I’m writing a … what do you call a second story in the same world? Is that a series? Is it a sequel? Because it’s not about the same couple, so ‘sequel’ seems like the wrong word. Anyway, I’m writing a second story. It’s hard because I’m not naturally set up to write series. Once I put a story to bed, that’s it. I’m ready to move on to something else. Maybe it’s a product of my gypsy upbringing. After two years in one place, I’m usually ready for the movers to show up. Time to go see something new.
Unfortunately, my gypsy days are at an end. I live in the Midwest now. In the burbs, no less. I’ve been here for three years and will be for the foreseeable future. Good schools, nice neighborhood, pool, sidewalks, all that American Dream stuff. Writing is the only thing that’s keeping me from drinking in the afternoon.
It’s an apt metaphor for my writing, though. Suddenly, I’m compelled – by forces outside myself, I might add – to write this story that’s set back in Culford, SC. Back in the Congaree Swamp.
I spend a lot of time on my settings. I know where my stories live. I’ve said before that if this place was real, I could walk through it blindfolded and know just where I was at every step. Culford is a great setting. I loved writing that little town.
But I’m having a difficult time with it this time around. Writing new stories in new settings is fun and exciting. Writing a new story in an old setting means that suddenly I have to work much harder to make things interesting for myself.
I worry that the secondary characters I loved in one story will seem saccharine the next time around. I worry that familiarity will breed contempt for all the things that were so charming the first time.
However, this is the hand I’ve been dealt. And much like my current status as a Midwestern suburban hausfrau, I’m going to make the best of it. I just have to dig a little deeper into my setting and my characters to make them feel comfortable, rather than merely worn.
And next time I sign up to write a sequel, shoot me.
7 comments:
Too funny. Well, Sela, what's going to happen when we all LOVE this story (and you know we will) and beg you to write a... what would it be called... triquel? Nope, that would be a series.
Can't wait.
Bite your tongue, woman! I don't think I can handle the stress of doing it twice, much less three times!
For me it's not so much the place, but the characters that generate a series. The setting changes from book to book - the only connecting threads are the people. So each book feels new, yet familiar, somehow. :)
I hear you about the gypsy soul. We've moved a lot, as well - 3 to 5 years and I'm ready to move on. Maybe that's why in all my stories, my characters are literally on the move, on a journey. So far I haven't been inspired to write a single book, much less a series, that takes place in a single location. The prospect just makes me yawn. :)
Er, having said that, I often read books that are in a single location and love them. It's not the reading part that yawns me - it's the writing. :)
I've got connecting people, but the setting is the glue in this story. I was finally able to get a good start and I think I figured out a way to keep it fresh -- I'm concentrating more on the depths of the swamp than the town. Kind of a reverse of what I did in the first story, which was more about the town than the swamp. Eh. Who knows. It's not done yet, so everything could change!
I adore a good connected book series. If I loved it once, it's almost always a treat to revisit a location or the people from before.
Oh, I love to read series!! I'm working my way through the BDB for the umpteenth time right now. :) I just never realized how difficult *I* would find it to stay in the same world for more than one story.
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