Hello!
I am currently working on Book 2 of my Stigma Series. The problem I'm facing is how much backstory do I give from book one?
Book 1's prologue is action packed and really sets the pace, it adds a little mystery and context to Chapter 1 of course.
Book 2's however is much slower in comparison, which is fitting, but i do spend a solid 700 words out of the 1580 glancing over what happened in the last chapter of Book 1. It explains why my MC is in the state she is in, how she got there, and a couple key names from Book 1 that effect the world in Book 2- like the main players of the world.
I guess I just have a pang of guilt that its not as action packed and contained of a prologue as Book 1's. Each novel should ideally be able to be read as a stand alone, but I also want to provide context and notions to what HAS happened, which belongs in the prologue, right?
I also dont want to be predictable and spend every prologue in the series recapping.
How do you avoid this?
How do/would you all structure your prologues in a series?
A side note:
Many people who have read Book 1 so far have mentioned they just straight up skip prologues no matter what book they read- got confused and i would just sigh and tell them to read the prologue and suddenly they have that "oh! this makes so much sense now!" moment.
I am currently working on Book 2 of my Stigma Series. The problem I'm facing is how much backstory do I give from book one?
Book 1's prologue is action packed and really sets the pace, it adds a little mystery and context to Chapter 1 of course.
Book 2's however is much slower in comparison, which is fitting, but i do spend a solid 700 words out of the 1580 glancing over what happened in the last chapter of Book 1. It explains why my MC is in the state she is in, how she got there, and a couple key names from Book 1 that effect the world in Book 2- like the main players of the world.
I guess I just have a pang of guilt that its not as action packed and contained of a prologue as Book 1's. Each novel should ideally be able to be read as a stand alone, but I also want to provide context and notions to what HAS happened, which belongs in the prologue, right?
I also dont want to be predictable and spend every prologue in the series recapping.
How do you avoid this?
How do/would you all structure your prologues in a series?
A side note:
Many people who have read Book 1 so far have mentioned they just straight up skip prologues no matter what book they read- got confused and i would just sigh and tell them to read the prologue and suddenly they have that "oh! this makes so much sense now!" moment.