We’ve probably seen advice warning that any time our story revisits information, we risk the idea feeling repetitive or redundant to readers if we’re not careful. Not surprisingly, the same risk can apply even across books in a series.
Yet when we write a book series, we usually need to repeat some information from book to book. Depending on the type of series, we might need to repeat character introduction or worldbuilding information, or we might need to touch on events from previous books, and so on. So how can we avoid the repetitive/redundant risk when presenting information in a book series?
Series 101: Types of Series
To understand our options for how to handle repeating information, we first need to determine the type of series we’re writing. In general, books are designated a series because they share at least one element:
- Shared Setting: These series take place in the same “world” but each feature different point-of-view (POV) characters. The characters of book two may or may not have been introduced in book one. The events of book two may or may not be dependent on the events of book one.
- Shared Character(s): These series feature the same POV character(s). The events of book two may or may not be dependent on the events of book one.
- Shared Story Arc: These series follow a story arc over several book installments. Each book usually features at least some of the same characters. Sometimes a story will end with a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next book. These books need to be read in order.
Which Category Best Fits Our Series?
We need to determine which category best fits our series, as the writing techniques that work best for handling repeated information vary for different types of series. For example, when series books are standalone, we use different techniques than when the books must be read in a certain order.
What if the books can make sense out of order but are connected enough to make events of one book affect the next book?
In this case, the series usually has less focus on the overall Shared Story Arc than the other shared elements, so the standalone techniques of the Shared Character or Shared Setting categories will likely be the most helpful to us. However, it’s also possible that that our series may change category near the end.
Some series can be read in any order until the last book(s), when the minor Shared Story Arc threads referenced throughout the series grow in importance to create a series-level story. For these series, to get the most out of the final book, readers should be familiar with the rest of the series first. In this situation, we can use the Shared Character/Setting techniques in the earlier books, and then when that Shared Story Arc finally takes over as the main focus of the book, we can change to use the Shared Story Arc techniques in the later book(s). We should just let readers know that they’ll get the most out of the last book(s) if they read the other books first.
Want to learn the Techniques for Series Based on Shared Setting
or the Techniques for Series Based on Shared Character?
Check out Jami’s companion post!
Techniques for Series Based on Shared Story Arc
The most important aspect of Shared Story Arc series is that if we intend to write the books with an assumption that readers have read previous books, we need to include that information in our marketing materials. For example, our book description/back-cover blurb should mention that this is book number-whatever in our series, and readers should start at the beginning of the series.
So if readers will read the books in a certain order, does that mean we shouldn’t bother repeating information at all? Unlikely.
Even within a single book, we still need to give readers hints about small details they may have forgotten since the earlier reference. For example, we might mention how a minor character is related to the story if they haven’t been on the page for several chapters, such as using a tag like “her brother.” (She couldn’t go to George for help, as her brother still hadn’t forgiven her for the last catastrophe.)
With a series, there’s usually months or years between the releases of our series’ books, or even if we release the series in a bundle, readers might not binge them all at once. So just like our techniques within a single book, we often need to find ways to trigger readers’ memory of earlier information.
Assuming we’ve let readers know that it’s essential to start the series at the beginning, we can focus on repeating a minimal amount of information with these 3 techniques…
#1: Use Just Enough Information to Trigger Readers’ Memory
In standalone series, we need to share enough information to get new readers up to speed, and that means re-introducing characters, the story world, and treating previous events as backstory. However, in story-arc series, we can shortcut a lot of repeated information by sharing just enough to trigger readers’ memory.
For example, rather than re-establishing why our protagonist is estranged from their family, we might just allude to the fact that they’re estranged from them. Or rather than sharing paragraphs of explanation to introduce main characters or the setting/story world, we might just state aspects of characters and the story world as facts and avoid the feeling of a re-introduction. In other words, focus on facts not explanations.
This memory-triggering process may look like one of these options, depending on the importance of the details:
- a short tag: her office nemesis,
- a sentence: She’d still never forgiven her coworker for stealing her idea, or
- a paragraph: She’d still never forgiven her coworker for stealing her idea. In fact, the more she’d thought about Andrew’s undeserved raise and promotion, the more upset she’d gotten. Soon, though, her plan for revenge would have its day.
The more important a fact, such as a major aspect of the story, the more strongly we should trigger readers’ memory with essential details in case they can’t remember. Do readers need to know the protagonist is traumatized by her father’s death in the previous book? Share how that trauma is affecting her currently, and thus include the fact of the death event along the way, much as how we’d treat any backstory.
If we need more than a paragraph or two to share the necessary details of important information with returning readers, we can try the next suggestion to avoid repeating ourselves too much.
#2: Use Different Circumstances to Mention Repeated Information
For important information, we need to ensure that readers remember enough that they’ll understand events. When our story requires us to repeat more than a condensed paragraph of information, we can avoid the feeling of too much repetition by changing the circumstances of our reveal.
