Hi there everyone. Sorry I posted and then dropped out on you. Work kinda got the better of me last week. Anyhow, here's a couple answers to clear things up. I hope anyways. haha.
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Originally Posted by Cinisajoy
I just want to add I don't want to have to buy the sequel to get an ending.
To me: that seems like nothing more than a money hungry author.
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Which is kind of ironic given that I don't charge for my books. I give them all away for free as I do this as a stress relieving hobby now. And no, I have no intention of dragging out the ending into a sequel. I want the first one closed out nicely, with everything sorted out and everything nice and tidy, but at the same time with everything setup character wise so that, if they should go on to the next book, I don't have a big mess to contend with at the start. They just roll into it nice and cleanly, and off we go. And if not, then what they get at the end will not leave them feeling shorted in any way. Take the marriage of two of the main characters for instance. They've been talking about that the whole series and at the end it finally gets resolved. That also puts in place an important plot element for the next series that needs to be there and in effect at the very beginning of the next series as it plays a key roll in the opening chapters. See my point?
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Originally Posted by gmw
My first reaction - to the title - was the same as Cinisajoy's: No. But then I read your description and see you mean an extended conclusion/wrap-up.
I'd have to say that the answer is still: generally no. But for epic works and series, especially fantasy, then: Yes, within reason, these can be a good thing; something that has enveloped the reader for this long sometimes needs a longer wrap-up to let the reader down more gently, to avoid feeling as if they've just been dropped out of the world.
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That's more or less what I'm after, trying to finish out and wrap up some things that happened earlier in the series that don't/can't get resolved until the very end. At least not the right way.
[/quote]Remember that it is common these days for books to include some teaser chapters for a new book at the back of a book. So you may be able to have your cake and eat it too. That is to say, close off your first series neatly and cleanly (no next series set up; give a real, satisfying conclusion) but still give the reader the chance to be enticed into the next series (if that is what they want). Properly presented (as teaser chapters for a new book) lets the reader decide if/when to read them, and sets up entirely different expectations.[/QUOTE]
Well, the idea here is to finalize several plotlines in order to lay the groundwork needed for the next series. The first one will be completely closed out as, once they leave the world they're on, the story is over, save only for tying up lose ends and bringing back some of the team members into one place for a wedding that they can't have until they get back to Earth, and which plays an important part in the second series. The rest is sorta how the whole experience on the other planet changes the lives of the main cast when they get back to Earth. It may only take me a chapter to tidy all of that up, or it could take upwards of 3-4, but on the off chance it's the latter, I'm preparing accordingly. I'm also planning on merging all the individual team member storylines at the end into one final storyline, leaving the only "teaser" that there's more coming is the reappearance of one of the main supporting characters who basically watches the wedding unfold and is like, "We ain't done yet."
That'll be about the grand total of spoiler they will get. The rest is just cleanup. However, I envisioned it in my mind as being several distinct endings, but it may not turn out that way. It'd just be separate plotlines which all eventually merge into one.