I'm working on a novella that follows characters who originally appeared in a collection of short stories.
The challenge is that those characters came from completely different stories. They share the same world, but not the same plot.
For readers who have read the collection, that's not a problem. They already know the characters.
But what about readers who pick up the novella first?
Would you rather have a short prologue that introduces the setting and gives a little context, or would you prefer the story to begin immediately and trust you to piece things together as you go?
As a reader, what helps you settle into a sequel when you haven't read the earlier book?
I'm working on a novella that follows characters who originally appeared in a collection of short stories.
The challenge is that those characters came from completely different stories. They share the same world, but not the same plot.
For readers who have read the collection, that's not a problem. They already know the characters.
But what about readers who pick up the novella first?
Would you rather have a short prologue that introduces the setting and gives a little context, or would you prefer the story to begin immediately and trust you to piece things together as you go?
As a reader, what helps you settle into a sequel when you haven't read the earlier book?