Sequel expectations

[Phyrebrat]

Hi Jo,

I would say the simple answer is to decide whether it's more important to write it for you, or for the market. Not very helpful, but I do often feel we have the answer in our gut or intuition.

On a more practical note, as The Boss says, I think as long as it features new characters most will be happy. And often people like to be surprised/shocked contrary to their expectations. At the moment I can't think of a precedent example of books that have done this (altho I suspect S King has re shorts.) but there are countless films where sequels change characters.

And then, there're people like me who think Halloween III is far superior to Halloween & Halloween II

pH

 

[Abernovo]

I honestly thought it did say that and I was thinking 'ew, Jo, TMI'.

My mind being pure, I never misread it as such. Also, I always tell the truth. Mostly, anyway.

Answering the original question, I always saw the first book as having a bit of an 'ensemble cast', to use a film term. It did have a main character, but there were other story threads in there, and I think that would help me read the sequel from an alternative main PoV. There was already quite a bit of character development, so I knew it wasn't a story happening to one person. Whether it was an existing character, or someone new, the ground work has already been laid.

 

[Dan Jones]

I congratulate you Jo for being a modern independent woman and laying bare your sexual expectations for all to see. You're like that one who went on Naked Attraction and, when asked what she was after, said "eleven inches, no ifs, no buts." Highly commendable!

As for the book, I always feel wary about putting together a sequel when the original was a standalone, but it seems like you've it under control. The New Characters is a must. I actually think that switching the main POVs around would work; I suppose the general idea of a sequel is to continue the story but also expand the world, and no easier way to do that than to see it through another character's eyes.

On another note, I also think that a lot of sequels work well when they pick up the story almost exactly at the point that it left off in the first story. Are you doing that or will there be a gap in time between the first book's events and this one?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Always one to lower the tone, Dan... it picks up about a year later but the feel is mostly a straight-after one as they’re dealing with the events of book one

 

[Dan Jones]

There are no depths which I will not lower.

 

[The Big Peat]

Also I had a horrible moment of thinking the title of the thread - that can’t be edited by me - said sexual expectations....

Not gonna lie, this is why I clicked, and am now v. disappointed. I was expecting a long thread about sexy space pilots, not this sequel stuff!

I know the book well, and I think that having the copper as main POV character in the sequel will work fine as long as you also respect the character who took the lead previously. They don’t need a central role but I think they need to be integral in some way to the sequel. Even a cameo would do, as long as they do something significant in it. Wander in and help the main protagonist then wander off again? Get in the MC’s way? Act as an off-screen worry for the MC?

I feel like off-screen but present in the mind walks a narrow tightrope, where one side readers are wishing the character was there and keep being reminded that's what they wish, and on the other side it feels like fan service. I think I'd try and get him on the page.

But otherwise I agree with Kerry.

Yes, this decision won't work for all readers. But interconnected multiple interlinking arc sequels (rather than sequential one arc sequels) are common enough that it won't be tripping readers up, and if this is the direction you're passionate about, this will be the direction that works for the most.

 

[Ursa major]

There are no depths which I will not lower.

And yet you didn't explain the meaning of "no ifs" (thank goodness)....