Creative Exercise:

With what emotion does your character react to a recent disaster? Write an alternative sequel in which he responds to the disaster with exactly the opposite emotion. How does the story change for the better or worse?

 

Something to Think About:

1. What emotion or mindset does your protagonist have at the beginning of the sequel?

 

2. How does this emotion evolve over the course of the sequel?

 

3. What prominent emotion or mindset does the protagonist have at the end of the sequel?

 

4. What primary emotion defines this sequel?

 

5. How does this primary emotion vary from that in other sequels throughout the story?

 

Resources:

• “How to Use Foreshadowing to Jazz Up Slow Scenes,” K.M. Weiland

 

• “How to Cut the Filler and Tighten Your Book,” Laura Carlson

 

• “Warning Signs! Your Character Is Acting Out of Character,” K.M. Weiland

 

• “5 Ways You’re Preventing Readers From Suspending Their Disbelief,” K.M. Weiland

 

• “Writing the Perfect Scene,” Randy Ingermanson