I’ve been away for the past five days, visiting family, and while I’ve been away, I’ve been doing a whole bunch of things I’ve never tried before. Things like off-roading in a 4x4, or flying for the first time. Some of these things I really enjoyed, and others, quite frankly, made me more than a little nervous. And it got me thinking about writing fear, how it can be portrayed realistically. And how a character’s fears can be used to flesh out their personalities and inform their actions. Today I wanted to share some of these musings.

Response to Fear

Fear of the unknown is a pretty common fear. A lot of us are afraid of doing things we’ve never tried before, or going places we’ve never been. But, while a lot of people have this fear, we all respond to it differently. Some people might meet it as a challenge, while others find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone, and still others cancel any plans that involve the unknown because they’re afraid. How does your character respond to things they are afraid of? Does it stop them from doing things, or do they prefer to meet their fear head on? Knowing this can really help writers understand how their characters work in less pleasant situations, and make them more unique.

Coping With Fear

While everyone is afraid of something, no one deals with fear in quite the same way as anyone else. And most people have a strategy for dealing with their fears. Your characters should too. Does your character deliberately put on a brave face to fool others? Are they the sort of person who prefers to distract themselves and ignore the fact that they're afraid? Maybe they always have two or three back-up plans to reassure themselves with. How a character copes with their fear says a lot about them.

Physical Symptoms

One of the best ways to show fear is to use physical responses. A character may feel overly hot, or feel really sick deep inside. They might develop a rapid headache from overthinking things. They might sweat a lot or find it hard to sit still because of nervous. We’ve all been afraid of something at some point, and we can identify strongly with a good physical response to fear because we know how it feels. Using one or two physical descriptions can give your fear more punch.

People Respond Differently In Similar Situations

Everyone is afraid of something different, and this means that people will react quite differently in the same situation. For example, I am afraid of things I have no experience with. One of my sisters is afraid of heights. Put us on a flight together, and we will both be scared, but we’ll act differently. I might be stressed during the security checks and boarding, but will then relax as the plane takes off. On the other hand, she might be fine right up until the plane starts moving when she is likely to freak out. Another person might not be afraid at all. Because we are afraid of different things, our responses to the same event are likely to be different. Keeping a character's fears in mind while writing can help you get a better grasp on how they would react differently to the same events.

Use Personal Experience

You might not be afraid of heights like your character is. Or maybe fear of the unknown doesn't make you freeze in panic. While you might not have experience in the same sort of fear as your characters, I can pretty much guarantee that you've been afraid of something at some point. And when you come down to it, our most basic responses to fear are pretty similar, even if the way we deal with that fear is different. Use your knowledge of it, and combine that with what you know about you character and their personality, and you can use your personal experience to create an experience of fear that readers will believe.

These are some of the thoughts I've had about how to writing fear. What advice would you add to this list? And tell me, what is your character afraid of? What scares YOU (if you dare to share)?

I’ve been writing for quite a long time. I’ve written 20-ish manuscripts, and I’ve even been to university to study writing. But that’s not to say that I’m particularly good at writing. In fact, for the amount of time I’ve been writing for, I have failed quite spectacularly more times than I would really care to admit to. Except that today I’m actually admitting to some of the mistakes I’ve made the most often (because how can you be quite sure that it’s a real mistake unless you’re tried it several times?). Maybe you can relate to some of these? (Please don’t let me be the only one…)

Refusing To Give Up On A Failed Idea

You know that idea that’s simply not working, no matter how many times you rewrite it, but you still can’t bear to let go because if you could just do it slightly different, just rewrite it one more time, it’s sure to work? Yeah, that’s me with most of my failed books. My first MS was like that. I must have tried rewriting it four or five different times before I finally managed to scrap it. And then there was the book about enhanced teens escaping from a world of virtual reality. That one got a good few goes round before I shelved it. To be completely honest, I do get the urge to go back to them sometimes, but for now they’ll stay gathering dust while I work on books I can actually write.

Dismissing Writing Advice Instantly

There’s so much writing advice out there. Obviously that particular piece can’t be meant for me. It sounds nice in theory, but there’s no way it’ll work if I tried it. Haha, poor silly naïve Imogen. I’ve done this far too many times. Most of the advice I dismiss comes from smart people too, who actually know what they’re talking about. Something I’m learning (very slowly) is that even when a piece of advice doesn’t work for you exactly, there’s usually something you can take away from it.

Shiny New Idea Chasing

This usually happens right when I’m in the depths of editing. I’ll be working away like the industrious little writer I’m supposed to be, and all of a sudden a shiny new idea will float by, NaNoWriMo gives me a look, or I get bored for two seconds and suddenly I’m drafting three more books and my editing pile is growing as deep as the Marianas Trench. I’m fighting this mistake at the moment actually. Oh that lovely Red Riding Hood retelling is beckoning SO hard for Camp. Must. Resist. Must. Edit…

Worrying More About Word Count Than Story

Honest talk. I hate seeing my word count shrink while I’m editing. Not that there’s any logical reason for this, but the moment a scene or two need the axe, I get all anxious, checking the book length and trying to figure out if I’m going to be able to make them up anywhere. It makes exactly no sense, but I do it every. Single. Time.

