I've written two novels with the same lead character. The history is that she started out as a very weak victim, found her strength, gained some skills in self defense and has dispatched a few bad guys. She has made the transition from killing in self-defense to assassin of very bad people. Readers love the character and enjoy her 'offing' the bad guys in efficient and creative fashion. The problem is that as I strive to create book three I feel myself getting tugged back into repeating the same formula as book two. Things happen that introduce her to evil men Evil men hurt her physically or kill someone close to her Protagonist hunts them down and shoots them, usually close up with a few clever but curt words (a bit James Bond if I must admit) typically after a chase or firestorm of bullets Her typical motivation is to kill men who hurt women. Not original, I know. They have to be criminals that operate outside of being caught by normal law enforcement. My struggle is to come up with a plot that gives her victims that are evil people that deserve killing, then 'off' them in a way readers will cheer for while at the same time placing her in peril without rehashing the same story. I'm interested in hearing from other writers who may do a series and how you keep it going without doing a simplistic rehash of what has come before.
Maybe you're overthinking it. It's possible your readers won't mind (indeed, might prefer) more of the same. Sue Grafton wrote essentially the same book twenty-five times, and got rich doing so. I could name others who have done the same.
That is a fairly confining formula, but if you're imaginative enough you can overcome it. James Bond has. Are you developing your character throughout the series? Does she have a serious romantic interest? Has she picked up a mentor or father/mother figure? Are any law enforcement agencies or journalists close to arresting or exposing her as a vigilante? Have you considered pitting her against a conflict or antagonist she can't defeat—at least not on her own? The are several different cards you could play to offer something fresh to both your protagonist and your readers.
Shooting, not all the creative, I must admit. Now shooting them with a poison dart with Brazilian wandering spider venom, that would be creative and kinda funny/horrible. Though I will admit I haven't read a series in over 19 years, and it was about a group of kids who could morph into animals/aliens that they touch based on some crazy alien tech/logic cube thing. Though while working on my sequel, I have kinda noticed the need to escalate things farther than the insanity of the first book. Granted it is the ending and the ante needs to upped to raise the height of the tension. But in a hypothetical sitch where it was to be part of a series (bigger than a Duology), then I would say you need to build intensity bit by bit, for each new book in the series. However I agree with @Earp that most readers wouldn't mind it being a bit similar to the first installment, minus the starting bits of the first. Good luck.
I might be in the minority here, but to me, it sounds like the MC is getting put more and more in the background, instead of taking the spotlight where she belongs. You say she started out as a weak victim, then found her strength to fight back. She learned some self defense, and even made the transition to cold blooded killer. All for the sake of revenge. That part is fine. Then there's the obvious question (to me, anyway). What now? She was hurt so bad that she did everything she could to get revenge, even murder. And now that she has gotten her revenge... what now? What drives her to continue on this path? What is her mental state like? What is her ordinary life like, outside the killing spree? How is she able to continue with her old life, or even function in society after everything she has done? That's something I would want for book three. We had her rise from weak victim to cold blooded assassin. But how is it affecting her in the long run? Will she ever be comfortable with killing people? And even if she is, is that a good thing? I can only speak for myself, but if I went on a hunt for revenge like this, it could only end in one of three ways. Either the bad guys kill me, or I kill myself when I'm done. Either from guilt, or from the endless nightmares and PTSD. Or I'm stuck in a mental instituion, so full of drugs that I don't even know my own name.
Maybe keep upping the stakes? Progressively tougher obstacles. Give her problems that she can’t just solve in one book. A Professor Moriority who she can’t beat. At least not for a long time.
@LadyErica I like your questions. My books are very much a character study with some fun action scenes. I'll elaborate on my MC as it will address some of the concerns. In book one she was living the life of a wayward submissive until her boyfriend nearly kills her in a rage. She is chased and hunted and must kill the boyfriend and his two thug pals in self defense. Except...she incapacitates the boyfriend and could have let the authorities handle him from there but instead shoots him square in the head. She doesn't feel great remorse for the two thugs as they gave her no choice. The ex-boyfriend she knows she could have stopped short of a point blank execution and it bothers her that she is capable (though to be fair he did nearly set her on fire in the preceding few moments). In book two she winds up rescuing a girl in a similar situation only to have her murdered later. She feels a kinship to the girl and wants to make it right (she feels some blame for her death). In the book she argues that killing is wrong but she is given something of an opportunity by some other men (we believe them to be 'good guys') to 'off' the bad guys in a sort of mutual agreement. She doesn't see herself as an assassin but with few options open to her she accepts. At the end of the book I have her seeking psychiatric help but not specifically because she has killed. She feels the deaths were justified. She has a history of bad decision making she believes is a larger issue. In book two I introduce a potential sidekick/love interest though I don't see him as working side by side with her, more lurking in the background and guiding her/protecting her. This all takes place outside the sphere of law enforcement (for now) as it is something of a good/bad guys-removing-bad guys subculture. She is not a super-hero nor a trained spy. She is decidedly average, troubled, abrasive and self-destructive in some ways. She didn't succeed in life and had no purpose or talent until she took up shooting for self defense. Oh, and her weaponry is not limited to guns--she's used archery equipment and a crossbow in addition to hand guns. In book three I'm developing a scene where she uses her truck to push another vehicle over a cliff. There are what I guess are subplots I'm also considering involving a visit to her horrible mother to face some fears and potentially finding the father her mother claimed she 'couldn't remember' who he was. ETA: I write each book as a stand-alone although they are best read in order.
