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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20912
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **I would suggest working backwards following completion of book 1 after outlining book 2.**

This of course requires you to finish book 1 and make alterations before going into query mode (or self publishing).

Essentially, you write book 1 as is. After plotting book 2, plant in talismans, characters, prophesies, whatever, into book 1 as naturally as possible, as early in your book as possible.

And repeat.

Now when you wind up with an eight-book series, you might have to extemporize a bit. Call it the hybrid phase to discovery (I just learned this term from K) writing, and perhaps the best of both worlds?

Two other things to think about:

1) After the first book you'll have a much better scope of what you're trying to accomplish. You may be able to outline the rest of the series at that point. The process I mentioned above wouldn't change, but you would have a much better idea of what to implant.

2) If you're like most writers, including myself, the improvement you'll show in the first (few) books you write is significant. If this is your first full-length novel, you may just kick butt by the end compared to the beginning as a writer. You may decide to rewrite much of the beginning anyway.

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