When I first started writing novel-length fiction, my main focus was writing standalone books; however, when I began rewriting The Crush and realized I had more ideas for Emery than I could fit into one book, I decided to branch out and try to write my first trilogy. This week, I’d like to go over the top three lessons I’ve learned while writing all three books in The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy.

Lesson One: Make Every Book Count

One of the greatest fears I had when I decided to break Emery’s journey down into three books was that I wouldn’t have enough ideas or content to make every book count. How did this fear come about? By reading reviews of other trilogies and series.

A common complaint from readers when reading reviews of other trilogies or series is that the second, third, or insert-number-here book added nothing to the story, or it felt like a filler book. So, while writing The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy, my main goal was to write unique books that stand on their own, while still weaving an overarching character arc for Emery and the other characters over the course of all three books.

How Can We Avoid Writing Filler Books?

From what I’ve read in book reviews, the second book in a series is often referred to as the filler book, because its only purpose–from the reader’s perspective–was solely to fill the blanks between book one, the beginning, and book three, the ending (if it’s a trilogy). And essentially, if we break down a trilogy’s overarching story into the three act story structure, the second book would basically make up the Fun and Games portion of the series, which is the middle section of the story. The middle section of a single book is often referred to as filler information sometimes, because it’s often just the characters going along on their journey. So how can we make what is often perceived as filler material matter?

The second book in a trilogy should still be treated as a whole and unique story on its own, and as such, it should encapsulate the same three-act story structure method, as well as the character’s goal, misbelief, and fears. Yes, the characters may have achieved their goal from book one, so that same goal can’t be used… but don’t we as humans experience our goals changing overtime? Don’t we continue to strive for more? Yes! So level up your character’s goals, misbeliefs, and fears. Intensify them as they soldier forward. Test what they learned in book one so book two won’t be seen as a repeat or a bridge.

Lesson Two: Some Books in a Trilogy are Easier to Write Than Others

The difficulty level for writing each book in The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy ranks as follows, with 1 being the most difficult:

1. The Dream (Book 3)
2. The Crush (Book 1)
3. The Fall (Book 2)

Editing-wise, the difficulty level for each book ranks in this way:

1. The Fall (Book 2)
2. The Crush (Book 1)
3. The Dream (Book 3)

As you can see, only The Crush, book one, remained consistent in its ranking in terms of both writing and editing. This was due to the fact that, when writing The Crush as it reads today, I was taking some ideas from a previous version of the book that I ended up changing drastically. Editing, then, was also tricky, because I had to determine which scenes from the original version needed to be cut out of The Crush‘s final draft.

The Fall was a breeze to write. It’s still my fastest-drafted novel to date, taking around 7 months from start to finish. The thing is, though, I had to add 20k words during edits to make it read like a complete story, so it ended up being the worst book out of the three to edit.

The Dream, however, was a nightmare to write. By the third book, if books one and two have been released, you’ll have reader expectations in mind that you want to fulfill. While you can’t please everyone, this can still take a toll on your writing progress, and it hindered my writing while drafting The Dream. I was also wary about drafting the book too quickly–like I felt I did with The Fall–so when I noticed the beginning of the book could use some work, I went back and added several scenes that had not been on the original outline to better bridge the end of The Fall to the beginning of The Dream. Doing the heavy lifting while in the writing stages has saved me some headache during edits though, so editing The Dream hasn’t been anywhere as difficult as editing the first two books.

Long story short… just because all three books are related, don’t expect your writing or editing journeys to be exactly the same with each book in a trilogy or series, or even with each standalone book you write. Writers experience unique journeys with each book we write, and that’s perfectly normal! Nothing is wrong with you just because you feel like other books progressed faster than the one you’re working on now.

Lesson Three: Give Yourself Grace When You Move on to Future Projects

The last lesson has been the most difficult for me to learn since I finished writing the trilogy at the end of 2021. The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy’s characters had been my main focus since I first picked The Crush back up in 2018 or 2019, so I spent around four or five years bonding with the characters. And because of that, it took me forever and a day to 1) craft the characters and 2) learn to love the characters in my current work-in-progress, On the Flip Side.

I missed Emery and her friends like CRAZY when I started writing this completely new and unrelated story. Part of me wondered if I should just try to write a 4th book for Emery, but I knew deep down a fourth book was not needed (see Lesson One) and that God was leading me to write this other story that has been on my heart for ages. It just takes a lot of time to transition between a trilogy to a standalone, so I had to learn to give myself grace when it came to writing new characters. They’re not the darlings I’d been bonding with for years, but as I spent more time crafting them, I realized they’re still my darlings too, albeit in a different way. My journey with them is different than my journey with Emery, but I love their story just as much.

So writers, if you’re thinking about penning a trilogy, please keep these three lessons in mind, and know you’re not alone if you’re experiencing any of these issues. Keep writing, my friend. You’ve got this. ❤

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’ve written a trilogy, or even a longer series, what lessons did you learn along the way? Drop your knowledge in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