Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Why Do You Write Sequels?

Of course, if you haven't yet, you can just answer hypothetically. I'm just curious right now because I am in the process of writing a sequel. I hope this hasn't been asked before.

I said 'other'. Why? Because I think it depends on the story. With Learning Curves (and yes, I know I haven't written part three yet), I realised that there were plot threads left dangling at the end of part one. While the B-plot had been resolved, I wasn't entirely happy with the way I left the A-plot.

By contrast, the story I ended up telling in Extraordinary Man I and II was as I had planned at the outset. (Well, the A plot got a bit more detailed, but the resolution was exactly as I had intended.)

The main reason why that story got split into two was to make it more manageable for me. If I hadn't split it, it would have been even more daunting to complete than it was, and I doubt I would have ever managed to finish it. Also, the points of view in parts one and two are sufficiently different that I think it works better as two separate pieces.

If -- and it is a huge and extremely unlikely if -- I ever write a part III, it would be because I grew to like the universe I created.

I could have saved a lot of words here had I simply said that my motives for writing a sequel depends upon the circumstances.

Chris (who has mostly written standalone stories)

Actually, another way of looking at this might well be to ask 'why don't you write sequels?'

Readers certainly do have a tendency to ask for sequels. But where the author feels that the story is already finished, or that to try to write more would take them over already well-trodden paths, it's true that we do sometimes wonder what readers have in mind. Kathy Brown has expressed this well when she's asked whether readers want a sequel because they feel that something is missing, or because they like the characters and the universe so much that they want to read more.

Take recent experiences of mine: I was 'encouraged' to write a sequel to In The Bleak Mid-Winter, and also to Date By Arrangement. In both cases I felt that I had told the story I wanted to tell. Sure, in the latter case there is a story to tell in relation to reintroducing Lois Lane to a world which thought her dead, and in circumstances in which she is five years younger than she 'should' be. So that might be interesting... but not for me. At least, I don't think so. As for Date by Arrangement, one suggestion was that Lex Luthor might be surprised to find that Lois is already smitten by Clark when he tries to turn his charm on her... but that's been done by other people, and I didn't feel any particular desire to tell that story myself.

I have written sequels to stories as a result of requests (as opposed to where I pretty much always planned to); in both cases (the sequels to It Happened One Super Night and A Conscious Choice) I felt that the sequels were pretty much like the majority of Hollywood sequels: trading on the success of the original, but with nothing new or interesting to say and considerably inferior. So I can't see myself writing sequels again unless I am convinced that there's a story to tell and that it's one I really want to tell.

Interesting poll, Jana!


Wendy

Yeah, what Wendy said!

I generally start a story with a specific issue in mind. I have an idea of what I want to cover and how the story will end. When I type the words "The End" I'm pretty much done telling my story. I don't intend to write a sequel - if I left that much stuff undone, I'd probably go back and try to incorporate it into the story.

But there are instances where stuff might be left hanging that I didn't realize others might want to know about. Specifically, in Starwood In Aspen, it never occurred to me to show what might have occurred between Clark and Mayson, but readers seemed to have a need to know. It was simple enough to add on an epilogue to cover that.

I have to admit as a reader, though, really loving some writer's stories so much that I want them to go on and on. It is a mixture of their writing style and the set-up of the first story. For example, I would love for Yvonne to continue Addicted and Wendy to continue ITBMW. But I do understand why they might choose not to. That was not the story they set out to tell, and as far as they are concerned, the story is finished.

I think if a writer goes for a sequel simply to meet readers' demands, the sequel will be forced and no fun at all to write.

Lynn

Well, I chose other for one, because it could be all three.

I'm not one for writing sequels often, have to say. But there have been occasions.

Second Degree Burns was started because readers wanted a revelation (these would be the readers who realised there wasn't one in Burnout - it's amazing the no. of readers who say the revelation in Burnout was what they enjoyed <g>). So I did start one. Something, I have to say that I'm regretting right at the moment, because I've come to realise that I'm only writing it because readers want it, rather than having any interest in it for its own sake - which is never a good basis to write a story on.

Masques was...kind of a sequel. It was only ever intended to be a throwaway vignette as a response to a challenge. Who knew?

And if I was going to write a sequel solely to suit myself it would probably be a sequel of sorts to Masques, because I got rather fond of Eve and Alex while writing that one and not sure I've quite let go of them yet. Only got the bones of something that could involve them though, so that's not likely to happen any time soon. (/me watches rainforests all over the world heave a sigh of relief...)

LabRat

I don't write sequels. Or at least not usually. Some people have bugged me for years about sequels to Hearts Divided or Tryst... but I just don't see that there's a story I want to tell.

On the other hand... I've written not one but *three* sequels in the past year , two of them in the same series. And it's been because there was a story I wanted to tell. Just liking the universe and characters isn't enough for me. Although it certainly helps when readers tell me *they* like my universe <g> But when I get to the end of the story and there are some interesting things left unresolved... that's when I start getting ideas.

