Christine - terrific blogger, stupendous writer, awesome mom, great friend! I'm very happy to be here
today, but even happier to know her!Only a couple of posts left on my Broken Branch Falls Summer Blog Tour. Thanks for catching this one. I'll be talking about...
The Pros and Cons of Sequels
First, sequels can go two ways. They can be part of a continuous story, like Hunger Games or Game of Thrones, where you really need to read the previous books to know what's going on in the later ones. Or they can be separate stories with the same characters, like Harry Potter. Both of my series are like the latter, same characters, but independent stories. They refer to the past, but you don't have to read the previous books to understand newer ones.
Next, I conjectured about the pros and cons of sequels...
PRO
Sequels help build a fan base - if a reader likes the characters and story, they will want more.
CON
When building a series, writers have to put off new ideas to write the sequels, usually.
PRO
The world is pretty established with the first novel, adding more is great, but it's not like starting from scratch, just add a few new characters and places.
CON
Coming up with new story lines can be tough to do.
PRO
If you're published, you should be set for the next one (should...)
CON
Need to keep the next books fresh and as exciting if not more so than the first one that inspired the writing in the first place.
PRO
The writer gets to continue the story, create and fulfill the answer to the question What happens next?
All in all, I love writing sequels. I hope to submit SIMULATION, next in the Cooper Chronicles series after POP TRAVEL, in Sept. Then I can concentrate on BBF's sequel, CRADLE ROCK. I also have some other, new ideas waiting, but I work on them when I need a break from the main WIPs.
Whether writing sequels or stand-alones, the best thing to do is keep writing!!
What advice would you give for writing sequels? Do you write/read them?
Christine's 13th Floor series is phenomenal! I highly recommend it!
And thank you again for having me, sweetie! I look forward to meeting you in person!
Try this BEASTLY QUIZ and find out which beast you are!
Christine's 13th Floor series is phenomenal! I highly recommend it!
And thank you again for having me, sweetie! I look forward to meeting you in person!
Try this BEASTLY QUIZ and find out which beast you are!
(It's part of the August giveaway below.)
by Tara TylerPublisher: Curiosity Quills
Gabe is an average fifteen-year-old goblin. He’s in the marching band, breezes through calculus, and gets picked on daily by the other kids at school, especially the ogres. But Gabe wants to break out of his nerdy stereotype and try other things. He has his eye on the new ogress at school. Though it’s against all beastly rules, there’s just something about her.
Gabe starts a fad of mingling with other species, forcing the High Council to step in and ruin things by threatening to destroy the school and split up Broken Branch Falls. With help from other outcast friends, Gabe sets out on a quest to save his town. They'll show 'em what different friends can do together!
Tara Tyler has had a hand at everything from waitressing to rocket
engineering. After living up and down the Eastern US, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with
her three active boys and Coach Husband. Currently, she has two series, The Cooper Chronicles (techno-
thriller detective capers) and Beast World (MG fantasy) She's an adventure writer who believes every
good story should have action, a moral, and a few laughs!
Twitter ~~~ Facebook ~~~ Blog
Also by Tara Tyler, techno-thriller detective series,</
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Cooper Chronicles, Book One: POP TRAVEL
I adore sequels. It's always fun to see characters and the world they live in flesh out in one!
ReplyDeleteHi Christine and Tara - just done the Beastly survey ... and can see the pros and cons of sequels .. I like that you have other projects on the go - when you need a change ..
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you both - cheers Hilary
I love sequels, but no matter what, I have to read them in order. I'm weird like that.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of writing sequels because I love my characters and I don't want to be done with them once I've finished the first book. But I also worry that I won't come up with an idea that will be as good as the first.
ReplyDeleteStand alone sequels are best - I like reoccurring characters as opposed to one long storyline.
ReplyDeleteAs for keeping it fresh, that's why mine jumped ahead twenty years every time.
I like sequels. It's fun to see where the author takes the characters.
ReplyDeleteFrom a readers perspective, I agree, sequels build loyalty. Congrats again on your book Tara, and nice to see you here. Thanks Christine.
ReplyDeleteWhen I love a group of characters, I always want to go back and revisit them, so I'm always happy when a new sequel becomes available.
ReplyDeleteI also happen to be writing a sequel at the moment. It was supposed to be finished a while ago, but the characters didn't cooperate. Oops.
I love reading books in series. I think most readers do and I heard publishers are looking more for that than stand alone books.
ReplyDeleteHmm. That pro/con list pretty much sums up how I feel about writing more K-Pro. But it's gratifying when I get people writing and asking for more! At least Peter is nearly done . . . But I'm already thinking of doing a spin-off from that, too!
ReplyDeleteThe Incredibles might finally get a sequel since Brad Bird is working on the screenplay and that took over a decade to get started. I think the true essence of any book, movie, etc, is that those taking part in it are willing to give their all and go for quality first. Most fans would rather no sequel than a sucky one.
ReplyDeleteI am currently writing a sequel, which has now turned into a series. Plus I just got an idea for a prequel on another story, so a lot of my other projects are being pushed back.
ReplyDeleteI love to read series and I also love to write them. I already wrote one four-book series that I hope will be picked up. :)
I'm very excited to have Tara here today! Her books are fantastic. I'm a big fan of sequels. But a writer also needs to know when to end a series. Too many can get repetitive.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much only know how to write series books (often interlocking) and family/town sagas. I just get too attached to the characters and don't want to abandon them so soon. It's also really special to me how long I've been with many of my characters, so long I literally grew up with some of them. When you've spent a lifetime with your characters, you know them inside and out, and writing them comes so naturally.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I hate when a book ends on a cliffhanger setting things up for the next book. A lot of these series and trilogies I see nowadays seem like they wanted to be single-volume sagas, but the writers felt compelled to split them up because of the word count police.
Great list of pros and cons. I hadn't thought of many of the thing you mentioned. I adore reading series with the same characters! (I just finished a 12 book series by Douglas Preston and can't wait until he writes a new one.) I don't write series because I'm trying to get a big pubber and they want to control that sort of thing. Good luck with BBF and Cradle Rock, Tara! :)
ReplyDeleteI think I must be the only person who doesn't love sequels. I've read some (Harry Potter and the 13th Floor) though... and some of my best friends read sequels... :-)
ReplyDelete*quietly slinks away*
I love reading sequels!
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure right now if I enjoy writing them, as I'm stuck at the moment with the same characters/different plot kind, but I love them. This is a fantastic list of pros and cons! :D
It's just like watching TV series... Once you start to like a story, you're hooked for the rest as well.
ReplyDeleteSound advice Tara.
ReplyDeleteI would just add that putting the planning in on the front end for sequels is tough but certainly rewarding if that is the direction taken. It is much preferred to the alternative--a great book where the sequel has to be constructed to fit around an existing structure after the fact.
What happens next motivated me to write my series. The books overlapped as they moved forward in time, so it was fun to reveal what happened to characters from the earlier books.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Christine. And Tara, that's so true about keeping the sequel fresh. It's a challenge but writing a series is certainly a lot of fun :)
ReplyDeleteI love sequels! Love 'em! This was a nice break-down of the pros and cons.
ReplyDeletei know this was a while ago, but i finally visited everyone here - thanks again christine!! BLTN!
ReplyDelete