 words. A bit more than I thought it would be, but it turns out tying everything up the way I wanted, wrapping up a series needed a few more words…that’s fine!

And 99K? That’s a lot of sand in the box. A friend of mine told me that first drafts were all about words, about shoveling sand in the sandbox, a foundation on which you can sculpt your castle. Without material to work with, your idea means nothing.

So I have a big heaping pile of sand. A couple piles.

Because this also means that I have written a trilogy. My first finished series. I talked about my struggle with writing a series in my last post.

I did not know that Doors would lead me into a series. When the characters came back to me, telling me they weren’t done yet, I went with it. I had an idea where the story was going, but it changed as I wrote it. Now, even if I had a plan for it to be a series, I can guarantee that the story would have evolved and morphed away from any plan I would have had, because that’s how my brain works.

So having the entire series written before any are published is super good.

So, I will now gather my wits and revise book one. Hopefully it won’t need much, though I will have to resist my LET’S REVISE EVERYTHING attitude my brain will latch onto. But it will need help before my editor gets her hands on it. She doesn’t need to edit a book around my WELL ALL THIS IS DIFFERENT NOW stuff. I need to fix the continuity, to match it to what happens later, to add little things to link to book two and three, to tweak things. Maybe go a bit darker…

Okay, probably go a bit darker.

DARKER!

Make it a super tight series. One that when you get to book three, you can see all the bits I added in book one.

BUT LET’S JUST FOR A SECOND FLAIL AND SCREAM BECAUSE THE FIRST DRAFT IS DONE!

Seriously. Drafting is hell. Knowing you have to fill the empty white with words is overwhelming. But one word at a time I did it, we all do it.