Am happy to report that I am already ~5200+ words into An Empire Embattled and things are running smoothly. Its going smoothly simply because the end of book #1, An Empire Forgotten is still fresh in my head, so continuing some of the sub-plots started there is making the writing in the opening easy.
Today I began work on the main plot and made great progress on getting Archer and Hieronymus into the story. Basically, this is the first time where I try to weave together a synopsis of book #1 into the story for a new reader while simultaneously trying to interest them into reading book #2. All without boring to death those that have already read book #1. Goals are to introduce main characters, setup initial conflict while also catching new readers up on the backstory while not boring older readers.
I also have three sub-plots working together to both advance the story and provide a bit of relief from the main plot line. Again, its another fine line I have to learn to walk. Some people hate leaving the main plot while others revel in following multiple plots in an complex novel.
If the main story line is enthralling, then not getting information the hero doesn’t know is fine. However, a reader sometimes needs to know things the hero doesn’t in order to raise the suspense in the reader’s mind. When you have multiple plot lines running, there is always the chance that one of them won’t grab the reader and they’ll skip over those sections. I’m trying to avoid that by keeping the sub-plot sections short, keeping them limited (no more than 5 say), and making them as central to the main story as possible.
That’s the plan anyway. Wish me luck.
