book two introductions.

by Sophie Barlow
12th March 2015

I'm sure i'm not the only one who has problems re-introducing my characters and concepts in book two. I find repetition to be a sin, sometimes a necessary one. I think I am guilty of over describing to compensate.

It has been such a long time since I posted here!

How do you re-introduce your characters and concepts in sequels?

Replies

I don't like to be descriptive about how my characters look unless they have some flaw or important feature that needs attention. I completely agree with you on that front.

My problem is more one of place and history around the story line. introducing the reader to new worlds, cultures, social structures and problems in a natural and organic way, without having some laborious dialogue or lengthy explanations.

I have had the greatest success when I just pick up the story and let things develop, but then I don't notice if I have left out something crucial. I suppose this is where Beta readers come in :/

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Sophie Barlow
12/03/2015

Like you did in the first. I'm basing this off the Harry Potter books, where J.K. Rowling tells you how Harry and his friends look like in each book, so don't worry about re-telling readers what your characters look like in the next book.

What you DON'T want to do is do this in the same book, I hear Twilight is very bad for this. The only time I think you just re-tell how one character looks is if they have a complete make-over, or they are a shape-shiftier and you need to let the reader know about their new look.

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12/03/2015