Series Epiphany

[Azraelsbane]

I just woke up from the most productive writing dream ever! I dreamt of a way to slice the first novel in my fantasy series in two!

Okay, that's already too many exclamation points in this post, but I'm very excited. This means instead of nearly 200k, the first book will be around 95k and the second one around the same. It also means that I'm one chapter and a few tweaks away from having book one complete (it has been through two full edits, except for the one missing chapter of course). Strangely enough, this solves a lot of my standalone problems as well.

Sorry to bother you all with this, and not sure if this is the right forum for it or not. It's 2am, and I'm still half asleep. Hopefully the mods will move it if it's in the wrong place.

Here I'll try to make it fit in by asking a question: Any of you guys ever get a book-splitting epiphany? Did it work or did you find that the story was lacking without the original planned section that you moved to a different book?

[Shady Lane]

If I split my book, each new-book would be about five pages long.

But I'm super happy for you!

[JoNightshade]

Yay Azraelsbane! That's awesome. Even more awesome than solving your problem is that you just got two books for the price of one. :) I would love it if my books divided and multiplied.

[mscelina]

Excellent news! It's always great to solve a problem--this will make your story much easier to pitch!

[Azraelsbane]

Yay Azraelsbane! That's awesome. Even more awesome than solving your problem is that you just got two books for the price of one. :) I would love it if my books divided and multiplied.

LoL, yeah. But now I have to make up a new title! Razing Justice was my first thought for book two. I think it's kinda witty, but then again, it's 2am. I'd probably find just about anything this side of toothpaste witty.

[Shady Lane]

*snicker* toothpaste.

[JoNightshade]

Razing Justice sounds awfully punny... ;)

[Azraelsbane]

Razing Justice sounds awfully punny... ;)

Heh, I'll have to work on it. Maybe I can order up a dream to help me with that too. It's just that each immortal in my world has a calling that's inscribed on their sword, and in book 2 the MC's calling is justice. It's basically the reason he eventually loses his mind, because true justice is elusive and proves impossible. Thus, my first, corny attempt at a title. ;)

[reenkam]

THREE CHEERS FOR DREAM EPIPHANIES!

maybe I should go to sleep, too...it could be series revelation day! I might figure out how to make my first a stand alone!

*runs to bed*

[necia phoenix]

I just woke up from the most productive writing dream ever! I dreamt of a way to slice the first novel in my fantasy series in two!

Okay, that's already too many exclamation points in this post, but I'm very excited. This means instead of nearly 200k, the first book will be around 95k and the second one around the same. It also means that I'm one chapter and a few tweaks away from having book one complete (it has been through two full edits, except for the one missing chapter of course). Strangely enough, this solves a lot of my standalone problems as well.

Sorry to bother you all with this, and not sure if this is the right forum for it or not. It's 2am, and I'm still half asleep. Hopefully the mods will move it if it's in the wrong place.

Here I'll try to make it fit in by asking a question: Any of you guys ever get a book-splitting epiphany? Did it work or did you find that the story was lacking without the original planned section that you moved to a different book?


hehe

middle of the night epiphamies are the best!

Well, I realized I needed to write a 'prequil' to my WIP, slap it onto the front then slice it up somewhere near the current middle. I feel it will work better once I write the prequil and get to the slicing.

[c.e.lawson]

Excellent, Azraelsbane!

Whatever helps your yummy manly angels get published is good by me! :hooray:

But why is it that I have weird and very vivid dreams about dinosaurs stalking our little city, or tidal waves, or a final exam coming up that I never studied for, but NOTHING even remotely useful to my story?

[Azraelsbane]

But why is it that I have weird and very vivid dreams about dinosaurs stalking our little city, or tidal waves, or a final exam coming up that I never studied for, but NOTHING even remotely useful to my story?

I have plenty of those too. ;) In fact, about a week or so ago I had a dream where I was on top of a mountain. It was the usual dark and stormy, but raining diamonds, and I was holding a dagger over a baby.

