My problem is like this. I have an ambitious idea to create a universe containing 5 titles. Each of them has its own uniqueness, but it has something to do with the others. Then, seven months ago I started writing the first novel of my universe, but for some reason, I couldn't continue it.

Therefore, I wrote a replacement, one of the 4 titles in the plan. And now, I chose the fourth title, it has a very different world from the first 3, but really affects the last one. Here I am confused, do I still have to continue this fourth title, or not? Because I want to build readers' feelings on the most important characters, and if this is the case, just as the reader has gotten spoilers of the previous series, and leads to less emotion? In simple terms, I'll write in the 4-1-2-3-5 sequence.

I can drop my current novel (4th), then start writing the second one from scratch, I choose the second one because it has nothing to do with the first. To explain, the first three are similar to WDQK, BTTH, and TGR trilogy, then the rest is a whole new world with a completely different focus. So, there are two classifications in the universe in chronological order, the fourth and fifth being after the first three. Thus, is writing the timeline in order the right thing to do?

I'm so confused, please give some of your advices.

    I say... if these are all part of the main storyline, it would be best from the beginning? It usually is for world-building. For a story like this, that would be more relevant than normal. There is world building for all novels but not all of them touches more than one world.

    You have to pick on how the readers can be immerse in this universe without being confused. So if it's 4-1-2-3-5 and 4 & 5 are in a different world from 1-2-3 then, the readers might forget what happened in the first book they read. There's a span of 3 books in between. They might need to go back and read the first one (book 4) to recall the knowledge from it that wasn't touched in 1-2-3 before they get into book 5.

    I don't know your storyline so I don't know how all of these books connect. Are they all the same characters? Not? When you say 4-5 is a new world, does it sound more like a spin-off but important.?

    General Question: Where to start?

    From what I've learned, one way to start a story (and the one usually advised) is to begin on when things changed for the protagonist/s. This is suggested because it makes the story engaging right away. I'm not saying it should be the first chapter--though it can be--but have it in the first 10? It's up to you because it depends entirely on the story.

    I wouldn't say that starting in the middle and in the process 'giving spoilers' to the readers about the previous novels necessarily mean there would be less emotion. Take a normal human for instance, you met the person today but you don't exactly get to know that person's full backstory from just conversations. You could get close but nah. If it's interesting to you, you'd want to know the exact details and maybe photos or videos. Anything possible to let you know more about it.

    Also, another example, we know World Wars happened. Not everyone is an avid researcher on the subject but what happened after? There's countless written materials, documentaries, photos and even recreation of it in films or novels. Even when people knew the events, there's always something there to know more about. Maybe put themselves in the shoes of this person and see the war through their eyes at the moment it happened. It's still a different experience and adds something to the audience.

    In conclusion, it could make the readers more curious depending on how much you reveal. The same way as how much impact would those 'previous' unpublished books have when they read it. The key is balance. Never reveal too much if you'd elaborate later. Even one chapter for a whole flashback is actually welcomed to readers. They love to know as much as they can.

    I'm not sure if I covered everything but this is getting long and there much better writers here than can help you more on this matter. I also tend to talk too much so I'll stop now.

    Good luck!

      Hmm, I can understand your worry and confusion, but I would say, begin from the start.
      If you have planned the books to be 1-2-3-4-5 then I would, personally, write book 1 first, followed by book 2, and so on.

      I understand that you might have hit a writer's block on book 1, but just hiding it won't help just replacing it with something else. You will have to write book 1 at some point, right? So why not focus on trying to get it as you want. Read it, rewrite it, and when you feel that you need something different, reward yourself with writing a bit on one of the other series, before you return to writing book 1.

      I personally have a book "Universe" with 6 series, the Stargazer Universe, where each novel has a different genre.
      Five of these six books are ongoing at the same time, while the sixth follows up after the first five are complete.

      How do yours merge together? How are they connected? I am not sure what your thoughts are, but my universe is connected like this:

      Once upon a time there was a race called the Stargazers. They were the leading race within the universe, but as time went by they became fewer and fewer and was about to be extinct. They turned to the Primeval Chaos and asked to be saved. What the Primeval Chaos did was to take the surviving 3000 people and change them into a "system" called the Primeval Chaos System, which then got spread over the entire universe.

      Their aim is to find a host (female) and help this host to reach the apex of the universe. When the system reaches level 100, they will be able to impart the heritage / legacy of the Stargazer's race into the Host's child.

      the children of the hosts will inherit the stargazer's legacy and thus they will never die out.

      The sixth book in the series is about a stargazer who survive, and how she, alongside the 5 children of the MC's in the previous 5 books, recreate the Stargazer's Race

      My series are completely different genres, but they are in the same universe, and they all are needed for the final book to work out as I had planned.

      1st book - Primeval Chaos System (Classic Eastern Fantasy)
      2nd book - Birth of the Stargazer (Modern Cultivation)
      3rd book - Havoc (Zombie Apocalypse)
      4th book - Ascendant (Sci-Fi Fantasy)
      5th book - Rampant Truth (Dystopian virtual reality)
      6th book - Everyone meets up and the universe turns to chaos.

      As such, my suggestion to you would be to sit down and take your time to think your story through. Consider how they are connected. Start from the beginning, and slowly move forward.

      Making a book universe with many series in the same universe is often very challenging, but it is also very exciting. I have done it before, and are doing it again, and I really like the feeling of characters from one series appearing in another. I also think that it makes worldbuilding much more interesting, because you can expand it over many series, and show different living standards in the same universe.

      Anyway, this is just my thoughts. I hope it can help you!
      Good luck with your project!

      CailinMatthews

      I'm having this confusion because I literally can not write the first one here (I don't want to go into this point). So naturally I switched to something else. And my universe is like this:

      There are two universes, which fight against the demon universe (quite generic but its content is anti-mainstream). The MC of the first book came from the lower plane, and this book tells of his journey and his destiny that changed the world. The second book is broadly the same, except that the MC was born in a different universe. Then the third is about someone who unites these two universes in one flag to fight.

      The war ended, and billions of years passed. The post-war world was "dead", there were no more strong cultivators. Hence, the first book MC revived this world with his power. This is where the fourth book begins, about mortals who struggles to live in a world that belongs to cultivators. The fourth book is the climax of the universe, the turning point and the beginning to the end of the story. Since this is the climax, I consider it the best novel I can make.

      And the fifth is the epilogue, the first book's MC final journey, to carry on the legacy of other characters.

      To be honest, I experienced all of this because I couldn't move on from the first book. The fourth book may be a masterpiece, but I feel no love for it, not even with the second and third books. I didn't feel like I was at my best, and my soul as a writer felt less conveyed. I can't write anything if like this, even just 2000 words is hard.

      It's not as simple as I have to write the second one, I can write it easily, but so that I don't lose my direction and confidence. Whichever book I'm going to write later, I don't want the shadow of the first book to haunt.

      Thanks for your words, I will take hiatus to find my own way.

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