*Eyebrow Wiggle*
(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Hellooo everybody! Today I am breaking down
my 10 tips for writing an effective, entertaining, juicy sequel! Through my research, I found out
that different writers have different definitions of what a sequel is, which I found...odd.
So I’m gonna keep shit simple. According to the dictionary, a sequel is a publication that
continues the story or develops the theme of an earlier publication, and that's what we're talking
about today. This topic was requested by one of my patrons over on Patreon, Laurine Bruder. She
wanted to know all the tips for writing a sequel, like how to avoid saggy middle book syndrome and
how to keep the sequel fresh. You guys probably know that I am currently writing the sequel to The
Savior’s Series, The Savior's Army, so now felt like a good time to cover this topic. Maybe once
I'm done with TSA, I will have even more tips to share. Who knows! Before we get started, I want to
say a huge thank you to NovelPad who has sponsored today's video! NovelPad is a straightforward,
easy to use software for novelists that helps them write their very own novel,
as its name suggests! Every feature is designed to help you remember what you were working on as
quickly as possible and to keep you one click away from writing at all times. And it also lets you
track your work from as many angles as possible; you can see it from a character perspective,
on a scene or chapter basis, you can track it based on plot, on subplots, or settings,
and you can use their insight board to view your novel through two side-by-side categories.
One of my favorite features is their color coding option. You probably know I like to color code my
edits and NovelPad makes that really easy. Plus, you can label the colors for more
transparent tracking. They also add new features constantly. They recently added offline mode,
which basically means you can write anywhere, anytime, no internet required. Typewriter mode,
collapsing chapter headers, improved import functions, and they've integrated with
ProWritingAid which means you get access to ProWritingAid’s grammar and spelling checkers.
But my favorite new feature–shocking no one–is its goals and analytics feature. This allows you to
set writing goals, track your writing progress, analyze your projections, all that good stuff
that my goal-setting heart requires. If you're interested in trying out NovelPad, personally,
I'm a fan. You can try them out with their free 14-day trial. There's no credit card required,
which means there's no risk. I've got it linked below, check ‘em out! Try ‘em out for 14 days
for free! While you're here, be sure to subscribe to my channel and ring that bell! I post videos
on Wednesdays, sometimes I've got bonus content on Mondays, I give writing advice, I bitch about
tropes, I talk about tropes that I love. It's lovely and wonderful here! Join us! And my number
one best-selling dark fantasy romance The Savior's Sister is currently available in audiobook! So if
you are super into audiobooks, definitely check it out! And if you're new to Audible, you can listen
to TSS for free! I got it linked below. Now, let's get into my 10 tips for writing a badass sequel!
Number One (1): Plan ahead. I know you pantsers aren't gonna like this, but let's be real,
you already don't like me, anyway. It's SO much easier to write a series when you plan it out
ahead of time. I'm not talking about the minute details. I'm talking about overarching themes,
character arcs, the main plot points and goals for each book within the series. Give yourself
a general guideline for how each book is going to progress during this series. I have known many,
many writers who complained that they wished they could go back to book one and change some things
while they were writing their sequel. If you plan ahead, you don't gotta worry about that because
you probably had the sequel in mind while you were writing book one. On a related note, Number
Two (2): Use the first book to your advantage. If you know what's coming in a sequel, that means you
can plant seeds in book one. This means teasing a particular event that won't occur until book two,
which will make readers even more eager to read book two. It also means foreshadowing conflicts
that will occur in book two, that way once these conflicts arise they won't feel out of the blue or
shoehorned in. You want each book to stand on its own but the stories still need to be connected.
There should be individual strings that weave them together. Create these connections by preparing
for the sequel in the first book and giving the readers an idea of what they can expect.
Number Three (3): A sequel is its own story. You guys have all heard of sagging middle syndrome,
which is when the middle of a novel feels boring and pointless. The same can be said for many
sequels within a series, especially if we're looking at a trilogy. Book one has a goal. Book
three has a goal. Book two is just some in-between shit. In order to avoid this, the easiest thing to
do is make sure every book within the series has its own structure. That means each book
in the series has an inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
If you're unfamiliar with structure, I've got two videos all about it. I'll link ‘em below. Yes,
there is likely an overarching goal throughout the entire series, but the sequel still needs to have
its own individual goal. This will make the story feel relevant and necessary, it'll up the stakes,
and most importantly, it'll make sure it's not some boring in-between shit. It actually
serves a purpose. Number Four (4): Resist the urge to summarize. “But Jenna, what if readers
are starting on book two and they have no idea what happened in book one?” That's their own damn
fault! If they didn't want to be confused, they should’ve read the books in order! That said,
I'm only being slightly facetious. It's a good idea to remind readers what happened in book one
if only for grounding them in certain situations, but you don't need to summarize the ENTIRE first
book. Simply remind the readers of important events from book one as those reminders become
necessary. If your character is on the run from the law, remind the readers why they're on the
run from the law. Boom, ya done! You don't gotta give an entire recap. Just bring up the points
if and when they matter. Number Five (5): Don't regurgitate. Sometimes sequels are essentially a
regurgitation of the first book. In book one, Prince Felix has to save the land from a fire
dragon. In book two, Prince Felix has to save the land from an ice dragon. Wow! Completely
new stuff! Get it? ‘Cause one's fire and one's ice? There needs to be a new story here. Yes,
there will be similarities to book one because it's a sequel. You'll likely have a lot of the
same characters and some overarching subplots and themes. That's to be expected. But you still need
to deliver a new book. Something with stakes you haven't yet explored or characters they haven't
yet met. All in all, the plot shouldn't be a mirror of book one. If they wanted the same story,
they'd just read that book over again. And Number Six (6): Don't be afraid to work with
what you got. This may sound contradictory to the last point, but hear me out: there are few things
more annoying than reading a sequel and thinking, “Wait. What happened to that one character? Or
that one subplot?” You can't completely abandon concepts from the first book without warning or
explanation. If your main character has a sister in book one and then suddenly there's no mention
of her in book two, people are gonna notice, so consider that when you're writing a sequel.
