The End of a Series: The Art (or Disaster) of Letting Go and Embracing the Next
By Yasmin Angoe | May 30, 2023 |
When I turned in the final proofs for the last book of my Nena Knight series, IT ENDS WITH KNIGHT, the deep sense of foreboding I’d been feeling while writing it became a paralyzing fear and self-doubt. My mind betrayed me, suddenly devoid of the multitude of ideas, snatches of dialogue, and hellos from new voices that incessantly flittered throughout. Gone was the stability of the series I’d been writing for the last four years. Gone was the security of having characters I knew inside and out, whom I’d cultivated and nourished like I do Delphine, my rubber tree plant that flourishes in my house.
I had no idea what I should be next. The nothingness took root deep within me and refused to let go. I wondered if I was capable of writing something else. Another series? A standalone? Could it be different than Nena Knight and still meet expectations? Or would this be the moment when everyone decided I didn’t have what it took.
Maybe this would mark the beginning of the end of my writing…
This may sound silly, but I was mourning the end of my series. Think about it. A series can feel like family. It is a thing born from your imagination. The characters, even the antagonists, are your most intimate partners because they speak to you constantly, telling you their story. You have security in knowing this world inside and out. You know the audience you’re writing for. You know what the expectations are for your series and how best to meet them to make almost everyone happy. There are no major surprises for you. Your series is your comfort food and your safe space.
When I wrote ‘The End’ on the final book of Nena Knight, it felt like I’d lost a family member and a rug was swept from under my feet. I was devastated because the world that I had played in for years was gone. I asked myself, “So now what?”, doubting if and how I would create the same kind of magic I had with my last books. Did I even have it in me to do this again, to start something new.
When I hit my lowest point, I had to ask what I wanted. I had to take a step back and take a beat…several beats to be honest. I had to ask my editors for a little more time to turn in work so I could refill my depleted creative well and deal with the grief I was experiencing. I came to a few realizations:
- This world and the people in it isn’t ending. It lives on, forever preserved by the words I wrote.
- The end of a series isn’t the end of my writing or my talent, it is merely making space for me to tell more stories.
- If I want to make this career as I’ve always dreamed, I need to pull myself up by the bootstraps and move on to the next.
- I am not the only writer who has these fears and struggles. Talk to others.
- Writers must write and if I’m gonna be a writer, then I’d better get writing.
- And lastly, let go of the last and embrace the next.
There will always be the pressure that many writers face to produce, produce, produce high concept, out-of-the-box, fresh, twisty stories that will blow the industry wide open. But that pressure doesn’t just come from the publishing industry. It comes from us as well, the writers, which is the most harmful.
I often say we should allow ourselves grace. But I didn’t do that for myself. And my self-immolation, always tearing myself down, took its toll and did the exact opposite of what I’d being trying so desperately to do–start the next book. But once I finally came to those realizations, once I finally let go of what I was losing and embraced all I’d be able to do now, all the clutter in my head began to fall away and I began to enjoy creating stories again.
To be a writer is to be courageous. We expose our innermost thoughts, fears, joys, and wonderings to strangers. We allow everyone in and lay ourselves bare, opening ourselves up to judgement. I do it because I love it, and I see myself doing nothing else. And so, despite how much it pains me to end a series I cherished, I have to let it go, pick up my proverbial pen, and embrace what comes next.
Have you ever experienced book grief? What have you done to honor the process of completing a work, whether a series or not? Let’s talk about the weight of The End, and how best to move on to the next page.
Yasmin Angoe is a first-generation Ghanaian American and debut author of Her Name is Knight. In 2020, she received the Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color and is a proud member of SinC, Crime Writers of Color, and, Southeast Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.
Yasmin was a middle and high school English teacher and currently works as a developmental editor and sensitivity reader in South Carolina. When not writing or editing, she is watching movies, engrossed in a new audiobook, or daydreaming about the fact she probably should be writing.
Thank you so much for this timely post! The final book in my Hopeful Heart Series was published in April and I have struggled with what comes next. I have asked the same questions and entertained the same doubts. It’s good to know I’m not alone at this juncture of my writing journey. I appreciate your insights and will keep them close at hand. I have taken some time off to fill my creative well and in doing so, my brain is percolating with new ideas that are giving me the writing itch again. I don’t know when I’ll start putting these ideas to paper, but when the time is right I’m sure I’ll know it. Thank you!!
