Hi, so I'm trying to figure out how to write the first chapter of a sequel that I've written. I have the characters talking about things that happened in the first book. But my writers group says it sounds like a "As you know Bob" Does anyone have any advice? How do you tackle this? Thanks.
You only need to mention events from the first book that are necessary to make sense of what happens in the second book. Imagine if you don't make any recaps. What would not the reader struggle to understand in the sequel? Having created your short-list, you could have your MC reminiscing about those events after being reminded by something. That way, they don't have to tell something that is already known to the other characters.
I'd advise just starting with the new story. Find your inciting incident and start from there. That's just making sure that the readers are hooked from the first page, which is in your interest. If your sequel is a standalone, you could just give pertinent bits of events in the first book at appropriate times. And even if it's a true sequel and you start with reminiscending, I'd probably be pissed as a reader because it feels either like a) admonishment 'See how I don't trust you to remember'? or b) 'Buy my first book! See how much you missed out on?' Neither of which is good. So again, start with where the new story starts
you can have a optional blurb for those who chose to read out of order. and even then characters still remember and reminisce but it should happen organically like how real people think about things that happened in the past. like how they might view the events of the previous book in a new light after various character progression. You shouldn't make it the goal to re explain everything that happened in the previous book but it can be useful to have refreshers for things readers might forget.
I think LOTR had very brief paragraphs in the second and third books. So I think the solution is to have either no explanation at all, or have a very terse one.
