Recently, I was asked by a writer on how to complete the third installment in her series while the first installment was still undergoing editing. The concern was, what if the edits substantially alter books 2 and 3? Should she even pursue book 3, or should I wait?

I’ve had this dilemma in my own series (Medusa), as I will be possibly changing one important fact (shortening the time frame for the events in the book) in book 1 as I convert it from poetry to prose. Should I do this, it will actually sync up with what I had written in book 2. So, I have a later book that will influence the rewrite of book 1.

So, the question begs, do you stop all work and just focus on the book that you are editing or do you push on with the 3 book? In the other writer’s case, I told her it is better for her to finish the third book while the muse is still working, at least to lay down the framework for what needs to happen to wind down the series. At the moment, she cannot do anything to book 1 as it is with an editor.

In my own work, I have worked on both projects at once. Revising book 1, while also writing book 2. Why? Because I need to keep going to get to book 3. Yes, I know along the way, I will have to rewrite some sections in the portions already completed. However, sometimes it is best just to push through and edit later.

Anyone else run into this?  Personally, just finishing one book is an accomplishment, let alone trying to finish three 🙂

J.L.