The official Irregular Sequel Rant
Apr. 9th, 2003 02:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bktheirregularGot another feedback today asking if I was going to do a sequel to "Scarab".
Got me thinking, and looking at my feedback ... just on ff.net, from reviews of the complete work, I could do a tally.
Lessee:
-One request for sequel (liked, but complains about "serious lack of b/s"; asks for "sequal with spuffiness?").
-One request for sequel ("pretty please? You can't leave us just hanging...").
-One request for sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel, with constructive criticism.
-One request for sequel ("Looking forward to the sequel which you lined up.")
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One request for sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One maybe (does "please do more" count?).
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One request for sequel (indicating that it should take place during the battle against Glory).
That doesn't include the e-mail requests ... but from that sample alone, it's about fifty/fifty.
Anyway ... why do people make sequels in the first place?
-Looking to milk the cash cow of a successfully told story? (Obviously doesn't apply to fanfic writers.)
-Logical continuation of a story that's already been told?
-New direction for a tale that's already been told?
-Someone trying to re-imagine a story someone else did?
-Someone who can't seem to let go of a story that has been told, continuing to tell the tale long after people have lost interest?
Some big names have fallen prey to some of the traps of not knowing when to end a story *cough*GeorgeLucas*cough*.
I mean, name a sequel - it's an ultra-long list. Name a successful sequel - that's a much, much shorter list.
I, for one, can't rattle off stories like I was a machine - I have to believe in what I'm writing. I have to understand it.
And I've got to know what I'm doing.
Which, in the case of "Scarab", anyway, I don't, not when you take it past the point where it ended. I've got three half-formed plot bunnies, a general idea, and if I were to begin writing now based on that ... I would end up with something like Men In Black 2.
(For the benefit of those who didn't see Men In Black 2, that movie sucked hard vacuum. Incoherent plot, jokes stitched together like a patchwork quilt ... not good.)
Not that "Scarab" compares at all to the original MIB; doesn't even come close. But it's not badfic. I don't know if it's good, but it's not badfic.
A sequel, based on what I have now, would be badfic.
And, truth be told, I don't see that I'd have the mental resources to do a story that extensive, now or in the near future, with the job hunt underway and the career about to begin. I would especially be leery of throwing the ideas out into the public domain for a sequel ... I've seen too many people trash an original idea by making an insipid sequel. Even happens in fanfic.
(There is a group of highly talented authors I would trust with the genesis of the sequel, but something tells me they wouldn't want anything to do with it...)
Sorry. Had to vent.
Close entry.
Got me thinking, and looking at my feedback ... just on ff.net, from reviews of the complete work, I could do a tally.
Lessee:
-One request for sequel (liked, but complains about "serious lack of b/s"; asks for "sequal with spuffiness?").
-One request for sequel ("pretty please? You can't leave us just hanging...").
-One request for sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel, with constructive criticism.
-One request for sequel ("Looking forward to the sequel which you lined up.")
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One request for sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One maybe (does "please do more" count?).
-One review without a request for a sequel.
-One request for sequel (indicating that it should take place during the battle against Glory).
That doesn't include the e-mail requests ... but from that sample alone, it's about fifty/fifty.
Anyway ... why do people make sequels in the first place?
-Looking to milk the cash cow of a successfully told story? (Obviously doesn't apply to fanfic writers.)
-Logical continuation of a story that's already been told?
-New direction for a tale that's already been told?
-Someone trying to re-imagine a story someone else did?
-Someone who can't seem to let go of a story that has been told, continuing to tell the tale long after people have lost interest?
Some big names have fallen prey to some of the traps of not knowing when to end a story *cough*GeorgeLucas*cough*.
I mean, name a sequel - it's an ultra-long list. Name a successful sequel - that's a much, much shorter list.
I, for one, can't rattle off stories like I was a machine - I have to believe in what I'm writing. I have to understand it.
And I've got to know what I'm doing.
Which, in the case of "Scarab", anyway, I don't, not when you take it past the point where it ended. I've got three half-formed plot bunnies, a general idea, and if I were to begin writing now based on that ... I would end up with something like Men In Black 2.
(For the benefit of those who didn't see Men In Black 2, that movie sucked hard vacuum. Incoherent plot, jokes stitched together like a patchwork quilt ... not good.)
Not that "Scarab" compares at all to the original MIB; doesn't even come close. But it's not badfic. I don't know if it's good, but it's not badfic.
A sequel, based on what I have now, would be badfic.
And, truth be told, I don't see that I'd have the mental resources to do a story that extensive, now or in the near future, with the job hunt underway and the career about to begin. I would especially be leery of throwing the ideas out into the public domain for a sequel ... I've seen too many people trash an original idea by making an insipid sequel. Even happens in fanfic.
(There is a group of highly talented authors I would trust with the genesis of the sequel, but something tells me they wouldn't want anything to do with it...)
Sorry. Had to vent.
Close entry.
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no subject
Date: 2003-04-09 05:09 am (UTC)The fact that you pulled off a Stargate/Buffy crossover so well while actually fitting it into canon for both shows in one story should be enough for people.
Oh, and I'm at work so I'm consolidating my comments: Glad you found those CDs. :)
no subject
Date: 2003-04-09 08:51 am (UTC)FWIW, I think it stands phenomenally well on its own, and don't think it either reads as if you were setting up a sequel or cries out for one. What it does is leave things in a way that both universes can go back to their normal tracks in a way that fits within canon (which I consider to be pretty much the Holy Grail of crossoverdom), with knowledge of one another and a place to start the conversation from should they ever happen to bump into one another again. Any crossover opens up more possibilities than can be explored within one fic, but I agree that it doesn't immediately follow that you have to try to explore them all.
Don't let it wig you too much, tho. In my experience, wishing for a sequel is many readers' response to making an emotional investment in a fic and not wanting it to end. Think of them as pleas for renewal of a series. ;-) And, with that in mind, be assured that the same people will quite likely enjoy your next, non-sequel offering as much as, if not more than, they would a continuation of this particular piece.