Journey through the Waste Land (so Far…)

It’s no surprise that writing sequels is difficult for most, the more one writes in any particular universe, setting, or lands the more the unknown becomes known to both the audience and the author alike. Its often because of this that many find a sequel not to be as quote on quote ‘original’ as it’s predecessor, and there are certainly good examples of this ‘over-usage’ found in the conventional media of today.

As such with Waste Land I have been doing something slightly different. While sticking to my guns in following the story of After World I very quickly identified a potential issue in this upcoming work and that is ‘sameness.’ What I define ‘sameness’ to be is where the themes, plot elements, and indeed the characters of a sequel echo the first book but they do not appear to be any different. A story needs a driving underlining core theme, one that perpetuates both the character and plot’s journey. Where the themes of withholding judgement, finding your self-purpose, and the theme of consciousness were at the forefront of After World, I have a new list of themes that I will be attacking in Waste Land so to try and not stray too far into the mashes of ‘sameness.’

First: I am looking at the roles of ‘weakness’ and ‘perceived weakness’ in a character’s journey, how they deal with it, and explore how certain individuals cope, overcome, or in some cases integrate such things into their life (perceived or not).

Second: I am delving into the themes of loyalty, kinship and (yes) some love and how such burgeoning interactions change the dynamics of such characters who are already in the midst of staggeringly difficult odds.

Third and Finally: Waste Land in my opportunity as the author to ask a familiar question of the audience, really a moral one to be determined by the reader at hand. “Are good intentions enough of a reason to do evil?” It’s a simple trope I know, but one I think we all struggle with at one points in our lives and as such this book seemed like an apt place to put such a question within.

Thank you everyone for tuning in,

Cheers,

Ean S. Mills