Hm... that raises even more questions, actually. You say she incapacitated her boyfriend, but instead of handing her over to the cops, she shot him in the head? Why? That actually confuses me quite a bit. He was already incapacitated, and thus no threat to her anymore. So why kill him? Besides, this wasn't even just some random bad guy. This was her boyfriend. There was a reason why she was dating him, so wouldn't she still have some feelings for him, even after all that trouble? This is the main reason why people stay with people who hurt them. Love often goes deeper than the physical pain, and makes you think irrational. But this book is done, so let's skip that issue. I don't know the whole story, and I'm sure she had her reasons. The second book is intriguing, but also confusing. She argues that killing is wrong, but then she turns into a killer anyway? And for that matter, why, and how, is she even getting away with it? Why isn't she hunted by the cops? If one mafia family starts killing members of another mafia family, I hardly think the police are going to look the other way. In fact, I would think they would rather try harder to prevent an all out mafia war. So how she can be "outside the sphere of law" confuses me. But again, I haven't read the book, so I don't know the whole story. So for book three, there are a couple of things I could want to see. For one, there's the boyfriend. How does he feel about all of this? Does he even know what she really is? And two, there's the "outside the sphere of law... for now". What happens when the police finally comes after her? Where is she going to go? Can she trust the people who hired her to kill people, or are they going to abandon her? Are they going to betray her, and try to kill her? If the cops catch her and send her to prison, how is she going to make it? Considering the life she's lived, she could have tons of enemies in prison - both prisoners and guards. Even the bad guys have friends and family, after all. Plus, there's the mental health on top of it. She already argued that killing is wrong, so does she still feel that way? Maybe part of her knows killing is wrong, but part of her know she has no choice? So she's drawn in both direction at once, until she reached a breaking point. Then what? As you can see, there are tons of places you can take a third book, and make it stand out. It could build on the same concept as the first two, but also be very different. That said, I should mention I always write my books as it's the last one, whether it's a series or not. So if I was the one writing this third book, I can't guarantee she will be alive by the end of it. But if you intend to write book four, five and six, you will need a way for her to settle down with more or less the same status q as in the beginning. Maybe she could go full vigilante, or even try to join the cops herself. Plenty of options. I do like the idea a lot, though.
How can he bring back a guy with a bullet in the noggin? That kinda conflicts with the first book, since by book 3 he would have been dead at least a little while. Though I admit I don't know how things work in the universe that this all takes place in.
"Boyfriend" in book 1 was a boyfriend of convenience. Though there was sex, there wasn't really love. They both used each other. Like I said, the girl has issues. The "love interest" I referred to that was introduced in book 2 isn't a lover or boyfriend. He is actually the one who recruited her and looks out for her. She has the warmies for him but he isn't reciprocating...at least not through the bulk of book 3. I haven't decided yet if they will hook up; the story will tell me that as I write it. I'm throwing another guy at her to distract her but she will never really fall for him because she will secretly pine for the recruiter guy. She 'off'd' the boyfriend in book 1 because frankly something came over her. She hated him for the things he had done. Killing him shifted power to her in her mind. Pulling the trigger that last time had her almost in a trance. When she snaps out of it later she has regret; not for killing him but for losing control of herself. When she turns assassin in book 2 she is backed into a corner with no money, no transportation, no friends, no weapon of her own. She can't see any way forward other than to do the job asked of her. To not do it means she returns to her prior existence which she can't bear. That her two victims did horrible things to the girl she rescued gives her justification of sorts. Ethical dilemma swims in between her choices. Hope that helps. Thus the challenge is to have her dish out justice her way while struggling with the morality of it. Law enforcement doesn't have any of these people or incidents on their radar. Bodies and crime scenes are removed by off-camera 'cleaners'. If the series continues I could add them as a factor but right now this stuff happens out of the public eye. ETA: in book 1 at the end the police do investigate her killings but decide they were justified self-defense. The head shot is suspicious but with the backgrounds of the attempted killers being mob related the police don't much care about the one round. I suppose this could be used against her in a future story.
Instead of dispatching a villain that clearly deserves getting whacked, maybe she could establish some kind of relationship with him as she moves in for the kill... not necessarily romantic, but perhaps something based on genuine admiration. And she knows she's a bit broken inside. She's done some very bad things. Don't we all deserve a second chance? He would be a swell guy, if he wasn't such a dick. Then he does something that stops her from "redeeming" him, and she gets back to business... with renewed earnest.
