Plans change again

They aways change. I should never plan anything, because it never happens! 

Anyway, so remember I said I was writing on Ben's second book? Well, I was. Got into it, figured this fit more with the first book, continued writing... and ended it. Not where I'd planned on ending it, but where long before. So I was there with 13K words... and now it's become chapter ten to thirteen of More Than Friends. 

This means Ben's first book is done at 46K! \o/ 

As for the ending I had planned... I think I'll make that into a little holiday novelette. And change POV between two different characters, as important stuff happens to them on holiday. 

First though, now I'm done with MTF, I'm going to go through More Than Anything. Before I can start More Than Life, Glenn's book, I need to go through More Than Words. This because I need to get into Glenn's head, so I have to be clear on exactly how he acted through that book. 

Before I start writing this, however, I shall finish Wounded Souls. I've got edits for it, some new scenes I need to write, and I think I'm ready for it now. After that, time to rewrite Lost Souls to fit with the new canon of WS. I'm so ready to be done with those two books now. They've been WIPs since autumn 2014! I know, mental right? They're getting done now, no matter what! 

Oh! And also... I think I've changed my mind about the More series. See that cover there? Yeah, I think it's going to say MTA 4 instead. Because I'm also thinking about putting both of Leo's novella together into one novel, so that'll make MTA 3. Maybe the shorter side-stories will have the title of the novels they're from, instead. Such as No Right Words having MTW for a series title. Hmmm. Pondering this. I'll get back to this in a future post. 

Plans change

Two posts ago, I wrote that after Ben's book I'd start Glenn's. Well, I'm one little scene from ending Ben's book... and it doesn't end how I'd originally planned. There's months to go in the story until the original ending I had planned. 

Guess what that means? I have to write Ben's second book before Glenn's first. And then Ben's third book after Glenn (which was supposed to be his second!). 

The timeline's all muddled between the books by now, which is why the new books only end up as novellas instead of novels. I don't plan my books much, so a lot of things happen during them that has an impact on future events and characters, so I have to write in order. 

More Than Anything starts before all other books, and ends after all of them. More Than Words ends half a year before MTA. More Than Enough takes place after MTW, as does Not Close Enough. But both of these happen before the end of MTA. This is also the case with More Than Friends. It follows after NCE, but also ends before MTA. Glenn's book will start after the end of MTA, but I need stuff to happen to Ben before that. 

So he gets his second novella right after I finish the first. And Glenn, he's just got to wait a little bit more. 

I've got three novellas written now (well, almost. Just that one scene to go from Ben's POV to finish off the third!). I'm all out of cover models. What to do for the new novella featuring Ben? I haven't got another stock photo of the same guy, nor do I have one for Tarjei. Arrrgh. Got to think of something. 

That's a wrap

I finished More Than Enough today, and I think it ended in a nice, hopeful place. It's about twenty-nine and a half thousand words, so I'm rounding that number up to a neat 30K. It's 30K! Yay! 

Okay, so... It wasn't supposed to be that long. The entire book was set to become 40K in my mind, perhaps up to 60K, but that was maximum. So when only the first part turned 30K, I knew it would all be too long. 

So now it's been split. Book 1: More Than Enough, and now book 2: Not Close Enough. I've got a plan for the titles of this series. One word follows each couple. I wrote a short story to follow up on More Than Anything titled Anything For Him. The first part of More Than Words were released as a novella from Andreas' POV, titled No Right Words. So if you see a MTA book with Anything, Words, or Enough in the title, you know what couple's it's gonna be about. 

Today I've been thinking some more. See, I made the cover for Not Close Enough and the series title is More Than Anything. BUT I was thinking... What if it said More Than Enough instead? All books in this series that feature different couples are stand-alones, after all, but those following the same couple are not. So I was thinking perhaps label them as their own series, but they're still part of the main series. Just to separate the different couples. Maybe the first book should be labeled as part of the main series? 

Good idea? Yay? Nay? 

I'm pondering it. For now, I've just barely started in on Not Close Enough. I made a blurb, but the beginning doesn't quite match it yet. We'll get there. In a bit. I can't wait for what's to happen next. I have a general idea, but stuff always pops up. That's what's so fun about writing - you never know what's going to come along and mess up your plan and your idea for the book. 

What am I going to do?

I'm currently writing More Than Enough, MTA #3. I'm almost done with the first part, which only covers about two weeks in the story itself. The first part wasn't supposed to be 30K long, but it's getting close to that threshold now, and it's likely going to tip over it. 

That means that I still have another two or three parts to write, and if they end up just as long, the book's going to be huge. So what I've been mulling over the last two days is to simply release the first part as it is and then write the other parts afterwards. Perhaps publish them individually as well, if they end up as long as the first part. 

It is a nice place to end the book, while also setting up a sequel. It'll also help me economically, because I can't afford to edit a 100K novel all at once. Right now I can't afford more editing on the 60K novel that has only been through a first pass. So a shorter book is the right way to go economically, and as it makes sense to cut it after the first part, that can work out. 

But (there's always a but, isn't there?) there's the issue of the cover. I found the perfect model for Thomas. So what do I do then for the next cover? And the third one, if their story ends up being that long? That's my main concern about this, because the cover I have now is so perfect! I'm not sure what to do for the next covers. Perhaps find another model to portray Leo. 

So this is what I'm pondering. What am I to do? I really am leaning towards publishing the individual parts, but the cover's holding me back.