Well, this is one of those things that can't be all or nothing. It's something that should be evaluated on a case by case basis, IMO. If you write a story, which you feel is complete, but then come up with a sequel later on, I believe you should be allowed to. Other considerations that should apply in whether to decide a story is a sequel or part of the same story are: Tone, Story Arc, Subject Matter, Story Length, and how much time has passed between when the stories have been written. (I know that there probably others, but this is what I've come up with off the top of my head.)
Take my current Monster-Epic-Soap Opera, which will make
Missing Lois seem like a short story, (sorry, Labrat, really I am
)
Wrong Clark (Book 2 of the Wrong Trilogy) for example. If I had know how long a story it would be when I started writing and / or posting it, I probably would have liked to break it up into smaller bite sized pieces. (Actually, I've broken up this story into shorter story-arc stories on the TOC for those people who don't have time to read full 100+ part stories as they post.) Of course, if I had done that, I don't know if I would have gotten discouraged along the way and never finished it. This way, being that it is one story, makes me all the more determined to finish it, because I'm one of those people who doesn't like to leave things incomplete.
While my Wrong Trilogy (the three stories I have planned) are based with the same characters and are inter-related, they are three separate stories, three different timelines, and hopefully will be able to be read individually (and in any order - I say, crossing my fingers) which is why I have broken up the stories in this manner. I believe reading the three as a group (in the order posted here on the boards) will be the most enjoyable, but I am trying to make them distinct stories.
Another example would be Lynn S.M.'s three stories about the autistic child. While they are set in the same universe, with the same characters, they are distinctly separate and complete (and wonderful BTW) stories. They vary in tone, POV, and subject matter.
My
Green-Eyed Monster and
Nightfall Honeymoon are also set in the same universe and are story and sequel. I separated the stories for two reasons: 1) The end of GEM finished the story arc of Lois and Clark meeting and falling in love, and 2) I wanted to write an Nfic version of the sequel, so needed a distinct separation point. (I had hoped that it could be read without reading the first, but I think that was just optimism on my part.)
If you take my
Another Day and
Another Day, Different View stories, both are short, and tell the same story from two different POVs. I don't think lumping them together as one story would have worked as well. I like to give the reader options. Do they want to read the other POV? Although I rated both stories PG13, Lois's POV was probably more PG, than Clark's.
If stories are inter-related, I would hope that the author / writer would indicate so in the description submitted to the Archives (or at least, an Author's Note at the beginning of the story). It's frustrating to read a story and not find out until later that it's part of a series, and not know a) in which order the stories go, and/or b) which other stories are part of the series.
In the "A Time to Love" series and "Matchmaker Chronicles", Female Hawk and KenJ have done a good job in indicating that these stories are part of a group and in which order they go.
Nan Smith also has several series on her list. While I love them, really I do, I would like to take a moment to thank the person