Congratulations at your success in finishing the series. My sympathies – and thanks for the warnings!
I’m writing a mainstream trilogy as a SPA. The first book took me fifteen years – and a lot of learning; the second, seven; and I’m just getting into the meat of the third (hoping it will take fewer years).
The end of the first two books was each a ‘little death’ – and as I tried to market, a lot less fun than writing. It took months to organize the second book, and it’s taking me a long time to do the same for the third. There’s the whole sense of being disconnected when what you’ve worked on, hard, for a long time, is done.
I have no idea what it will feel like when LIMBO is actually finished and published. I have plans for some short stories in the trilogy’s ‘future.’ I don’t know what I will do after something which has consumed so many years of my life.
Books are a bit like kids: you want them to grow up and leave the nest, and it changes everything when they do.
Ask again in ten years! And it may depend heavily on how successful I am at finding my audience; so far has been rather slow, as I can either write or market due to illness, and the writing has consumed all my discretionary energy.
Yasmin:
Your post brought back memories of “book grief” — not as a writer, but as a reader. When I was a child, I mourned the “passing” of my favorite characters when I finished a book. I impatiently awaited my next visit to the library to get the next in the series. Something to inspire the writer in my as well. Thanks!
I understand your sorrow at the end of a long and complicated reality that you might not ever visit again. But on the other hand, you are now free to go wherever you want on the page without being held back by the demands and needs of Nena or other characters, or by the expectations of loyal readers. I am knee-deep in the finale of a fantasy trilogy, and I am having a difficult time coming up with surprises and plot lines that lead to an ending. Imagine trying to hammer together another adventure of Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver, for example. It’s a great story, but even fans of the original would say, “Really?”
Yasmin, what a heartfelt post on letting go of our favorite characters. Thank you. And Congratulations!!! I’m not sure I’ve allowed myself this kind of grief–my story people have taken up permanent residence in my head :) But letting go of the day-to-day immersion into that story world means I have space for new stories to breathe and I do love the exploratory phase, all the possibilities. Right now I’m playing with a new idea–a fantasy–and I never thought I’d write one. FUN!
I’m at the end of 6 books for my Fudge Shop Mystery Series. I have an idea for a 7th book, but I feel uneasy, not sure, I know I can write it fast, but do I really want to? I don’t know. These series always seem to come in sets of threes. If I write that next one, I worry it will seem like an after-thought. So I’m letting go of that book for now and working on a new series, plus stretching my skills by trying to write pictures books for kids. I’m also giving back to the industry by being a judge in some book contests, which allows me to learn and stretch perhaps in other ways. Thanks for your post. It hit me at the right time. Best wishes to you!
I am not a writer, but I am an avid reader. I read everyday while my laundry, cleaning and cooking sits in the same place. I have read like this since 1st grade when I learned to read. I have books that I have and will grieve the end of a series or of characters. It always makes me sad when those books end. The same as with Nena. I was just beginning to care so much about her new group and her new found acceptance of her self. I have read many books that are good through the book but then the ending is thrown in like they needed to get it into publishing and didn’t have the time to come up with a new ending. So dissapointing. If you are a great author readers will wait years for your books. One such author is Jean M(?) Auel. (Not sure ofspelling) . I read the first book Clan of the Cave Bear the year I got married. There were 6 long books written. When ever a new one came out all the books were reprinted because it took so long between books. Every new one that came out I re-read all the books from the beginning of the series. So some I read 7 or more times. I knew there were 6 books in that series. I read the last #6 and final book on my 30th anniversary. Waiting 30 years for all 6 books to come out was worth it. That’s an author you love. I have every book since my first from when I bought them. So a 40 year old paperback for the first book. I have read so many books in my life, lots of them are quick reads that are so similar to others that I forget the story before I finish the next book I’m reading. But there are always those special ones that just don’t go away. That you read over and over. I would rather wait for great books than read ones that are like all others out there. Find your characters, find your plot, find your beginnings and endings. Take your time and put out your best book. We will wait, though we will complain the whole time.
P. S. I TAKE IT BACK I AM A WRITER. LOL