Planning the Sequel to My First Book

If you read the blog frequently, you would know that I've recently finished my rough draft of my very first novel. Currently, it's on the third pass of editing. I've gotten feedback from one of my writing professors at school, whom I requested cold-read the story and provide me notes about my concept and to see if it is something that has potential. From what I skimmed over in her reaction, she informed me that she enjoyed reading the story I developed, but I have yet to go into depth about the rest of her notes on the story itself. 

And recently, an idea hit me for a sequel to this very novel. My goal currently is for two more books to follow this first novel and make it a trilogy. Though the true challenge behind it will be making sure my pacing is consistent, that the story itself will be interesting and grab a reader's attention just as much as the first does. My biggest criticism with writers like Rick Riordan is the lack of consistency with pacing. I found on Brainy Quote that Riordan has attested he struggles the most with writing the second book in the series, and when you read his series The Heroes of Olympus, and even The Trials of Apollo, it really shows. 

The pacing for The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy was so horrible, that I actually gave up finishing it entirely and I moved onto The Burning Maze, and the pacing for The Tyrant's Tomb is just as bad, if not worse, than The Dark Prophecy, leaving the story feeling uninteresting. 

Even Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead has pacing that just isn't as good as the other two that came before it. At least now, I know what to avoid, I know not to make the same mistakes, and I know that if I want to keep my readers invested, I need to make sure that my pacing to the story and the details to the plot make the book pleasing and interesting to my audience. 

And for a while, I did struggle with mapping out the sequel. I thought, "Okay, what is going to make this story different from the first? How is it going to continue things and act as that bridge between books one and two? What can I do that will further build up this world that I created?" 

Ironically, after reading Stephenie Meyer's novel Breaking Dawn, and seeing how Meyer built up backstories for so many different characters, how she added depth to the world of Twilight by bringing in so many different vampires from all over the world, it hit me with sudden inspiration, and in the words of Chris Colfer, once you get that really good idea, you need to write it down, because it hits you and leaves you, it's a lot like lightning. And he was right. Once the idea came to me, there was no way I could just let it leave. 

Now, it's a matter of planning, all the while editing my first novel. I'm hoping by December, it'll be ready enough to send to a literary agency, and I will know whether or not it will sell.