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Hi, I have been working on a story for several months now, but due to school and work there have been periods where I haven't worked on it for a long time.  I'm wondering how long the story should be before I can finish it and make a sequel.  The first chapter in itself is 100 pages, but that's with all the different paths, there is even two different versions of chapter two, which I am yet to write.  I plan on making a few chapters and branching chapters.  

I also am worried that some of my pages are too long and might bore people.  I try to make a lot happen in them, especially fight "scenes".  If a reader is reading through a story, and not going back and looking at all the choices, how many pages should they read through in one go?  I don't want it to seem too short.  Any suggestions? Tips? 

Good fight scenes tend to be fairly short. If you overplay the drama or suspense of a scene, it can have the opposite affect of what you are trying to achieve. As long as something of relevance is happening, I wouldn't worry too much about how long your pages are. But if your character is wandering around, doing little bits of nothing of import to the plot. Cut, cut, cut.

Personally, I would try to have most pages fall within a common word range. Think how silly it would be to have a 2,000 word page/scene of explicit detail and imagery followed up by several pages of 200 words or less with only general descriptions. Still, this word shift could be done well, if you are trying to achieve something specific with pacing in mind.

Write your full story in one game - however long that takes. I think a sequel is only a good idea when it is an entirely separate story in its own right. I believe Kiel's 'The Other World' is a sequel to the events of 'A Game of Life and Death.' But the stories take place thousands or hundreds of years apart, if I recall correctly. So while associated, they have distance from each other. So unless your sequel has logical distance and can stand alone, I would strongly advise against that in most cases. Don't just make a sequel because you want to publish something now. A good story requires time and patience. Do not rush.

Thanks for the input.  I try to keep the pages relatively the same length, but it varies a bit depending on what's going on.  I plan on making the story quite long though.  Not like, a few pages then it goes to "hahah you liked this? well too bad, this is the end of part one."

The reason I want to have a sequel is to explain the main characters past, which I plan on making a lot of his background story to be chosen by the reader.  Like his lifestyle, job, ect.  Then the characters back story and events leading up to where the one I'm writing now will be a long story.  So basically the parts will be lengthy, and if I write it the right way should be able to stand pretty solidly, and there's a number of years in between them.

For the fight scenes, like, they don't go on for pages, but I try to make it so that you know the main character and enemies aren't wussies and they've got some fighting capabilities.  The fight length varies on if the character is shooting off faces or going hand to hand.  

Thanks for your input and I will definitely keep your advice in mind. :)  

Eh, tough guys can lose quick too. I really like how G.R.R.M. approaches fighting skill with ASOIAF. There is no 'best' swordsman or fighter. There's a group of 5-10 guys that really kick ass and probably have the highest skill, but that doesn't guarantee anything. Any guy can lose any given day, given the right or wrong circumstances. Maybe the pot roast last night wasn't cooked all the way through and your Big Bruiser has severe stomach cramps. Maybe he slips on a slick bit of ground at the start of the fight and stabs himself. Pummeling other people and taking a beating aren't the only ways to show toughness.

I'd be careful with giving the reader too much leeway with background choices. This could lead to having to write or script a lot of relatively unimportant information. That time would probably be better spent working on a meaningful plot and characterization that drives the 'now' of the story forward.

Most sane readers don't have a problem with taking over a character that already has a backstory/history that the story uses as a base framework - so long as they are allowed relevant choices in the "now" of the story. Oh sure, some jerk-wad will whine about not being able to be a chick who used to work at Hooters or demand an allergy to pink cotton candy or cry about not being able to have a polygamous relationship with a transexual dwarf in a horse costume and a disgruntled polar bear suffering from ED, but those people are idiots.

When you take the backstory into your own hands, you get to focus more on the meat of the story. Anyway, that's my two cents. But it's your story, so you have to do write the story that YOU want to write. So good luck and have fun.

Everything Bucky said... in case you're looking for a consensus.

And if I might play armchair editor... you're in the middle. It's totally normal to want to stop working, in the middle. So take a break if you have to... but for the love of all that is good in this world, DON'T stop in the middle & call it "Part I." The odds of you finishing it are miniscule... and even if you do, you've already pissed off your audience by stopping in the middle.

Unless you think you're the next Patrick Rothfuss or George RR Martin... don't do it.

I'm not even in the middle, just completed chapter one, and am working on chapter two and alternate chapter two.  It's gonna be a full length story, just I'll probably make a sequel for the main characters somewhat vague past, which when I make the part the readers are going to get to choose what his lifestyle and job is like.

Thanks for the advice Morgan_R!! :)