H is for Hubris is a failed nfic that turned into a joke on Herb, but buried in there was an interesting dynamic between L&C, and after the initial story had been out there for a while, ideas started to circulate. Mind you, they probably wouldn't have amounted to anything without my faithful naggers

Actually, thinking back on it, I think it was all due to the titles. "H is for Hubris" came out of nowhere, really, but it clicked for me. And then I started thinking about a sequel set a few episodes later, and called it "I've Got A Crush on Two." But then, when the story was almost finished, people on IRC were joking about different alphabet titles, and that sounded intriguing, so at the last minute that story turned into "I is for Illusions." At that point I was planning another sequel, and I was bit worried about coming up with a J title, but my dictionary convinced me there were tons of words to choose from. And then I started getting ideas for future titles... and, very impressed by my own cleverness, I began planning them as a series.

PJ

For the first question, I voted for 'I realize the story isn't actually finished' and 'Other'. Actually, it's a combination for both - I finish a story, and then think it could continue, so I write something more. Both my sequels though were for short stories (I haven't written anything long yet, anyway )

For the second question, I voted for 'I don't usually know until I've been writing the original', which, at the moment, is what I've been doing.

Interesting poll
See ya,
AnnaBtG.

I ticked everything except 'I've grown to like the characters'. I mean, I write L&C fanfic because I like the characters so that can't be a reason to write a sequel. That said, I did get rather attached to my original character in Addicted, so who knows? <g>

Other: Because Wendy told me to - she's solely responsible for all my FoDs except the first one. Oh, and because of Elena, who won't shut up about FoD5 <g>. Also because I need a break but I know I haven't finished telling the story I planned (that's why Misery awaits a sequel).

Yvonne
(too dopey at nearly midnight to say more)

When I finished posting Through the Window, I had this wonderful feeling of "the end"ness.

Everything wrapped up, characters where they belonged, and although not perfect, it was all very hopeful, and that was that.

The end.

For about ten minutes.

And it wasn't that people were begging for a sequel, they weren't. And it wasn't that I wanted to write one, I didn't. It was that the reader comments on that story sort of ganged up and took on a life of their own. Once I saw the shape of them, so to speak, I knew I was a goner. The result was a sequel that was twice as long as the original.

That was really frustrating and fun at the same time. I knew I'd left loose ends, and that was ok with me, or so I kept telling myself (and Wendy). So, what was I doing back in there tidying everything back up??

Still pondering that.

And on another subject-

says Labrat Toss us the bones, Lab! We'll take them!!

CC

LOL, thanks, CC. These are only teensy mouse bones though. <g> As in an opening scene popped into my head some time ago. Three pages if I'm lucky, if that. Nothing more has surfaced so far.

LabRat

Because I was forced to.
The gentle readers have a nasty habit of browbeating the poor writers until they cave and write that darn sequel that they never planned.

A Future Not Now was only meant to be a short story which was intended to examin how two (out of four) characters would initially cope with a particularly life altering situation. The monster that was spawned later is all the fault of the gentle readers 'encouragement' to write MORE!

Tank (who was too lazy to purposly plan sequels)

I guess I'm one of the few in the camp of "I've grown to like the characters". Yes, certainly, all the characters I write are Lois and Clark and of course I'm going to like them, but let's face it, some universes are just more fun to hang out in than others.

I don't think I've ever set out to write a series from the beginning of a story, though once I'd made the decision to continue "When Friends Become Lovers" with "When Lovers Become More" (which came about 3/4 of the way into the first story), the realization that I wanted to add a third and final story ("When More Becomes Everything", for anyone keeping track ) came pretty quickly. So that final story (which is hopefully on my to-do list for this year) is the only sequel where I knew about it before I'd started to write it.

But do I think either WFBL or WLBM *needed* to be continued because it wasn't finished? No, absolutely not. I've kept writing in that universe simply because I really enjoy it -- I like the way this L&C interact, and I love imaging how they (an L&C who became an established couple in early S2) would handle the later S2 episodes together. I just like spending time with them.

"Momentum" was a little different because I had considered the story done when I'd finished it, but reader comments (and one great suggestion) helped convince me that a revelation in this universe could be fun, and "Momentum 2: The Revelation" was born. The fact that I was able to later explore an issue in the nfic version that I'd been wanting to explore for some time was just icing on the cake. And the same goes for an nfic M3, which I also hope to write this year -- I don't consider there to be any signficant loose ends in the nfic version of M2, but the universe is really fun to work in and if I can use it as a platform for a fun nfic romp, then all the better.

So bottom line -- I rarely set out to write a sequel, but sometimes I end up enjoying a universe so much, I decide I'd like to spend a little more time hanging out in it.

Kathy