Ever been writing a story, only to realize that the story you really want to tell is the sequel? And you can't just write the sequel outright, because it wouldn't make sense without the first story? Think Empire Strikes Back without A New Hope.

Dreadnought

(Snerk!) Ahem. No, of course not. No more than... three or four times, max.

6684160
Finally!
Someone else who knows my pain!

6684160
I've...never actually had that. The series I'm writing is supposed to eventually mesh into this epic standoff...oooohh. I see what you mean. I guess that has happened to me. I wonder what it would be like if Avengers Infinity War came out long before Captain America The First Avenger. Hmm....something to think about I guess.

6684170
Yeah, but DC is doing the opposite. Remember how WW just jumped into Batman v Superman, without her solo movie? Same with Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg.

Dreadnought

6684173
Hmm... that's true.

IT'S A CONSPIRACY!!

6684160
Do prequels count?

Cuz if so... like, all of them.

6684160

6684173
Yes, and we've all seen how that worked out.

6684160
What you're describing is pretty much how Lost Little Wolf came about. I had some ideas for events that would take place during the run of the show in an A.U., but realized at a certain point that I needed to tell the story of how events got to that point, and realized my "prequel" was pretty damned good as a story idea.

6684160

I actually have that problem with an original story I started to write. Still trying to figure out HOW events lead up to the story I started, lol.

6684160

Not normally...

...but sometimes. I mean, nobody's going to understand why my character is doing all the things he's doing without some background!

Like, that's also one common difference between an OP'd Mary Sue and a capable, accomplished character.

6684160
Fantasy is the worst offender there. Sure you know most of what you need to tell your story, but the reader sure doesn't. And that world isn't going to build itself :D

6684160
Doesn't mean it's not possible. Think about it. A New Hope told its story WITHOUT ever showing the story of how the Jedi fell, how Darth Vader fell to the Dark Side, how the Empire came to power, etc, etc.

You can, depending on the case, do with a small abbreviation of past events, like when Obi-Wan gives a brief explanation of the past. The hard part is, you as the author, ignoring the urge to go in full with all the details you know and telling the story in full that you don't need to.

6684160
Sequel? Psh, amateur. I'm agonising over writing a childhood friendship strained by trans issues... which will only make sense after at least ten stories establishing said friendships, three to explain where the trans issues come from, and that's not even going into the three novels worth of backstory or worldbuilding. And somewhere in there, I need to make the phrase 'girls love a boy with a fine rack' sound family friendly. It makes sense in context, I swear

Writing original fiction is pain, even when you're ripping off your superiors. Fantasy fiction doubly so.

But in all seriousness, yes, it does happen. The standard advice, I think, is to write down the plan for the sequel at least, and try to doodle it sufficiently to get it out of your system so you can concentrate on what matters. You may also find the sequel idea simply does not work, and only popped to mind because it'd be neat. Patience and planning, no new advice applies here, really.

6684160
I think, more than anything, that I tend to write characters whose backstories are the stories I should be telling. At least that's what it feels like sometimes.