Got any tips for writing a prequel?

Gregg Bell · Oct 17, 2019

Kat M said:
If they have an obvious and genuine connection by the end of the book, it doesn't make sense to me for the prequel to contain both of them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking a prequel should be able to stand alone no matter what. So I'm imagining myself reading your prequel without having even heard of your other novel. If these two viewpoint characters never meet or have no connection, I'm going to be very frustrated by the end.

I usually see this in historicals. One storyline takes place in the past, the other in the present-day. The two protagonists never meet, but the events of the past directly influence the events of the present.

I can't think of the title off the top of my head, but I read this one. In the 1820s (?), the protagonist was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper. She achieved international fame by assisting in a dangerous rescue. In the 1930s, the protagonist was a young woman who had an heirloom from the lighthouse-keeper's daughter, but there was no family connection. That was the beginning; by the end, we understood why the heirloom was in the family. Meanwhile, we had experienced both of their individual journeys.

So taking it back to your story, I'm thinking your protags will need a greater connection to each other than "and then they started SEAL school and met each other" (I don't know how Navy SEALs are trained, so fill it in with the proper terminology). Otherwise it's just two stories alternating for no particular reason.

Hope this helps?

Thanks Kat. I think you're right about the idea of it being just two alternating stories, but the fact of the matter is my one MC lives in Chicago and the other MC lives in Kansas. I can't see them having a substantial connection before the Navy SEAL tryouts.

Maybe like MythMonger was saying, tell it from a different character's pov. They have a commanding officer that oversees both of them. Maybe I can tell it from her pov as something comes to her attention about two wannabe SEALs who really don't have what it takes but somehow make it.

So I'm imagining myself reading your prequel without having even heard of your other novel.

This ^ was good. I'm so close to the story I forgot about it.

Gregg Bell · Oct 17, 2019

NINA28 said:
Try watching and reading novels that returned for a prequel and see how they done.

You'll need a story that can stand on it's own and be compelling.
You'll need to know your previous to stories well and be consistent with date, places, times and so on.

That's all I can offer as I've never done it.

Good advice, Nina, thanks. And I'll have to re-read the books to stay consistent (in the prequel).

Murky · Oct 20, 2019

The perhaps greatest challenge in writing a prequel is that you know exactly where everything will end up – with book 1.
This is especially true when the prequel is about the protagonist. They can’t even grow as a character to a higher level than they were on at the start of the main book.

As others have suggested, see if the backstory of another character hold something interesting to write about. If you want to write more about your MCs, perhaps an event in the past triggered them to go on the path to become Seals?
Separating their stories (for the most part) will open some potential stories, and you could even have them meet up at a point without then realizing it. Or, perhaps even better, that they almost meet up.
(If they become a couple in the main story, it will add an extra dimension that they just missed each other back then).

Go over your manuscript and see what interesting points are referred to in the past. There might be something there you can expand on but be careful about the potential of overhype...um…ness.
(Example, in the MCU, Black Widow and Hawkeye constantly referred Budapest and what happened there. Apparently, we will find out in the next movie, but so many people will think “was that it?” when it is revealed).
Some references to the past are best left to the readers imagination.

When writing a prequel, you also need to keep a very close eye on consistency and world your world building, so that it matches what was presented in the main story.
(For example, don’t say that in 16-17, trillions of people in the galaxy forget about a religion – with clear, provable miracles and abilities being reported on the news for thousands of years. Or that it takes 16 years to build your first ultimate space station, and 3 years to finish your next one).

And as others have already pointed out, it needs to stand on its own.

rgroberts · Oct 20, 2019

I'm in the midst of writing a prequel, too, though it's one I really didn't want to write. Unfortunately, I found that I started the story too early with my first manuscript, and there's events that can't just be referenced...they need to happen on the page to kick the entire series off.

But as others have said, a prequel needs to be its own story to matter. For me, that means that the prequel now becomes book 1 for the series, and everything else shifts to the right. If the prequel's story isn't an actual story, it might not need to be written. Have you considered a collection of short stories about your main characters instead of a full-on prequel? That might work if you only have bits of backstory that need to be told.

Gateway · Oct 22, 2019

Gregg Bell said:
I have a series that's a farce. It's about two early twenties bumbling Navy SEALs. (Kind of like the old TV show "McHale's Navy.") Book one starts when the SEALs are matched up as partners and get their first mission.

I tried to write a prequel but I just basically told where the characters were born, what they were like in school, blah blah blah, and it just came out as episodic mush. (There was no story to ground it.)

Got any tips to make a prequel come alive? (And I'm totally willing to scrap what I wrote and start from scratch.)

It's a story in its own right, with journey, change, theme and so on.

Got any tips for writing a prequel?

Gregg Bell

Gregg Bell

Murky

rgroberts

Gateway

You Are My Density