A few days ago I found out I was pregnant. I'm hoping dreams like that stay away. They are slightly counterproductive.

[Rhea L]

That's awesome. :D I'm happy to hear that.

[Tracy]

Congrats on the epiphany! How exciting that that means you're nearly finished your first book. Like Christmas coming early!

[Chasing the Horizon]

I would love it if my books divided and multiplied.
My books do that all the time. They're kind of like bacteria. 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, 4 becomes 8, 8 becomes 16 . . .

In fact, about a week or so ago I had a dream where I was on top of a mountain. It was the usual dark and stormy, but raining diamonds, and I was holding a dagger over a baby.
Um, if you don't want that idea, can I have it? (If you have scenes that cool that you don't try to put in your books, the ones you do put in must be really amazing :D )

My dreams are entirely useless. They're either completely mundane, or about something that's already in my stories. I've never gotten a single idea from a dream. *sigh* (See, that's why I don't sleep much)

Congrats on the splitting novel and baby! :)

[Azraelsbane]

Well, I have a chapter that takes place within one of my MC's minds (he's a master of psionics, pretty neat guy). I believe in about ten pages it rains blood, so much so that an ocean of it forms beneath the mountain he raises... Said ocean is filled with ravenous, barracuda-like fish that bleed souls when gutted, all followed up with a replica of the Garden of Eden made entirely of colored glass shards that are explosive to the touch. ;)

Ok, that's probably not very impressive, but I thought I'd give you an example of some of my crazier scenes, since you brought it up. I end up using pretty much all my crazy dreams sooner or later. ;)

[Shadow_Ferret]

Yeah, I had a dream epiphany about how to take my 295,000 word novel and split it up into a trilogy.

Problem with dreams is they aren't reality. The phrase "easier said than done" applies in this case.

[c.e.lawson]

I have plenty of those too. ;) In fact, about a week or so ago I had a dream where I was on top of a mountain. It was the usual dark and stormy, but raining diamonds, and I was holding a dagger over a baby.

A few days ago I found out I was pregnant. I'm hoping dreams like that stay away. They are slightly counterproductive.

Oh...WOW! A baby! That's even better than splitting your novel! ;) I'm so happy for you! Just get in as much writing time as you can BEFORE you have the baby. It's harder to come by after, and your brain will be a little foggy, LOL, though I'm sure you can still find ways.

Congrats!

[Sassee]

Azraelsbane, you want to loan me some of those dreams of yours? I hardly ever dream, and when I do, I don't remember them. :(

And... you should TOTALLY get that baby dream translated. I want to know wtf it means. LOL! Craziness.

(Gratz on the kiddo news!)

For the original question: I don't ever have book splitting epiphanies, but that's because I have yet to finish one. I do have little mini epiphanies about scenes in my WIP, does that count?

[Azraelsbane]

For the original question: I don't ever have book splitting epiphanies, but that's because I have yet to finish one. I do have little mini epiphanies about scenes in my WIP, does that count?

Every epiphany counts. :D

[JohnDavidPaxton]

I am seriously very, very happy for you.

We all know how much more marketable a 100,000k piece is for an unpublished writer and I sincerely hope this allows you to reach new career heights. I'm also happy that you're just so gosh darn excited about it.

May the new take on your series continue to evolve into something you take more pride and pleasure in by the day.

[LJ Hall]

Good job! I'm still hoping my own doesn't get too long before the end.

Just one question - does what used to be the first half of one book have an entire story arc? I know you said it was just the first half of the first book of what's going to be a series. I guess I'm just cautioning you to make sure what you have stands alone as a novel.

[Azraelsbane]

Good job! I'm still hoping my own doesn't get too long before the end.

Just one question - does what used to be the first half of one book have an entire story arc? I know you said it was just the first half of the first book of what's going to be a series. I guess I'm just cautioning you to make sure what you have stands alone as a novel.

Yup, it does have a story arc. I still prefer the 2 sections as one novel, but there is well-developed story that closes off within the first half.

[JoNightshade]

Good job! I'm still hoping my own doesn't get too long before the end.

