Sequels are hard. This is obvious from the amount of sequels to amazing films and books that frequently die with only a dry fart playing at their funeral. Before this year, I experienced this feeling only as an observer, watching the scions of great dynasties fall into ruin.
I’d like to share with you my experience writing a sequel. It’s a little writer “inside baseball,” but like I’ve said before on Agents of GUARD, we like talking about creators. Sometimes those creators are on this side of the bullpen. I promise to make a bunch of silly jokes along the way, if that helps. And maybe a Riker gif, if you’re good. WE RIDE.
The Other Side
Up until now I’ve written three books, one of which fell into failure and despair, the second of which got published (Deadgirl, available November 2014), the third of which is still in the cogs of the machine with an undecided fate. Up until now, each book was unrelated, a thrust into a brand new universe and brand new characters. Up until now, I’d never tried to write a sequel.
Yesterday I sent my agent the manuscript for the Deadgirl sequel, which has a tentative title that I shouldn’t share. Let’s say “Deadgirl 2″ for clarity’s sake, even though there’s no way that’s what it’s called because that’s seriously the worst. I can’t reveal much, nor should I, but I’d like to share you with you this particular creator’s side of sequelization. And that shit is shockingly difficult.
The Serial Aisle
I’ve always considered myself a “Series Man,” which is a moniker I made up in the last clause of this very sentence. What I mean is, I’ve always read fantasy novels, comic books, and serialized storytelling – I like my worlds convoluted, my stories epic, and my page counts absolutely ridiculous. When I first decided to go through the constant pain and anguish of being a professional author, I always had a mind for series, for the long game. I’m incapable of writing a story and not thinking of what comes next for the characters, the world, the whole dealio – I seed sequel hooks into everything I’ve ever written. It’s a condition. I’m broken inside.
Check out the rest of the article, originally published on Agents of GUARD, right here.
B.C. Johnson 