I Wrote a Series I Probably Won’t Publish

I Wrote a Series I Probably Won’t Publish

Over the last two years in my free time, I wrote a series I probably won’t publish. Sometime in February or March of 2023, I woke up from a dream about being kidnapped. It wasn’t a scary dream (and it wasn’t a 365 Days dream either. I knew what you were thinking.) Despite being kidnapped, I was calm and level headed. I knew that I was going to be rescued by the strongest and most capable group of people in the world. Superheroes and action film stars.

Go ahead and laugh. When I tell you this turned into one of the most fun stories I’ve ever written, I think you’ll agree. Or…you would…

The problem is, I don’t think I’m going to be publishing this series. It’s now two books with a third planned. The nature of the story means that I incorporated characters that aren’t mine. And I’ve written in people who technically exist in real life. In order to publish it, I’ll have to do some extensive editing and recreate some of the characters.

That said, the main characters are all mine. It’s a mixture of gods, demigods, action stars, heroes, and villains. Some of them are morally grey. Some of them adhere to a strict set of rules and some try to but fail miserably. That would be our main character, Cera.

To be able to publish this piece of unrefined gold, I’m not entirely sure what I can get away with and what I can’t. So I’ll have to do some research before it can see the light of day. It’s also going to need some extensive editing. I wrote it pretty fast. The last 10,000 words I wrote in a day because I wanted to get the book written in one month. Of course, there were days during that month that I just didn’t write at all. That put me behind and forced me to catch up on the last day of the month. Still, the story ended up being just about what I wanted it to be, with an extra sub-plot that I didn’t expect, but that I love. It rounds out the characters and gives them something to fight and hope for.

I wrote this book without an outline, which I rarely do anymore. This only really works when I have a sense of where I want the story to start and where I want it to end up. There was very little idea of how I was going to get there in the middle, hence the side plot.

I do have at least one more book planned for this series with a spinoff also swimming around in my head. I’m hoping to get to write the next book soon, but there’s a lot going on right now, so we’ll see. lol

If there’s anything I want to leave you with today, it’s don’t be afraid to start, even if you’re not sure how you’re going to get to your end goal. As long as you start, you have a chance of finishing. If you never start, you’ve failed before you even began. An extensive outlining process like mine isn’t necessary.

Sometimes, spontaneity works just as well or better than a plan. Not having a plan is scary. Some people just can’t function without one, and that’s okay. Just don’t let it keep you from doing what you need to do. Don’t let it stop you from creating the things you love and sharing them with the world. I wrote a book I can’t publish because it made me happy, and it felt good. It was the first full book I’ve written from start to finish in two or three years and it just felt good to be writing again. If nothing else happens, I wrote a book and proved to myself that I still can.

So, don’t be afraid to start, even if you’re not sure how or where you’ll finish.