Thread: I've got the second and third book all mapped out in my head. Where's the first one?

Has anyone else had this problem?

I know exactly how the story is panning out. It's going to be a trilogy. I can even see the shape of the second and third books in my head. I know how the characters are going to develop, how relationships are going to mature, and which characters are going to die.

So, where the hell is the first book?

Try as I might, everything from the intro on in this elusive "first book" is a watery, cloudy mess. While my other ideas are pretty opaque as well, at least they have some substance. This one is pitiful.

I basically know that the characters are going to be introduced, the danger is going to come about forty pages in, judging by the current draft.

Then it all goes to hell.

What am I doing wrong?

It would help if we knew what the second and third book are about. That way, we can offer ideas for what the first one should be about.

Why not start with with you have? Write the second and third parts. You may discover that all the introductory material you think you need in volume one is so much backfill that can more profitably be used in the two you already have planned out in your head. This may also lead you to discover a part four, which would then be volume three in your trilogy.

My point is, stop worrying and start writing.

Somehow this reminds me of a piece I did once on perfection being the enemy of good enough.

Oh, okay. Well, that's the problem, because I basically know the theme of the first book. I just have to start it.

Basically, in the entire story (like all three books), the main character discovers that he is reincarnated from an ancient Egyptian named Rahotep whose ba (sort of like a soul in ancient Egyptian beliefs) contained a power that the gods began fighting over. One of the gods, Horus, saw the futility of the battles and gathered the gods who agreed with him, including his mother and father, and fought instead to protect Rahotep. Eventually, all the gods met their end, but not before Set, Horus's archenemy, doomed them to reincarnating over and over again to fight the same battles. Most of the gods left the cycle over time, leaving the main players and a few others.

Now it's modern day, and Ryan Carter, a sixteen-year-old guy attending a private school far away from home, is basically noticing a lot of weird things occurring in his daily life. One night, the windows seem to shatter for no reason at all during his roommate's party, and a girl he has just met begins talking about someone attacking them. It is revealed that she is the goddess Isis, and one of her classmates is Horus.

And yadda-yadda-yadda. That's as far as I got in the first book. I imagine it to be how the trust grows in their group, how the developing romance between a few couples grows, and so on. The second and third books already have a plot. In the second, they're looking for the archaeologist who discovered the papyrus that told the story of the gods' battles, which has been lost since it was written. That one is pretty much already planned out in my head. The third is a little foggier, but it's still more solid than the first, and it's the conclusion of the series and decides the side that wins.

Does that help?

My guess is what you're running up against here isn't something about the first book: it's that it's easy to see a grand sweep but tougher to nail it down and write it out.

One solution, start writing book two. If you run into the same problem, you know what to work on. If not, hey, you're writing a book...sort the rest out later.

Thank you! I think that'll be my next try.

Look at Star Wars, started with the 4th story

He only made the prequels because it meant more money ... it wasn't done on purpose.

The opening scene of A New Hope read "Episode IV"

the first book is always the hardest, so my advice is, forget the first book! start off with the main character in the middle of all the problems to grab the reader by the neck, only give a small little intro near the beginning, then through the story, flash the events that happened to him in the first book. its always hard to keep the reader interested if you start a book with the reader knowing everything. give him emptiness in the beginning and you can guarantee the reader never putting down your book! give the reader something that will bait him into the book then keep what he's looking for far far away. and then if the book turns great, make a prequel. that's the best way to write a book.
just start with them looking for the archaeologist and keep flashing back about how they met and why they are doing this! never be straightforward in a novel!!!

I'd do what others have suggested. If you've got the second or third book in your head all ready to go, there is no reason to feel like you should write the first one first. I've been there. Often times it makes the first book better and more fun to explain how the second and third book come to be because you've already written them. I know it sounds messy and unorganized to most but believe me when I tell you there isn't a think wrong with it.

And good luck!

It boils down to something simple and comprehensive: write the book that wants you to write it.