Okay, so as promised, let’s talk about plotting sequels. I use the Save The Cat outline a whole lot, because it’s really worked for me, but it’s not without criticisms. With that in mind, just keep in mind all outline formulas are merely guides, and you shouldn’t let them stifle your process. I’m going to frame the following in the Four Act Structure - Act 1, Act 2a, Act 2b, and Act 3, with a defined mid-Act 2 split. If this does not work for you, don’t despair! There are many ways to structure a plot.
Let’s get on to writing sequels. Now, every book has to have its own structure - beginning, middle, and end. You can’t just chop a book in into two or three parts, tempting as that might be, though you can end on cliffhangers (sorta). The most common advice is to take your books and fit them within a larger Four Act structure.
But what this doesn’t mean is splitting, say, a trilogy into Book 1 Act 1, Book 2 Act 2, etc. A whole first book in just Act 1 with no Inciting Event in sight until the end will not hook your readers - and frankly, will bore you to tears to write. You will want to have the same beats you’d normally have for a stand-alone book - but with every sequel, you’ll raise the stakes, heighten the tension, and bring about new realizations to the main characters.
Duologies. This one is going to be a bit easier, because our Four Act Structure gives us a False Victory/Defeat in the Middle of Act 2, so we can adapt this to the climax of Book 1 into that split.
A False Victory climax can be any of the following:
The villain is defeated, only to reveal a bigger villain to fight.
The most critical problem has been solved, but stopping what’s caused it will be even more costly.
The romantic interest has been won - but are they truly the right one?
A False Defeat climax, therefore, would go something like this:
The heroes lost the battle, but discovered the key to defeating the villain - if they can reach it in time.
The protagonist married the wrong man at the alter - only to realize they must rectify this mistake in Book 2.
The hero/love interest/central figure dies - but they’ve left those to take up the charge for them (and perhaps find a resurrection spell out there...)
Basically, the end of Book 1 will likely be the realization they haven’t solved the problem, and the stakes are going to be even higher for Book 2 (world-ending even, figuratively or literally). Book 1, if we’re following the Save the Cat structure, is going about fixing the problem the wrong way and discovering the flaws holding the main characters back. Book 2 will be going about fixing the problem the right way, with the main characters confronting their own flaws in the process.
Examples of duologies include:
Jordan Ifueko’s Raybearer series
Kat Cho’s Wicked Fox series
Rin Chupeco’s Cruel Kingdom series
Melissa Albert’s Hazel Wood series (so far)
Trilogies. The classic structure, not nearly as easy to do as it looks. In order to keep your readers hooked, you’re going to need to raise the stakes, reveal new threats, and bring your book world to the brink of destruction (this can be fantastical or personal). For this definition, I’m talking about trilogies that follow the same characters and same problems. Our Four Act Structure doesn’t bisect so easily into this format, but we can still think of if this way:
Book 1 is bringing us out of the Ordinary World in Act 1. No matter how fantastical things are or how many vampires invade town, your character is still on familiar ground until the climax throws them off the deep end and into Act 2.
Book 2 is going to usually throw characters into unfamiliar territory. The main character is suddenly crowned king, the vampires are on your side against a bigger threat now, or everything you knew about space is tossed out the window. In the first book, the protagonist may have been able to ignore their flaws, but in Book 2 they must reluctantly deal with them, especially if ignoring them starts getting people killed.
Book 3 has to be your banger. Everything is on an uphill rush toward the ultimate climax, where the protagonist must defeat the threat (space aliens, alcoholism, the evil wizard in-laws) or face world destruction (literally, the world will explode, or on a smaller scale, the protagonist’s life will be destroyed). You want to pull out all the stops on this one - new settings, bigger threats, and the ultimate confrontation of your protagonist’s internal conflict.
Now, let’s look at this in the Four Act Structure (keeping in mind each book will have their own structures as well).
Book 1 is your Act 1 crashing into Act 2, your trilogy’s Inciting Event the climax that thrusts your protagonist into a new world. Your protagonist has figured out how to fight vampires - but at the end of the book, super vampires show up. Your magician has stopped the evil spell, but it’s shaken his confidence in magic - and something far worse has escaped out in the world in the process. Book 1 is the Ordinary World crashing into the Extraordinary one.
Book 2, I must admit, is a bit malleable. With this structure, I’ve seen many authors use the False Victory/Defeat mid-point as the ending climax, and that does work most of the time. There’s a lot of crazy fun you can have in Act 2, so don’t feel like you have to cut it short just to fit a certain structure. Book 2 is your Extraordinary world - new possibilities, new threats, new rules.
Book 3 will be Act 2b and Act 3. I recommend this specifically because Act 3 is when your protagonist knows what they’re doing and we’ve nothing more to learn from them or about their world - it’s short for a reason. That’s why I recommend making most of the book fit in your Act 2b structure - the main characters know the right way to do things now, but they still face new challenges and make new mistakes. The fate of the world is at stake, and there’s still a high risk that they will fail. Book 3 is your Ordinary World threatened by the Extraordinary one. Neither might survive the end.
Examples of trilogies include:
Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus triology (and one unconnected book)
V.E. Schwab’s Darker Shade of Magic trilogy
S. A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass trilogy
This isn’t the easiest to parse without details - what I recommend is take your two-book or three-book plans, however vague they may be, and lay them out within the Four Act structure to see what fits and what doesn’t. (Excel is a great program for this, for better or worse).
Still confused? The Four Act structure doesn’t work for you? Need some other perspectives? Here’s some links on other ways to approach writing a series:
How to Write a Book Trilogy
Four Ways to Plot a Trilogy
Crafting a Fantasy Saga in Just Two Books
We’re going to have to talk about multi-book sequels in a part three, so stay-tuned!
