: Re: Can your current work of fiction be influenced by a sequel? Most works of fiction are influenced by back stories. Can that also be true for envisioned sequels? I was working on a screenplay

@Martha805

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Most people work with the thought in mind that their piece of writing will go on to be well received, and more success will come based around that, so will leave doors open for sequels. However, nobody wants to read an incomplete book.

Therefore you will usually find that most things will wrap up quite well at the end, and most plot points will be handled nicely, and the audience can be happy and content at the end.

This, however, doesn't mean the writer can't leave 1 or 2 loose ends that could possibly go on to evolve into further pieces. These could generally develop naturally from the first piece, referencing whatever loose end didn't tie up previously.

This means that a first piece of writing can always leave clues that might appear in the next, but that wouldn't detract from the story if the second piece is never written.

For example, a mysterious character that your main character notices in a bar talking to her boss, but you then find out nothing else about him, would leave the reader thinking he's just a shady guy, and that her boss is possibly cavorting with shady types, thus developing the character.

This can then be developed in the second piece when she spots the same man in a train station, and decides to follow him to see what he's up to. This can then lead to her changing her opinion about the current CEO and wanting to overthrow him.

You wouldn't fully describe this character in the first piece, and notice many things about him, without him ever showing up in again until the sequel, which might not ever even happen.

This means that you don't have to compromise the character for the first piece in order for her to make sense in the second. When the sequel comes around, make the situation fit the character, rather the character into a situation that they wouldn't make sense in.

If absolutely necessary, you can have the character experience something that does actually change her personality, such as a near-death experience, or a close family member dying. This could cause her to change, whether the sequel starts off this way or it happens between when the first piece ends and the second one begins.

So my suggestion would be to have the full character arc within the first piece, but with the thought in mind that it can develop further. Perhaps drop clues in the first piece as to how it might tie into the second, but don't start setting up a full story that finishes abruptly.

Make the character that fits in within the first story, and then change the situation so that her reasoning would change within the second.

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