Young Writers Society

Hello! I just joined a little bit ago.

So, I have a few questions. Hope this is the right place to post this.

Quick background: I've been working on an original fantasy novel, the first book in a trilogy, since 2005, and it's VERY close to being done. I have a chapter to finish, and then...well, it depends. Either this chapter that I finish could be the very last chapter, or I could write an epilogue. If I write an epilogue, it would involve the main character being an older woman, all ready married to her fianc'e (I'd probably skip the wedding scene- not quite sure about this yet). The story is told in first person as a sort of memoir, and my plan is to have the journal the MC is writing in be the one that her fianc'e gives her in the story, so I would probably indicate this somewhere in the epilogue, or maybe in the last chapter.

-Should I go with the idea of having it end with the MC as an older woman, perhaps pregnant with her first child, in the epilogue?

-Would readers be confused if I only told them that the MC and her fianc'e are married at the end and didn't actually have a scene with a wedding?

-What's the "classic" way to go when it comes to narrators of a trilogy and the first book is told in first person? Or even if it's not in first person. Do authors tend to have the second book be about the first narrator's daughter, and then their granddaughter in the third, or do they go another route? I've only read one trilogy where it's been one character, then their daughter in the next book, and then the first character's umm...technically it's her half-brother's daughter, so her niece. (It was The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier, in case anyone's read it before- very good trilogy!)

-Another question concerning book two. Would it possibly confuse readers if I have the prologue of book two be from the view point of the MC from book one, but not have the MC of book two in it? My idea (and only idea for book two at the moment) is to have the MC from book one be at a council meeting, and be rather bored by the debates that are going on. This wouldn't have anything to do directly with the MC of book two, though. I think that this scene would probably take place at the same time as the first scene/chapter/whatever ends up happening in book two. Alternatively I could have this scene be from the MC of book one's view and then go to a new scene and have that one be from the MC of book two's view. But what this would mean is changing it from third person to first person. o_O

-If book one is written in first person, should books two and three also be in first person since it's part of a trilogy?

I think that's it. -Hopefully- I didn't confuse anyone. ^_^ Thanks to anyone who helps answer these questions in advance!

Questions 1 and 2: I like the idea of the story being a journal of sorts, and I doubt your readers would be confused as long as you clearly specified that the epilogue took place sometime later and what happened in the time gap.

Question 3: The most common way concerning the MC in a trilogy is to use the same person, but I like the idea of having each book about a different family member.

Question 4: Okay, i'm a tad bit confused here, but the idea sounds interesting and could work if done correctly.

Question 5: I'd say yes, because as you said, it is a trilogy, and switching from fist to third person or vice versa would be confusing.

I hope that helped, and good luck with finishing your story.

Yes, this does help. And your answer to number...5 actually answers question number 4, I think. Basically I was just asking about having the prologue of book number two be written from a different character's view that isn't the narrator, and having the rest of the book be about the narrator, written in first person. So basically, like this:

Prologue- written in 3rd person, from another character's point of view
Rest of book- written in 1st person, written from narrator's point of view

Does that make any sense? Would it confuse the readers if I did it like that?

I know that the Redwall books often end with a character's memoir or personal comments, or with a scene showing the narrator (or scribe) writing down the events of the story and so on.

Usually, though, you don't have an epilogue until the last book of a series that all goes together. (Like ... Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix wouldn't have an epilogue because it's followed immediatly by the next book.) So i guess it depends on how tightly connected your books are: do they follow one big story arc, like Lord of the Rings*, or are they seperate, but related, stories within the same 'verse, like Redwall?

(Slightly off topic, but to get the é in fiancé, just hold down [alt] and hit [1][3][0] on your number pad if you're using a PC. I dunno how to do it on a Mac, but I'm sure there's a way.)

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*I know, I know, technically only one book, &c.

Umm...well, I think the only way these three books might be connected is through the characters- because of being related- and...I guess that's it. I have NO plans for book three, so I have no clue what's going to happen in it. It'll depend on what happens in book two. o.o

Hmm. So generally having an epilogue is only done when it's the only book or last book in a series or trilogy...so that means I might have to expand the last chapter a bit more so that I don't have the epilogue. But the only weird thing about that is that the last scene is meant to be with the MC being shown writing her story in her journal and it's supposed to be like...a good number of years down the road, so I'm not sure how it would work without doing an epilogue.

I think the answer to your question is, basically, that they're like the Redwall books you mentioned, where they're in the same universe/on the same planet, etc and they're separate, but related.

(I'm on a mac, so I can't do that. Or at least, I was when I made the post. XD I do have a PC laptop, though, where I could do that. Thanks for telling me how to. ^_^)

Wikipedia wrote:On a Macintosh, an acute accent is placed on a vowel by pressing Option-e and then the vowel, which can also be capitalised; for example, á is formed by pressing Option-e and then 'a', and Á is formed by pressing Option-e and then Shift-a.

I knew there was a way to do it on a Mac. (We use them at school for graphic design.)