Prequels, Sequels, and Series

I'm the kind of person who thinks there needs to be a sequel for everything, but I agree with you: some of them ruin the whole prospect, so you're just like, "What? Why did that have to happen? It just should've stopped [recall the part]." You know? :think:

I was going to write a sequel. I had it all planned out and everything, but then I just… didn't.
I tried. It didn't work, at all. I felt like my writing didn't fit the story anymore, like I had outgrown it or something.
God, that sounds cocky. Don't mean it to sound like that. :tehe:
The whole story was just turning into overkill for me. I didn't want it to get all cliche and stupid.

I really hate it when people turn a decent story into crap by just stretching it out with sequels, and three-quels and on and on…

coughcoughTwilightcoughcough
I'm afraid SM is going to do that with The Host, too. :roll:

It mainly depends on the original.
I'm writing a sequel, I don't think it is too good and I think I most likely should have just let it be.
It works for some stories, it doesn't for others.

I like some sequels and it really just depends on how the first story is. Most of my stories don't have sequels though.
A lot of my fans actually want one when I finish a story because my last chapters always leave them wanting more but I like to leave a story with suspense and make people wonder. XD The last chapter ends with everything solved but I leave like little what ifs at the end as well.
But I've noticed a few authors start up sequels right when the first story actually starts to go somewhere. It's like the first story is just all explanations or when it seems to start getting interesting and then bam! It's the end and they start up the sequel. =/

^
I think that's ridiculous. Sequels are separate stories, not a continuation of the same plot. The same characters and relationships, yes, but it is an entirely different plot.
Especially when they end it abruptly and then just start the sequel immediately. What's the point of that?

I think it depends on the story.
I think I can't write a sequel to save my life but apparently my readers like the sequel.
I've only read few sequels that are really good. Others just fall apart and ruin the story for me, forcing me to unsubscribe to the story.

I don't really like sequels for original stories, but movie-based stories are okay, if the movie has a sequel.

I have a bad habit of wanting to write them probably too much. I have a feeling when I finally get the series I'm working on up here people are gonna hate me because I just can't stop. To be fair, I do try to question the necessity of every follow-up story I think of doing. I guess I just have a problem with saying goodbye to my characters; I get addicted to writing them and their lives.

I personally hate sequels. But then again, I love it when people write them. I think that a persons' story is their story and where it ends is where if belongs. But sometimes I get attatched to the characters so much, I'm delighted to see a sequel.

Something I've found that really interested me was a sequel that wasn't quite a "sequel" per-se. What it was a..umm...continuation of the story, with new main characters. The main characters of the original were just minor characters and somehow the main got into their lives even if for a little time. I'm not sure why, but I like those; they intruige me. And I've actually taken to writing one myself.

I don't mind reading sequels, but I prefer not to write them.

^ Same, like the second chapter thing, where it has to match up to the first,
but the sequel has to match up the the entire story, which makes it ten times harder.

If that made sense :tehe:

Some sequels suck and just kill the first part of the story.
But some make the story too.

Like if the ending of the first didn't really have an ending and it left more questions than answers, then sequel! unless that's the way the author wanted it to end.

and to me,
sometimes it depends on how long you want your story to be.
like if you want to fit so much into one story but feel you can't, then a sequel can be the answer.

Emily Rugburn:

Bleed The Dream:

Emily.:

I honestly don't mind them.
The only thing I hate, more than anything, is when authors start sequels when they haven't finished the first story.
And yes, I've seen it done. Sometimes they get bored of the first story and leave it half done and write a sequel. ::Ranting:

:cheese:

Please tell me that's a lie.

No, I've seen that happen too! It's bad!

I've seen it done too!
Also one time there was a story that had a fairly good ending that might work for a sequel, but then he went and changed his mind and added two more chapters then made a sequel witch made it not only vary confusing to follow but also made for a much more awkward place to start a sequel :XD

sequel
–noun
1. a literary work, movie, etc., that is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work.

While I do not mind sequels, I tend to stick by the above. While a lot of the back story to your sequel lies in its prequel, the plot itself should be able to entice the reader by itself. A completely new set of problems with a familiar set of characters.

A good example is Harry Potter. His whole goal is to destroy Voldemort, but each year he has a set of problems that helps him work up to it. Freeing Sirius in the third book did not destroy Voldemort, neither did killing the Basalisk in the second. But both experiences made him grow.

Throughout the whole series he is working for the same thing, but most of the time that took a back burner to what was happening at the moment. Not in immediate view but definitely not forgotten. By the time he has grown up enough, that pot was moved to the front to be dealt with.

It depends. If you've planned a sequel from the time you started the first story, then they can be really good. But if it's just because people wanted one, they're usually pretty bad.

I've never done one, and have no plans to.

I n d i v i d u a l:

It depends. If you've planned a sequel from the time you started the first story, then they can be really good. But if it's just because people wanted one, they're usually pretty bad.

I've never done one, and have no plans to.

I agree with you completely. I think sometimes one is better off just writing an epilogue of a few months later or whatever, than a full blown sequel.

I don't mind sequels, especially if I've fallen in love with the first story.
But what I don't like is when the sequel feels like an exact replica of the first story. I like sequels when there's some new characters introduced, new situations etc.

loverfayce.:

I was going to write a sequel. I had it all planned out and everything, but then I just… didn't.
I tried. It didn't work, at all. I felt like my writing didn't fit the story anymore, like I had outgrown it or something.
God, that sounds cocky. Don't mean it to sound like that. :tehe:
The whole story was just turning into overkill for me. I didn't want it to get all cliche and stupid.

I really hate it when people turn a decent story into crap by just stretching it out with sequels, and three-quels and on and on…

coughcoughTwilightcoughcough
I'm afraid SM is going to do that with The Host, too. :roll:

That's what I'm afraid of too! I never liked Twilight but I thought The Host was OK and I liked how it was open ended... A sequel would just ruin it. Like the sequel to the Bronze Horseman... I think sometimes a sequel fits and sometimes it doesn't. The writer just has to take a risk.

The only story I've ever really planned a sequel for was ATSOHP because it was getting really long and I just needed to end it. But the sequel does have new themes and the characters get fleshed out even more, so I think it works.

But I prefer writing spin-offs to sequels.

I don't know if this would go in this discussion, but has anyone ever written a chaptered story then written one-shots based on their characters from the main chaptered fic? You know to flesh out certain characters? So, not technically sequels or prequels.

I've tried doing this several times, and it has worked on some level and other times I've accidentally diverged from my actual characterisations.

Anyone else done this?