Just one question - does what used to be the first half of one book have an entire story arc? I know you said it was just the first half of the first book of what's going to be a series. I guess I'm just cautioning you to make sure what you have stands alone as a novel.

George R. R. Martin doesn't seem to think doing this is a problem. :rant:

[LJ Hall]

George R. R. Martin doesn't seem to think doing this is a problem. :rant:

LOL. And see how annoying it can be?

[Azraelsbane]

George R. R. Martin doesn't seem to think doing this is a problem. :rant:

Heh, I have his entire series but have yet to read past the 5th page of book 1. I heard that he likes to create characters just to kill them off, and after hearing that I started second guessing whether or not I wanted to read his stuff.

Anyway, the 1st book will still have a somewhat "cliffhangerish" ending. God forbid I write something without one, then it might turn out to be a pitchable idea :p

But a main plotline is wrapped up nicely at the end. A new civilization must be achieved in order for the other protag MCs to assist MC #1 the way they would like. Civilization is achieved, unfortunately, MC1's version of mankind isn't quite as morally upstanding as he would like. ;)

Daddy has to come save the day at the end of book 1. Oh, did I mention his father is the antagonist, and the one responsible for MC1 being abandoned in a desolate dimension countless years prior? Hmm, not a happy reunion.

[JoNightshade]

Heh, I have his entire series but have yet to read past the 5th page of book 1. I heard that he likes to create characters just to kill them off, and after hearing that I started second guessing whether or not I wanted to read his stuff.

Oh, you should read them anyway. It's worth it. I only complain because his characters and worlds are so engrossing that he can be a complete jerk and not pay attention to any conventional plotting rules and kill my favorite people and I'm still, STILL going to buy anything he writes. :)

[Azraelsbane]

Oh, you should read them anyway. It's worth it. I only complain because his characters and worlds are so engrossing that he can be a complete jerk and not pay attention to any conventional plotting rules and kill my favorite people and I'm still, STILL going to buy anything he writes. :)

God I hope my story comes out that great. But that's really the reason I'm thinking about not reading them. I already bought them, he's got the royalties. :p I just get really attached to characters, and if they're going to die so abruptly, then I'm just saving myself the heartache. ;)

[althrasher]

I love dream epiphanies! That's actually how the idea for my series came about. Hooray!

Lately, I haven't dreamed anything worth recollecting. I've been dreaming I've been on the run from an evil government a lot though (seriously.) Also, Saturday night I was excommunicated from the Methodist church (even though we don't excommunicate...whatever.) Gotta love our crazy brains!

[Chasing the Horizon]

Well, I have a chapter that takes place within one of my MC's minds (he's a master of psionics, pretty neat guy). I believe in about ten pages it rains blood, so much so that an ocean of it forms beneath the mountain he raises... Said ocean is filled with ravenous, barracuda-like fish that bleed souls when gutted, all followed up with a replica of the Garden of Eden made entirely of colored glass shards that are explosive to the touch. ;)

That is very cool. So cool, in fact, that it's in MY series too! (Just the raining blood and ocean of blood at the foot of a mountain, not the Garden of Eden part. It's just a hallucination for my characters, though.)

Your series sounds like something I'd really love to read. :)

[J.S Greer]

I split my WIP when I realized that it was going to be WAY too big for one book. I found a logical stopping point, and saw that stopping there allowed me to do some new things that I hadn't ventured before...now my problem is that the first part isn't 100% standalone.

[farfromfearless]

I had a similar experience -- which was very frustrating -- where my WIP was pushing 200K and still not close enough to the resolution I wanted. So I ended up cutting the last third to be used as material in a second book and re-writing a proper ending for the first 2/3.

[wayndom]

Still another good reason why you should never turn of your 'puter when you go to bed. Let it sleep, just like you, so it wakes up with you, too...

[Azraelsbane]

Still another good reason why you should never turn of your 'puter when you go to bed. Let it sleep, just like you, so it wakes up with you, too...

I think I've turned off my computer three times in about nine months. ;)