5 tips for writing a sequel
TODAY is Launch Day for Jovian Son, my sequel to They Will Be Coming for Us, so it’s an appropriate time to talk about how to write Book 2 in a duology or series.
Until I wrote Jovian Son, I’d never attempted to write a sequel, and I was nervous about it. It felt like new territory. But as soon as I began to write, I realized it was actually easier than starting a new story. The characters were already there, fully formed and waiting to take action. The story had already been started, the personalities and conflicts drawn, the direction of the plot, taken. All I had to do was step up and move forward.
That said, there are some dos and don’ts to writing a sequel, and I’ve outlined what I feel are the most important in the following paragraphs.
1) Refer to the first book as if it were backstory. You can and should mention occurrences that have happened in the past—i.e., in the novel before. As a matter of fact, you’ll have to because you want the sequel to make sense even if the reader hasn’t read the first book. The goal is to make sure anyone who picks up the novel is able to read it without confusion.
The big “do” here is to have as light a touch as possible and no info dumps.
In order to do this, I entered into a mindset of “telling the story to a friend.” Or, more specifically, having my protagonist narrator, Svetlana, tell the story as if she were telling a friend. A friend would know enough of the basics but might need to be reminded of the details. Either way, you don’t want to bore the reader with things they already know, but at the same time, you’ll need to refresh them when it comes to particular incidents and happenings. Here’s an example from my book. Evander and Svetlana are talking:
His cheeks fall flat, and his voice brims with sarcasm when he says, “And we’ll have popcorn. I know how these nights go, Mom. You’re holding me captive for my own good.”
The word captive forms a knot in my brain. The Jovians held me against my will, so this doesn’t sit well with me. “You’re my son, and I’m raising you safely. You’re free to go wherever you like.”
The underline shows where I’ve weaved a bit of backstory into Svetlana’s thinking. Readers of Book 1 will know what she means here, and those who haven’t read Book 1 will get the hint that her relationship with her in-laws has been troubling in the past.
2) Bring a secondary character from Book 1 into the forefront of Book 2. It’s nice to revisit your main character and to have him or her continue to tell the story as they did in Book 1, but you don’t want everything to be just the same. When you give a secondary character increased air time and reveal new facets about him or her and make them more integral to the story, doing so creates a fresh vibe. You can do the same by drawing up a brand-new character. For Jovian Son, I brought Svetlana’s adoptive parents into the spotlight, as well as Andrew’s FBI friend, Fran Vasquez.
How do you know which character you should expound upon? Choose the ones that spark your interest the most. If you want to know more about him or her, your readers probably do too.
3) Take the story in a surprising direction. The reader may want to read something pretty similar to Book 1, but they certainly don’t want the same story resurfaced with a new layer of paint. Give them something delightfully unexpected, something they never would have thought of on their own. Spend some time imagining the different directions in which your story might venture. Do some brainstorming here.
4) Answer the questions that weren’t answered in Book 1. Subplots, background noise, strange little facts that seemed significant but readers may not have known what they meant. These are the things you can bring to light now. Whenever you can click another piece of the puzzle into place for a reader, you will gain their respect. If they end up saying, “Ohhhh, now I get it!” you’ll earn their admiration.
5) End appropriately. Create a new question, if you’re writing a series, or tie up every loose end if this is the series’ end. If this installment is not the finale, you need to keep the energy flowing at the end. One story will obviously come to its conclusion, but a door will open with the prospect of the next one. A new mystery must present itself, a new conflict, an unresolved problem. Does it have to be a cliff-hanger? Maybe not a drastic, obvious one, but something must be left open that makes the reader want to find out what’s going to happen next.
If, you’re writing the very last book in the series, whether it’s a duology, a trilogy, or a longer series, you must tie up all the loose ends—and then hint at the future of the characters left standing. Will they walk into the sunset in a beautiful beach town, deciding to retire their previously hectic lifestyle? Or will they chase after yet another killer, hinting that they’ll do this until the day they die? One way or another, you have to satisfy the reader’s need to know.
Jovian Son is Book 2 in The Jovian Duology.
Kim Catanzarite is a writer, editor, and instructor for Writer’s Digest University. Her novel Jovian Son, the second installment in The Jovian Duology, is available on Amazon and other online and brick-and-mortar stores. Kim is currently celebrating the launch of Jovian Son.
