Sequels don’t always meet expectations. Yours can

One fear writers have (for good reason) is that their sequel won’t compare to book one in the series. Many movies and books suffer from failed sequels, and there are dozens of reasons for it. The good news about that is you can use some of those reasons to improve your sequel, and maybe you’ll find a few more tricks along the way.

The reason sequels fail or lose an audience is because they are extensions of the original—replicas of a plot the reader does not want to experience all over again. An audience wants something new, something different, and another book about the same adventure with the same characters, the same setting, and the same problem won’t always be as exciting as it was the first time.

Yes, everyone loves sequels. I love sequels. Everyone can reenter the world they just learned about and interact with the characters they just met. But what every reader wants is that same magic they experienced the first time. The same newness that molded their imagination. The same excitement.

Why write a sequel?

The question isn’t “Why should someone write a sequel?” The question is “Why should you write a sequel?”

Most people who fall in love with their worlds want to continue working in them, and some people write a sequel because they couldn’t fit all that story in a reasonable word count. Yes, these reasons are valid, but that’s not what should make you jump across the room to your writing table to recluse for another seven months as you write out your next novel.

Consider the plot

• What happens in the sequel?
• What problem arises?
• What new characters will you introduce (if any)?
• How will the sequel end?

You know, normal plot stuff. That’s not all you should consider, but that’s a start. You need to have a plot if you’re going to write another book. So now that you have that, this next question is what may stump some of you. Ready?

Find the difference between books

You have a plot, characters, an idea for a possible problem, and maybe even the ending. But how many sequels have you enjoyed as much, or almost as much, as the first installment? Your sequel needs something different. One thing that caught your readers the first time won’t have the same effect in the sequel. Why? Because they know it already. Yes, they loved it, but the purpose of picking up another book is to learn something new.

Think of what caught their interest the first time:

• character growth/decline
• fantastical/mysterious/suspenseful approach
• major plot twist
• aesthetic value
• unique world/new characters to learn about
• discovery
• betrayal

This list can go on, but there will always be at least one unique thing in every book that hooks a reader and fills their eyes and mind with that paper-flipping frenzy. Your job is to trigger that ink-shark in them, and it’s not easy to do in a sequel, but then again, was it easy in the first?

Dig up the “new” discoveries and secrets

When you consider books like Harry Potter, the idea of a sequel quickly increases the level of excitement. Harry Potter had a similar plot throughout (go to school, get in trouble, fight an enemy). However, the plot itself isn’t what caught a reader’s attention; well, it wasn’t the only thing anyway. Every installment had new things for us to discover: rooms, magic, secrets, people, games, and many other pieces in the hidden world of magic that made a reader rush to the store when the next book came out.

That’s what makes something interesting—new things. In your sequel, it’s not enough to have the same characters everyone loves. Whether they’ll admit it or not, a reader wants to learn and to be creative with you. Give them what they want by introducing ideas.

Let them feel like they’re learning about your story all over again. Like they are reading it from a completely different angle.

You don’t have to kill off one of the main characters, though I’m not condemning it, but you do need to use the elements you have to introduce new ones. There are several things that encourage people to write a book, and those same things can help you write the second.

Character

If your character helped create your first book, let him or her or it create your second. Unless your book revolves around multiple characters (in which case revise my statement to match your plan).

What made your first book unique? What did your character do? How did your character drive the book forward? Why?

When you find that reason, work on it. What would be different in the second book? If the character met a love interest in book one, maybe book two introduces a secret with that person, a problem, or a separation. If there are areas of the world your character has yet to unlock for the reader, consider why that would be necessary or what could come of it.

Is your character a different species, and that’s what makes them unique? In book two, introduce something new. They’re a new species; are there other species this character has yet to discover? Secret powers that they have yet to discover? Hunters?

Maybe your character learned something or grew from an experience. Well, maybe that experience haunts them now, comes back to get ’em with a big switch. You’ll need to introduce a new problem that either hinders them, turns things around, or enforces a new growth, which means to introduce new, unique obstacles to overcome.

Think critically about your characters just like you might yourself. You’ve reached a point in your life, so now what? Where do you go from here?

A problem many sequels face is the problem of continuity. You’re working with information you’ve already given your reader, which means now you have to make that information unique again. Your readers cheered your story on in book one for some reason, so take that reason, that happily ever after, and give it an obstacle that forces it to grow stronger or become something different.

World

If you built a world, you obviously know what makes your book special. DUH. The world.

Your world is awesome, and your readers will know that in book one. In book two, your world can’t just be awesome. It has to be incredible—different. Now, you have to step up your game. Unlock new things in your world that readers didn’t get to see or learn about in book one. Yes, this may mean you have to save pieces of book one for book two. It hurts because your world is so dang exciting, but you can’t expect your reader to be equally excited to reenter a world that no longer has surprises waiting for them. We live in a world where new is necessary and more is great. Don’t expect your world to constantly impress because, eventually, even the most impressive things lose intrigue.

Plot

Every plot has been used in some way. That’s a struggle all writers face, but how your plot interacts with the setting and characters is a big deal.

Make your plot affect your character in a different way. If your take on the plot made it interesting, as stated perhaps by your readers, consider how you can continue or revise the plot in a way that brings forward a new problem. Don’t let the plot affect your character exactly how it did before. Consider what might happen if your elements change and see how that alters the path your character has to take.

This can be challenging because you might fall down a hole that takes you and your character to the same place as last time. In other words, a different path but with no real growth. Same goal, same character, similar issues. You’ll have to be wary, but considering what your character’s goal is will help out with that.

End with a bang?

How you end the story is entirely up to you. You can end with a cliff-hanger so readers reach their own conclusion, end on a good note, end on a bad note, or end in a new place that implies another installment to come. This is your choice, no matter how many people complain about that choice. Yes, you’ll have haters. So make sure you can justify why you’re doing what you’re doing. If you can, make it stand on its own.

The ending isn’t why a reader reads—it’s the adventure. A reader reads for the same reason we live. We don’t live to die; we live to experience life for what it is and what it can be. Remember that, because that journey you’re writing about is what encourages those dry fingers, frenzied eyes, tearful droplets on paper, or giddy laughs after the book comes to an end.

Meet Expectations