  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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 ON WRITING SQUELS
There are several kinds of sequels, differing on the story of the original. There are stories that must be continued, stories that could be continued, and stories that shouldn’t be continued. |
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SEQUELS
Have you ever written an Adventure character that was so good you wanted to write a sequel? It is not uncommon. The problem with sequels is that they never live up to the original. Why is that? Do we write it with less enthusiasm? Are the adventures we put them through any less exciting?
I have pondered on this, and have come to the conclusion that although the action is written just as well, and the adventures just as good, there is a tendency to make a paperboard cut-out of the hero, relying too heavily upon what came before. Writers make the fatal mistake of assuming everyone has read the first adventure, and tend to forget that stories are all about people and not just the adventure their having. To make a sequel work, it is necessary to redefine your hero and make them as real, if not better, than the first time you introduced them.
'Conan The Barbarian' by Robert E. Howard comes to my mind. I was, and still am, a big fan of Mr. Howard. He wrote many thrilling stories about the same Sword & Sorcery hero, Conan, and each and every one of them can stand alone and be considered as top-notch writing. I think the key for Howard was that he wrote short stories and novellas, although, if memory serves me well, he did write one or two actual Conan novels. So, how did he do it? What makes one Conan story just as good as the next without trying to read them chronologically?
The answer is that he kept them fresh and new, each one as strong as the first. So, how do you do that? How can you write story after story about the same person and never sound repeitive or boring?
I believe the answer has been proven time and time again by sucessful sequels: when you invest the energy to make something that didn’t exist before, the benefits reaped are well worth the effort.
If you are attempting to write a sequel, just remember this The trick is to pretend that you never wrote the first story.
Until next time,
billwilcox
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You Gotta Read This!
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#1226827 by Not Available. |
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#1226738 by Not Available. |
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| |  | Escape (E)
A journey through forests and obscure medical facilities. Please rate and review!
#1226729 by Becca Morgan  |
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SAY WHAT?
Tehanu remembers:
When I was twelve I solemnly told my mom that I refused to get any older. Since then, I think my heart has grown younger.
I mean, what's the point in life, if we're supposed to be grown-up and sober all the time? I'd rather laugh at most things and stay filled with dreams and "what ifs..." Makes life more colorful, right?
Thanks for sharing your childhood escapades. They brought back some memories of my own.
~ "If growing up means it would be - beneath my dignity to climb a tree...I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow uP, not me!" ~Peter Pan musical
twyls reflects:
Hi Bill, Did you grow up in my head? Every adventure you describe is one I went on. (With the exception of borrowing your mom's red blanket. That was all you.) Thanks for a great trip down imaginary memory lane.
- Amanda, twyls's twin
dogfreek21 recounts:
Action and adventure. I can tell a great true story about boyhood and adventure on farms. My dad used to live in southern Indiana. And I don't think he was doing this for sure, but this really happened. A bunch of kids were playing cowboys and Indians. With guns. Real guns. They shot the trees, where other kids were hiding behind, and if they hit the tree, apparently the kid hiding behind it was out...talk about adventure... and that was a true story.
Colin Back on the Ghost Roads adds:
Good editorial. There is no better revenge than turning living in a dream world into a paying occupation. Keep up the good work.
inbuninbu-- in Japan!! makes a left turn:
Great idea to publish this NL in larger format. Not only will that be much more convenient for anyone with impaired sight, but it might give all the rest of us a break from small, cramped fonts and the resulting eye headaches as well! Kind of you to make things easier on the eye, Mr Editor.
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Action/Adventure: March 07, 2007 Issue [#1585]
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