Prequels are tricky things. They’re supposed to help push your story forward before it even takes place. If done correctly, they can add more to your story and make your readers gain a different perspective.
If. Done. Correctly.
If not, it will confuse your readers and leave your story a jumbled mess.
There are many reasons why a prequel succeeds or fails, but today we’ll cover two of the most common ones.
1). Continuity.
When you write your story, you set the stage by introducing the world and the events that led up to the beginning of the story. Prequels show what exactly happened, but the plot of a prequel can often wreck the stage for your original book.
A good example of a prequel done right is The Hobbit. Even as we follow Bilbo’s adventure, we know his eventual ending. He returns to the Shire with the One Ring and records his tale that he passes on to his heir, Frodo. Tolkien keeps that in mind while he writes The Hobbit. He shows how Bilbo not only reaches the Lonely Mountain but how he obtains the Ring on the way. By the time he returns to Bag End, all of the plot points have been tied up and tees up The Fellowship of the Ring. The prequel doesn’t ruin the beginning of the original trilogy, but rather acknowledges its existence and follows the timeline Tolkien originally set up.
Prequels that fail forget that there’s another story once it’s over. They either leave plot points open or rush to tie everything up, which just makes for a sloppy ending. It wouldn’t have been as exciting if Bilbo found The Ring on the side of the road on his way back home. We would’ve known that Tolkien forgot and quickly added it in. If you do a prequel, write down the major details of the beginning of your original book and make sure you neatly work them into the prequel.
2). Attention to Details
The other major factor for a prequel’s success is details. Specifically, important events or facts from the original story. If there’s something that is claimed to have happened before the start of your book, the prequel needs to show it. And the prequel must account for other details from its predecessor, both significant and trivial.
Going back to The Hobbit, we know Bilbo somehow obtains the One Ring before The Fellowship of the Ring. During his adventure we see just that—he takes the Ring from Gollum and keeps it until he eventually gives it to Frodo. And while we recognize the Ring for what it truly is and know Gollum’s story, Bilbo doesn’t see their significance and carries on without too much thought. This small section of the prequel keeps true to the original story’s timeline and shows its characters dismissing important details as insignificant.
As readers, we remember important details and events from the original book. If the writer can’t keep track of them, it not only confuses the reader but can create unnecessary plot holes in the main story.
Prequels should be handled with care and extreme caution.
If you’re interested in writing a prequel or might in the future, sit down and write out a timeline. Make a list of important facts and keep track of them. Details make or break every story.
And in a prequel’s case, it does that for two.
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