Are you introducing a new character to play a role that your MC’s sister could easily play?
Ditch the new character and let the sister play the role. And if a concept or character
doesn't have enough meat to be worthwhile in that story, see if you can fix that. That means either
providing a logical reason why that character or concept is absent–for example, the sister
went away to boarding school, or it means giving the character or concept a greater role. Yes,
it's important to keep things fresh, but don't entirely ditch everything you've already got.
Remember, people are reading the sequel because they loved book one. Number Seven (7): New
character arcs. Your characters should not be the same people they were at the start of book one.
Remember, shit happened. They likely changed and that should be reflected in book two. Now,
I'm not recommending you completely betray their personality. Things have to be reasonable. But
you need to take into consideration the natural progression of their character arc. What happened
in the first book and how will that realistically change them as a person? How will that create
new internal struggles? New traits? New ways of thinking? Think of it as writing one smaller,
mini character arc per book within a series. This will help to keep things interesting and engaging
but also make it easier for you as a writer. In The Savior's Champion, Tobias starts off in over
his head and naive to the deceit of his realm. By the time The Savior's Army rolls around,
he's not that guy anymore and his personality needs to reflect that. Number Eight (8): Flip shit
on its head. Was someone a bad guy in book one? Maybe in book two they switch teams. Did the main
character's father supposedly die in a war in book one? Maybe in book two, we learn that he's alive
and just kidnapped by the enemy. Take something from your first book and dismantle the fuck out of
it. Turn it into something readers won't expect, something shocking. This is another situation
where planning ahead will work wonders because you can prepare for this flip in previous books
by planting little seeds and hints. On a related note, Number Nine (9): Don't betray your story.
“But Jenna, you just said to flip shit on its head!” Yeah, within reason! We can all think
of a sequel where the character is so wildly different, we're just left scratching our head.
In book one, they're pure evil. In book two, they're like, “Just kidding! I'm a saint!”
Make it make sense! For example, if a character is going to switch sides, there needs to be a
realistic reason for doing so. If someone flops from evil to good overnight, no one is gonna buy
it. Certainly not the surrounding cast! Which is another point; if you DO flip shit on its head,
the characters need to react accordingly. I've read too many books where a character does a
fliparoo and everyone just takes it at face value. That's not realistic. People are going
to be confused and skeptical. They are going to require answers. Keep things changing. Keep
things moving. But keep ‘em realistic along the way. And last but certainly not least,
Number Ten (10): Give readers something ya haven't given ‘em before. There should be at least ONE
brand new thing in this book. Something you have yet to include in any other book within the series
thus far. If you've never killed a character off, bitch now's the time! If you talked about dragons
in book one but never showed one, have a dragon swoop in. If your main character doesn't get to
bone in book one, guess what they might be able to do in book two? This tip goes beyond death,
dragons, and penetration. You also want to create new questions within this story. Every book within
your series should create new questions. Hell, every chapter within your series should create new
questions. The point of fiction is to keep your readers interested and entertained, and offering
something new and different is the number one way to do this. So that's all I got for you today! A
huge thank you to Laurine for requesting today's topic! If you'd like the chance to have a video
dedicated to you or if you want access to tons of other awards, check me out on Patreon. You get to
watch my videos early. You get to participate in our private writing group. We've got livestreams.
We've got signed books. It's awesome! I have my Patreon linked below. And a HUGE thank you to
NovelPad for sponsoring today's video! If you want to check out an easy to use novel writing software
that has AMAZING features like ProWritingAid integration and goal setting, and that sweet,
sweet chapter organization, definitely check out NovelPad! You can try ‘em out for a free
14-day trial. There is no credit card required which means no risk. I've got ‘em linked below.
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel! I post new videos on Wednesdays, and if you want to be
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Bye!
(Female Voice) Hey everyone! I'm Emma Tigan, narrator for The Savior's Sister, written by Jenna
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