Cenonn's How to Holofic and Writing in General

Every closed door is the intro of a brand new story

You did it. You finished your Holofic. Your days of thinking about your Holofic are over. Your readers may or may not be satisfied with your ending. Say goodbye to your characters and your world which you planned so hard. It's over. It's done.

Or is it?

For some reason, you did so well that your fans want more. They want to see more of your characters. They love your world. They want more of your writing style.

Or maybe you just can't let go of your characters and world. You spent hours planning and now it'll all be gone? You don't want it to happen.

And so you decided to write a sequel. What's a sequel? A sequel is a published, broadcast, or recorded work that continues the story or develops the theme of an earlier one.

That's right! It's not yet over! You'll continue the story!

You can be like HirokuEmiyo who created Overwhelming Moon II after he was done with Overwhelming Moon. I know. I know. It's a bit iffy for a guide of Holofics to have a Danmachi fic as an example but technically, Overwhelming Moon can be argued as a Holofic too. But let's not focus on that debate.

Now then... When writing a sequel, you would start from scratch with a new and independent plotline depending on the reader's demand. In other words, sequels can be tricky.

A sequel of a great story is very easy to market. For example, when Toy Story was released, it was a huge hit. When Toy Story 2 was announced, people were very excited and many bought tickets for the movie when it was released. You don't have to promote your sequel that much if your first story is awesome.

However, there are also disadvantages to sequels. One of the biggest disadvantages is the very high expectations your readers would have. You have to make sure your sequel is as good or even better than the previous one or else, you'll just disappoint your fans.

I'll teach ya some tips on how to make your sequel work.

First off, don't just continue the story of the previous Holofic. That's a huge pitfall for new writers. I mean yeah... You ended the first Holofic but your fans are asking "What happens next?" But you have to put more effort than just answering that question.

Your readers liked the original Holofic and most of them would want it to stay the same. However, the catch is that the original story is already over. The conflicts and plotlines were already resolved. There's no point in dragging it out.

If you're going to make the sequel have the same conflicts as the previous one, it would be pretty bad. Even if your readers would want to feel the same way the first story made them feel, you have to be much more creative than that. The only way to satisfy them is if you would bring a totally new and refreshing idea.

And we now go to my second tip which is to give the readers something new to play around with. This is the toughest part in writing a sequel. It's much more difficult than creating an entirely new project despite having the same steps. After all, you gotta deal with the pressure of surpassing the previous story.

You might be tempted to just reuse your old plotlines since hey, if it worked before, it'll work again, right? WRONG. You don't want to be called a one-trick pony.

Good sequels bring a brand new perspective to the story. The more different your sequel is, the more interested your readers would be. You don't want to bore the hell out of them.

Resolving the old plotlines and character arcs from the previous Holofic isn't the most important part of a sequel. News flash: Those things are already done! No need to dwell on it. The things that you need are new plotlines and character arcs.

Third tip is to make the stakes different. A different outline of your story is a good place to start but it's not enough. You might be tempted to recreate the original plot but instead, it would be on a grander scale. Let's say that in the first book, your MC has to save the world and in the next, he has to save the multiverse. Nope. You won't fool your readers.

Try to have a different conflict instead of just using a formula. You'll most likely bore your readers if your conflicts are still the same in the sequel. After all, they've seen what you can do with those conflicts. It's time you get out of your comfort zone and give them something different.

The fourth tip is to play around with the expectations. Your readers will always have expectations for your sequel. The more awesome your previous Holofic was, the more expectations they would have. Once you steeled yourself and got past those expectations, you will grow as a writer.

To play around with expectations, try to see the formula of your previous story and completely change it. Did your first Holofic have robots as the main enemy? Then you can play with the expectations of your readers by having Roboco be a good girl. Did your first Holofic have a bad portrayal of supernatural creatures? You can surprise your readers that the supernatural creatures can be good too.

My next tip is introducing at least one great character. If you're going to bring something new, you have to include a brand new character too. They have to be very memorable and stand out from the casts of the previous Holofic. It will definitely keep your fanfiction to be "fresh."

The sixth tip is to become someone who can let go of the old characters. I know. I know. Your readers came for the sequel because they want to see more of your characters. But if you're adding new memorable characters, some of them might end up becoming forgotten.

In your sequel, you only have to shine the spotlight on the characters that will perform essential plot functions. The other characters are not that important anymore. I told you about the importance of screen time, right? You don't want to risk boring your readers with filler scenes just because you want more screen time for a Hololive girl. Let it go. Let it go. Can't hold it back any-- alright. I'll stop. Moving on...

The last tip is that you should analyze your previous book and see what made it special. After that, offer more of it.

"But Cenonn! You said we have to change things in the sequel! Why are you going back on your words and telling us to stick with our previous formula?!"

Look here. Like every other thing in the world, there is a key point called "Balance." I think you can also apply the concept of Familiarity and Novelty in creating sequels.

Your sequel has to have enough Novelty that your readers won't get tired of reading the same thing but it should also have enough Familiarity that the readers would still say "Ah. It's the same series."

After all, you can't make a sequel of a ghost story to become a romantic comedy. You'll be betraying your readers' trust.

Try to see what made your Holofic successful. What did your readers feel and why? Was it because of its theme? Was it because of its characters? Interview your readers and ask them questions. Try to figure out how it worked and make sure you can still do the same in the sequel. After that, you can defy the reader's expectations and bring a fresh new sequel.

Now then... Writing sequels is a tough business. If you look at movies, you can see way more disappointing sequels compared to the number of successful ones.. Take note of what I taught you and you are on your way to create a sequel that your readers will chow down.

In the next chapter, I'll talk about the alternative to sequels which is writing a fictional shared universe.