Prequels, Sequels, and Series

the mice endure:

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?

I do this a lot, especially because the story is told in one character's pov, but there's a lot of things that happen in the course of the story that that particular character isn't around to see, but I have it in my head, so I usually write it in the form of a oneshot. I also play around with alternate endings that way.

The majority of the oneshots I've been writing recently are set in the universe of one of my chaptered fics, but I'm probably the only one that knows that tidbit.

I hadn't thought of that - alternate endings. One of my earlier fanfics had three different endings, but I appended them as three separate epilogues.

I once started a one-shot 'spin-off' and it ended up being a fullblown chaptered story.

I've done sequels and "companion pieces".
I wrote a sequel to Make Me a Miracle because it worked really well for a story contest I entered. They were both oneshots.

It took three years, but I finally wrote the sequel to After Supper, which was supposed to explain some things but really did. Not at all what I envisioned.

And then I wrote a companion piece to Icarus and the Bird of Piece which is called The Bird in the Handkerchief. It was a companion piece because you did not in anyway have to read the original to understand it, but if you had read the original then I think it meant more. I wrote them for the same universe, same character.

the mice endure:

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?

I have done exactly that, actually. It started out as just a standalone oneshot, but once I read it over I realized it resembled pretty heavily a scenario in a chaptered story. I posted it as a prequel, even though it's more like an insight.

the mice endure:

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?

Gods yes

I feel like a lot, if not all, of my HP oneshots that have OC's have the same characters and the oneshots are there to flesh out my OC's. I'm actually working on a three-shot right now that takes place in the middle of my fanfic and it's something I wanted to write but didn't think would actually happen in the chaptered fic.

I'm really into sequels and companion pieces lately. I wrote one sequel last month, am currently planning a sequel to a story I'm writing now, and I'm working on another companion piece.

Milk is a companion piece to I Can Feel Your Love. There can be read completely separately and there's no mention of either fic in the other, but I wrote them as the same exact characters, same relationship, etc.

I'm also working on a sequel to Milk and after that I'll be writing another companion piece for the 'verse.

I actually really like writing sequels. Whenever I get an idea for a story, and I have the whole thing figured out, what the ending is and how it all works, my mind immediately starts wandering to what would happen after. I don't really set out to do sequels on purpose, something's just telling me that I'm not finished with these characters yet.

But I do think that it really depends on the story. Sometimes the ending of a story is really the beginning of something for the characters, and it could be explored. But the original wouldn't be worse off if it wasn't.

I prefer to not write sequels, as I don't like dragging on stories longer than they intended to be, especially if, in the original story, the ending was perfection and everything tied up the way it was meant to be.

That being said, if I ever get a sequel idea for a story I'd have to flesh it out completely before going through it. I couldn't halfheartedly write a sequel - it wouldn't be fair for the readers or for myself.

I love sequels and series for novels, but not so much for stories on here and other writing websites. For stories online, I have found that sequels just drag the original story out. I guess I'd just like to read a story and when it's over, it's over.

As for writing sequels, I've never written one and don't think I'll ever write one.

@ aubs
I guess it depends on the story, though. I think some stories are begging for sequels, and it wouldn't make sense to just extend the original story. :)

In my opinion, the sequel is never as good as the original, unless the sequel is what the original was working towards the whole time.