Does Your Novel Deserve a Sequel?

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Does your novel deserve a sequel? That’s a tough question to answer. As fiction writers, I think we’d most often like the answer to be: “Yes!” It’s hard to let go of characters and plots and worlds we adore.

However – surprise, surprise – not all novels need a sequel. In fact, some of them are better as standalones. On the flipside, there are lots of books that require a sequel.

So how do you know which your book is? Well, here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine whether or not it needs continuation.

Consider the following questions.

Is there a sequel opportunity?
[image error]I intend for this short story to be a standalone. Just wait for me to eat my words a month later …

This first thing to think about, of course, is whether or not you have an idea for a sequel.

Now, this is a rare condition* – and not something I struggle with often – but occasionally an author will want to write a sequel – even believe his/her novel deserves a sequel – but be unable to think of a plot to write.

In these cases, unless you’ve either promised a publisher to write a sequel** or your novel cannot function as a standalone, it’s best to just let the book remain sequel-less.

*which I would very much like to have from time to time.

**in the case of traditionally published authors, of course.

Can your book be a standalone?

Some books have a cliff-hanger for an ending that says, “There shall be a sequel!” Occasionally standalones will have mysterious or open-ended resolutions; however, oftentimes a story continues through the next book or even into a series.

If you intended to write a series from the beginning, that’s one thing. However, there are occasions when the ending of your book – which you intended to be a standalone – leaves you longing to write a sequel to wrap up a plot or some such.

[image error]One example of this would be with my very own The Lady of the Vineyard. I wanted it to be a standalone; however, I found myself wanting to continue the story.

I’d left Adele and the rest of the characters in more of a compromise than a happily-ever-after. And, loving these characters as I did, I didn’t feel that it was sufficient.

Several readers had also commented that they were unsatisfied with leaving Adele with so much of her journey uncompleted. I agree with them. Though it was a good place to end the book, it wasn’t necessarily a good place to leave the story!

This, along with advice from friends, helped me decide to write Flowers, the short story sequel to The Lady of the Vineyard. And I’ve yet to regret it!

Does it add to the story … or does it detract?

This is probably your #1 concern when deciding whether or not to write a sequel. Are you writing something that takes away or adds?

This applies to prequels and whatnot as well, which is good because that’s the example I’m going to use.