Six Things I Learned Writing My Second Book
- Sara Lilienfeld
- 8 minutes ago
- 4 min read
In case you didn't know, I've been working on my second book. Death & Destiny in the Mountains, for over a year. I'm currently working on final edits, and I've selected the publication date, but it hasn't been announced yet.
When I was working on my debut, I talked about the mistakes and lessons I learned through each step of the process: drafting, revising, publishing, etc. This time around, I made fewer "rookie" mistakes, which is great. In fact, most of the lessons I learned working on this book weren't immediately apparent until reached this "almost done" stage.
Once Book 1 is Done, You Have to Let it Go
This might seem obvious, but it was a surprisingly difficult truth for me to face. Magic & Murder in the Holler was my "book baby" and it took some effort on my part to let it exist and move onto a new project. It was the book I spent years daydreaming about, and promising myself I'd publish "one day" and eventually, that day came and went.
On a less emotional level, this lesson struck me hard during the process of drafting Death & Destiny in the Mountains because there were details from the end of Book 1 that I wished I could've changed slightly to help in Book 2. I found a solution, but the idea that once a book is out, everything in it was set in stone was a tough one to wrap my head around.
Some Issues are Easier to Tackle Now
As the saying goes "you don't know what you don't know" and that applies to writing as much as it does anything else. Because of the lessons I learned while working on my first book, there were certain drafting issues I didn't run into this time around. I knew how to work through certain plot holes or contrivances that I ran into after the first draft. Because I knew my characters better at this stage, capturing their personalities in early versions was easier.
The Things You Still Need to Work on May Surprise You
Writing is a skill that you develop over years, and I don't think anyone ever truly reaches their "final form" where there's nothing left for them to learn or improve on. As I said earlier, I learned a lot about writing through working on my first book, and I knew Book 2 was going to give me a chance to learn newer, different lessons. I knew this book would help me develop my voice as an author, and challenge me when it came to pulling off some story decisions. However, some of those new lessons were more technical in nature than I expected. I found myself digging into things on the line level that surprised me.
Beta Reading is Easier the Second Time Around (In Some Ways)
For my first book, I found my beta readers mostly through social media. The group consisted of mutuals who liked the vibe/aesthetic of the posts I shared, and were willing to "take a chance" on a newbie author. Getting beta reader feedback on that book was a little nerve-wracking, because I didn't know if they'd like my writing style, let alone the story itself.
This time around, my beta readers came from my existing reader-base. I know they like my writing because they read Book 1 and liked it enough to be interested in Book 2. At the same time, there wasn't no anxiety on my part. Writing a sequel means readers have different expectations from the first book in a series. They want to see where the story goes next, and that's a different kind of pressure. Thankfully, my beta readers overall enjoyed Death & Destiny in the Mountains but the thought of "what if they find it disappointing?" stressed me out for a few weeks.
Sometimes, You Need to Post & Ghost
Hopefully, I'm not the first person to tell you that social media can be a wonderful thing, and it can turn into a nightmare. As an indie author, I have to be on social media to some extent to get word of my book out there. I love celebrating the "wins" of my fellow writers, but it's easy to fall into the comparison trap or get sucked into some debate or another that ruins your day/week.
While I was working on my second book, I spent less time on social media than the first time around, and I found myself in a much better headspace. I still posted about my writing and shared updates, but the pressure to post something, just to possibly be seen, wasn't there.
Breaks Are Important
When I was working on my latest book, it was the first time in several years that I took complete breaks from writing for a few weeks. In the past, I would finish Project A and jump right into Project B. This time around, I wanted to "go easy" on myself, both because my second book was harder for me emotionally, and because I didn't want to get burnt out on writing. I love writing and storytelling, but feeling the need to constantly be working on something, constantly producing, could've ruined that passion.
Breaks are vital, and you better believe I'll be taking more of them moving forward. Not long ones, but breaks nonetheless.
Until next time!
Magic & Murder in the Holler is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop and most other retailers. I'm also selling signed copies directly on my Ko-Fi shop.
Death & Destiny in the Mountains will be releasing in Fall 2026.