Judging My Books (And Myself) Against Other People’s

I try to present myself on this blog as a writer who knows what she’s doing at least most of the time. In actual fact, most of the time I’m reading other people’s excerpts and wondering how I can get mine to look as nice as theirs, bewailing the fact I can’t seem to get a draft good enough to give to beta readers and comforting myself with chocolate while wondering why I can’t have it all together like everyone else. I do of course realise that most people haven’t quite all got it together as we’d like people to believe, but that doesn’t always quite stop the comparisons.

So, now you know my terrible secrets. Please tell me I’m not the only one who makes mistakes like these. If you’re feeling brave, let me know one of your worst writing mistakes! Let’s be terrible (or just real) writers together. 

As writers, we’re constantly having to come up with ideas, brainstorm solutions, and think our way out of problems in highly creative ways. And if you blog as well, like many of us do, that’s an added creative outlet. Which is awesome. But sometimes it can be really, really exhausting. For most people, there eventually comes a time when the well runs dry and you struggle to come up with ideas or be excited about working on creative projects. At times like these, it can often be better to take a little break and recharge.

For me, my creative recharge is usually found in several ways. Firstly, if possible, I like to take a break from creative work. Or, if not a complete break, I try to take a little extra time out of my day to do something enjoyable and not particularly creative. Secondly, I read. Especially when I’m writing, I don’t read nearly enough, so taking the time to read and expose myself to other people’s work and ideas can be very refreshing. Thirdly, I talk to people. Not about problems or anything like that, but just talk in general, about their projects, what people are doing, the ideas they’re having, anything really. Being around creative people is amazingly contagious.

These are some of the ways that I like to recharge my creative batteries, which is a subject I’d love to talk more about in the future. But I’d love to hear from you. Do you ever feel burnt out creatively? If so, how do you recharge? If not, what’s your secret? How do you maintain the creativity in your life? Let’s discuss!

Sequels are awesome. A continuation of an awesome book or movie that allows you to spend more time with the character you love in a world you adore? Sign me up please! There’s something amazing about being able to really sink into a world through multiple instalments, getting to know the people, the places, and the struggles better. Well-written sequels compliment and extend the story built in the first book. But, on the flip side, badly written sequels can put readers off the entire series. Writing a great sequel is definitely not any easy to thing to do. You have to try and live up to the first book while making the second book engaging, familiar, and unique in its own right. Every book is different, but there are some things that you should definitely keep in mind while writing the next instalment. Here is a list of a few I’ve come up with:

Break-Ups Shouldn’t Be Added Just For Conflict

This is a trend I personally have seen too much of, and really don’t enjoy. You’ve just spent an entire book or even more watching these characters FINALLY get together, or grow as a couple. And all of a sudden that hard work and emotional attachment is rendered void by a sudden, unnecessary break-up between instalments. It feels almost like a betrayal. We loved this pair, and now you split them up just for a bit of tension? Having characters break-up can work if it’s set up right, building up to it gradually either throughout the course of the sequel, or in the book before. But starting your sequel with the characters having magically broken up just so you can add a bit of angst or conflict is lazy writing and can seriously annoy your readers.

Characters Progress, Not Regress

Throughout the first book, the characters should be growing and changing so that, at the end of the book, they’re to how they were at the beginning. Not perfect certainly, but having learned something and developed as a person. This means that, in the second book, these same characters should be starting as the people they were at the end of the previous book. They will need to face new challenges and learn new things over the course of the sequel. The reset button shouldn’t exist for their personalities. Having a character learn to put other people before themselves, and then coming into book two and finding they’re a selfish little so-and-so again is frustrating for readers.

Major Changes Should Feel Natural

Having read the previous book/s, readers feel like they have a pretty good handle on the world and the characters. So springing a surprise on them like a character suddenly switching sides, a large personality change, or a switch in focus from one major problem to another, has to feel natural for readers to accept it. This doesn’t mean that you have to signpost it overtly, but the changes do need to be foreshadowed carefully, either in the previous book, if you plan your series in advance, or throughout the course of the sequel, so that when the reveal happens, readers can see that this isn’t spur of the moment, but actually makes sense.

The Sequel Should Contain A Full Story

A sequel is, of course, a continuation in some form, of the story that you presented in the first book. However, just like the first book needs to have a complete story that has a climax and a resolution, so too does your sequel. Readers have to be able to finish the book feeling satisfied that what you gave them was a story in its own right, as well as being part of a series. Every book in the series needs to have a point, a story to tell, rather than just being there as filler, its only purpose to get you on to the cool action in book three.

Continuity is Key

Readers are smart people and they remember a whole lot more details than even the writer does sometimes. So they’re going to notice if you suddenly change a part of a character’s backstory, rewrite events that happened in a previous book, or if you start adding elements that make sense in the world you presented previously. A good sequel continues the storyline and world seamlessly.

These are just a few of the elements that stand out to me as things writers should consider when writing a sequel. There are certainly plenty of other helpful things to think about. These blog posts and articles have a bunch of helpful advice if you’re looking for more:

Go Teen Writers: How To Write A Sequel

Screencraft: The Ten Commandments Of Writing A Great Sequel

Helping Writers Become Authors: How To Write A Sequel That’sBETTER Than The First Book

Looking for more in the series? Check out some of the other posts HERE.

What other elements do you think go into making a great sequel? What are some sequels you think are really well written (books or movies)? Have you ever written a sequel? Are you planning to write one in the future? Do you enjoy series, or are you more of a stand-alone book kind of person?