Recapitulation

[Rorick]

I'm writing a sequel to a finished manuscript. It's out for beta reading at the moment, the original one I mean, and I want to keep busy and not prod it too much for the time being. My head is full of this world so I'm staying there at the moment rather than pursuing something else in my "Big Book of Ridiculous Ideas".

I've come to a point where my protagonist meets an old acquaintance and they chew the fat. This would be an opportune time, if it were needed, to do a quick recap on the capers of the previous volume.

Is there any point in doing this? It's intended to be part of a short series, but do I want to make it accessible enough so that, should I ever get published , a reader could pick up this book without reading the first? Or do I make the assumption that they remember the first book? If you are in favour of the idea, to what extent should I recant the tale?

Bear in mind, these aren't 700 page epic monsters like GRRM or Robert Jordan, they're quite snappy, dynamic, 90-100k words, almost thriller/crime style, in a fantasy world. So the idea of having to recap like an encyclopaedia is moot.

I've never given it much until now and I'll be going back through some of my favourites to see how it was handled.

Thoughts?

 

[TWErvin2]

I think you're on the right track, seeing how successful authors, especially those that you enjoy reading, managed it.

I wrote an article a short time back on this topic: Indie book blog: Guest blog with Terry W. Ervin II author of Flank Hawk and Blood Sword

That might give you some insight into the process, which can be tricky and there isn't a one size fits all answer.

 

[CupofJoe]

Having old acquaintances [I notice you didn't write friends...] going over the "good old days" and maybe even past glories sounds okay to me.
The stories might lend themselves to being dripped out on a blog to build up steam for you bigger work and/or anthologised in to another release...
It would give fans a deeper world to live in and also let new readers dip their toes...
I have recently been converted to trying author's short stories before diving in to their Magnum Opera.

 

[Penpilot]

If its nothing more than a quick recap to establish the existence of previous adventures and a common past then it's fine. But if it's anything longer than a a few paragraphs then IMHO it needs a purpose for existing in the current story. It should do work for the current story otherwise it's dead weight.