: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

Your hero does not have to achieve their goal, but (IMO) for a YA novel, they must achieve something of note. Luke Skywalker did not kill Vader (in the first movie) but destroyed the Death Star and defeated Vader's plan, this was a major setback and victory for the rebels.

Killing one antagonist in a vast government conspiracy does not seem to me a satisfying ending.

I also do not think (again, just my opinion) you should plan on a trilogy with this strategy, unless you are going to write all three books before you try to get published.

Publisher's won't commit to a book with a poor ending, with nothing but a hope you will write the sequels in a few years, so your poor first attempt will finally sell something.

If you are a new author, every book must sell on its own as a complete story. The publisher hopes you can take advantage of your fanbase (and expand it) with each new sequel for a decade. That is built-in cheap marketing and cheap profits for them.

I buy books on a whim all the time, probably thirty a year, and I'll try a new author if the first page reads well. I'd buy a trilogy. But I would not buy the first book of a trilogy from a new author, unless all three books were published.

I think something significant and life-changing must be accomplished by the hero, or I don't like the book, and wouldn't buy a sequel. If they do not win the war, they must win the battle at hand and kick the villain(s) in the metaphorical face. You didn't stop the mob like you wanted to, but you sure made an epic kill of the kingpin in your town. You didn't reform corruption in government, but Nixon was forced to resign in shame.

And your hero survives and their battle continues. That is the epilogue to the first book, and allows the next book, which your publisher will be happy to pick up if the first one sells.

Load Full (0)

: Read blogs by former runaways. They'll explain tricks they learned to survive, some of their experiences, what to avoid and the basics of day to day life. Showing off street smarts can be

@Odierno164

Load Full 0 Comments

: Farscape Translator Microbes. In the SyFy series Farscape, Translator Microbes infected everybody, including the human thrust into this alien universe. In the pilot episode, John Crichton pops

@Odierno164

Load Full 0 Comments

: How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction? A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was

@Odierno164

Load Full 7 Comments

: How do you tell a character's backstory without explicitly telling it? I want to tell a character's backstory, but I don't want that character to tell it directly to the protagonist, or to

: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

More posts by @Odierno164

: Read blogs by former runaways. They'll explain tricks they learned to survive, some of their experiences, what to avoid and the basics of day to day life. Showing off street smarts can be

: Farscape Translator Microbes. In the SyFy series Farscape, Translator Microbes infected everybody, including the human thrust into this alien universe. In the pilot episode, John Crichton pops

: How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction? A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was

: How do you tell a character's backstory without explicitly telling it? I want to tell a character's backstory, but I don't want that character to tell it directly to the protagonist, or to

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top

: Re: Does my protagonist *have* to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps

More posts by @Odierno164

: Read blogs by former runaways. They'll explain tricks they learned to survive, some of their experiences, what to avoid and the basics of day to day life. Showing off street smarts can be

: Farscape Translator Microbes. In the SyFy series Farscape, Translator Microbes infected everybody, including the human thrust into this alien universe. In the pilot episode, John Crichton pops

: How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction? A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was

: How do you tell a character's backstory without explicitly telling it? I want to tell a character's backstory, but I don't want that character to tell it directly to the protagonist, or to

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top

: Re: Does my protagonist have to succeed? I'm thinking about a YA dystopian novel and have planned it quite thoroughly. However, when I look back, the antagonists tend to always be a few steps