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Advice For Writers Starting Their Second Book

By on September 25, 2020

Writing a book is one thing, but starting a second book can feel even more daunting, overwhelming, and impossible. However, statistics show that writers who keep writing suggest otherwise. In fact, those who produce their second and third novels are more likely to become successful than those who give up after their first one.

If you are lucky, talented, and hardworking enough to land a publishing deal you may well find that they sign you up to write another one straight away. This can be amazing, but of course, puts pressure on you to keep coming up with good ideas. You must also then have the follow-through to see them out. 

So what are some useful pieces of advice to take onboard when embarking on writing a second book? Let’s take a look.

Writing a second book? Our top tips are revealed!

You may need to work on more than one novel at once

If you have published your first book, you’ll know the things you need to do to keep those sales coming in. Continually marketing your novel and keeping in touch with your fans is one thing. Writing blogs and updating your website, and posting on social media sites is another. These tasks are all part and parcel of being a successful author. But you need to make time to plan and write your second novel too. This is where to need to get good at multitasking. You must find the ability to switch between projects. Find a way to ensure you are still nurturing your finished book while simultaneously creating your new one. 

You’ll need to be comfortable with pressure and able to turn down the ‘noise’

Of course, you’ll want your first novel to be a success. But the pressure you can feel to make it so can become a hefty burden to bear. One which saps your creativity and plays havoc with your motivation. If your publisher has contacted you to write a second book there will be deadlines. You need to handle the pressure. You might worry that your second novel won’t measure up. It's possible you might feel like you aren’t dedicating enough time to your first. Your head could be so full of questions and what if’s and criticisms and worries that you end up becoming massively unprotecting and paralyzed in fear of doing the wrong thing. To handle the pressure of writing a second book you need to get comfortable with it. Learn to thrive on it, and also to learn how to switch off those inner critiques and outer demands and just focus on getting the job done. Tuning it all out can be difficult. However, with practice, you can learn how to do this and will become a much more prolific and productive writer because of it. 

You’ll need to become mega disciplined

If you thought writing your first novel required discipline get ready to ramp it up even more. Being organized, working out schedules, and aggressively protecting your writing time is so important if you want to complete a second book. Sometimes it might feel pretty miserable, other times you might feel powerful and on top of your game. Either way, you do need to try and carve out as much time as possible and make sure you are putting your writing as your top priority if you want to do well. 

You need to believe in yourself

Writers often struggle with self-doubt, and you may have thought once you completed your first book that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the case and you might have to dig even deeper to find the strength, resilience, and faith that you can complete the goals you have set for yourself. You’ve got to believe in yourself. If you won’t, who will? Once you have this core of confidence, it will radiate from you, leave you feeling positive, excited, and ready to achieve anything.

These tips are essential to follow to succeed in writing a second book. So absorb them, remember them, hold them in your heart - and then nothing can stop you!

So now you know more about how to tackle writing your second book, why not learn about lessons learned from writing a second book?

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bethany cadman
Bethany Cadman - bethanycadmancreates.com

About Beth Cadman