Wednesday 2 July 2014

Underrated Writing Skill


I'm rereading the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy by K. W. Jeter. I just started book two, and I noticed something--he's excellent at mentioning relevant events from the first book, for those who might not have read it, without long "previously on..." sections that are tedious to people following the series in order. (I'm looking at you Laurel K. Hamilton, with your literal copy-and-paste flashbacks).

I've never come across any advice on how to tackle this situation, or really read anything about it, but I think getting the right balance of 'enough to catch people up' and 'not boring' is tricky. I know that I, as a reader, appreciate when it's done well. As I (hopefully, eventually!) start to have sequels, I hope I'll be able to write those sections well.

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