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I've determined that the reason I'm having issues with my second book is because it does a lot of jumping around. Not so much from event to event (although that is a minor problem, but it's a rough draft so I'll fix it later), but because I change the POV. Often-ish.

It's not so bad in the first two arcs. There are only two characters: the eventual parents.

I guess I should explain a little first.

The first book I wrote had a self-satisfying ending, but there were a few loose threads I left throughout the course of the book that will become more important than anything in the series. Thusly, more books are needed. But in order for books III--V to work, certain events have to happen in book II.

While the events that will become more important in the later books are simple enough to incorporate or start, the bigger theme of Book II is killing me. My goal is to have the characters from Book I, the mother and father, start their family, have their issues, and then watch their family crumble and burn.

So the book is divided into three parts. The first part flip flops between the POVs of the mother and father. It's a little jumpy in places, but it works well to get the ideas and point across. This is where the mother and father realize that they actually have some problems they need to deal with. Nothing major yet.

The second arc is also mostly the mother and father, but there are a few chapters in the POV of their adopted son. Again, it's a little jumpy in places, but it works because the plot is linear. Because he's now a factor and has a condition that makes caring for him a bit difficult, the tension between the mother and father starts to heat up. They do manage to pull through it, though.

The third arc is where I'm stuck. It's linear, but it doesn't seem to work no matter what I do. This arc is where things are supposed to really start to fall apart. There's a lot going on over a large period of time. The mother and father have had their own child, and the mother more or less neglects her. It's unintentional, as the mother has a lot going on between her being semi-possessed and trying to keep her family out of harm's way, but it bugs the bejesus out of the father. So they're arguing a lot, which upsets the kids which leads to more arguing and it's just an endless cycle.

Seems like I know what I'm doing, right?

I thought so, too, but I hate what I've been writing. It's reading as event-event-event-event with no real transition, and I feel like it's happening because I now have four different points of view to work with. Granted, the daughter's view is fairly straightforward when she finally gets to her own chapters, but between the mother, father, and son, it reads like a wreck. The thing is, the different POVs are crucial. In a sense, I kind of like the chaos because it seems to show them drifting apart a lot more. But I feel like it's happening too early.

There's also the fact that I'm having difficulties because there's less epic-fantasy action in this book--it focuses a lot more on the characters than the overlaying theme and plot. I think it's less appealing to me, but it's what the story calls for. As the storyteller, I will oblige.

But... I could use some help.

Does anyone have any experience with such a problem? Or have you come across a book that works kind of how I'm working in this third arc? Any suggestions or tips you think might help would be greatly appreciated, too.

With Love,
Phade