For example, if we initially revealed the information in a shocking twist, a follow-up book may remind readers of the information via:
- a dialogue exchange,
- a different character bringing it up,
- internal monologue,
- an exploration of the aftereffects,
- a traumatic flashback, or
- being part of a conflict, etc.
Different techniques will fit best with different storytelling styles. The point is to change the circumstances so we’re forced to use different words, phrases, and descriptions to reduce the sense of déjà vu.
#3: Focus on How the Information Has Changed
In addition, we can emphasize how any repeated information has changed over the story’s arc. Or if the information itself hasn’t changed, we can bring it up by mentioning how characters have changed their perspective about it.
For example, we may explore how the POV character feels about it, how skilled they are at dealing with it, how they plan on taking advantage of it, etc. Revisiting the repeated information with some type of update can be a great way to ensure the repetition isn’t redundant, as readers are learning something new.
Final Thoughts about Avoiding Repetition in Series
With the right writing techniques, we can avoid—or at least minimize—the issue of readers feeling a sense of déjà vu as we repeat information in our series. When we find ways to change the information or how we deliver that information, we ensure readers are learning something new or seeing the information through a different perspective, and that gives them a reason to keep reading. *smile*
Want to learn techniques for Shared Setting or Shared Character series? Visit my companion post!
Have you written a series and struggled with how to revisit information? Can you think of any other techniques we can use to avoid a sense of repetition or redundancy? Do you have any questions about these techniques or how to approach repeating information in a series?

Jami Gold put her talent for making up stuff to good use, such as by winning the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for her novel Ironclad Devotion.
To help others reach their creative potential, she’s developed a massive collection of resources for writers. Explore her site to find worksheets—including the popular Romance Beat Sheet with 80,000+ downloads—workshops, and over 1000 posts on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Her site has been named one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Jami below.
Great post, and very timely as I’ve just finished a 7 book series by Kris Nelscott, aka Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I really noticed the in-story-summaries because I was re-reading the series one book after the other, with no breaks in-between. By contrast, I don’t remember any feeling of repetition when I first read the series.
When it comes to the repetition of necessary details, I like to present multiple, brief reminders as the story progresses, usually via a change of pov or by weaving them in where it makes /sense/. Info. dumps are a pointless frustration as Readers never retain all the information that’s dumped on them. In fact, I read somewhere that it takes roughly 6 repetitions for something to ‘stick’. The trick is to make those repetitions as painless and natural as possible. 🙂
Thanks for packing so much helpful information into this post, Jami! One of the middle grade novels I’ve written might be able to lead to a sequel. If I decide to dive into it, I’ll print up this post and the companion post to guide me. 🙂
Hi Mindy,
Thanks so much for the kind words, and good luck with your story. 🙂
Thanks so much for having me here again, Angela and Becca! Always an honor, and I’m so glad others find this information helpful. 🙂
Jami, I’m a fan of Becca & Angela, and now you. I went with all the suggestions and focused on the First Page, seven years after the debut book. It was sort of high moment for a historical fiction sequel. The protagonist works against herself and her problem(worry) that she hadn’t been good enough for her husband, took a turn for the worse. They were watching the movie, “The Seven Year Itch,” a comedy/romance. The amusing, romantic scenes with Richard and The Girl, a gorgeous model, were nothing but waving red flags in her own marriage. Any backstory going forward was a mention in dialogue and related to the way it was, changed in some way. I struggled with this first page, rewriting it for weeks.. Hope I hit the mark! 📚🎶 Christine
Aww, thanks Christine! And what a great challenge to write a sequel seven years later–wow!
Sounds like you found a way to make it work, between the backstory mentions and how things have changed in the interim. Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
These are invaluable tips for writing a series. Thank you for sharing, Jami!
I hope they’re helpful for you, Jan! 🙂
You had me at “3 types of series.” The kind of series will absolutely determine what information (and how much) needs to be shared. This is a great breakdown of the kind of series you might be writing and how to handle this issue the best way for readers. Thanks Jami!
Exactly, Becca! Anyone who’s familiar with my long posts won’t be surprised that to fully cover those differences between the 3 types of series, the first draft of this guest post clocked in at close to 3K–lol.
There’s a reason I needed to split the topic into this post and the companion post on my blog. But in my defense, I wanted to be sure visitors knew how much of a difference those 3 different types can make in our approach. 😉
These are great techniques, Jami. I remember when I was writing the second in a series I was sort of paralyzed by uncertainty – how much revisiting would I need for new readers, and reminders for old ones, and what would be too little or too much. I worried that too many allusions and readers could feel FOMO and decide it wasn’t worth reading this book without having read the first, or I’d end up slowing the pace and boring readers who had read the first book by recapping too deeply.
I think when we do a great job of keeping readers focused on the current situation and what the characters are feeling and experiencing right now, the little slip-ins are so much easier to place without disrupting, whether they are reminders or revisits of a similar situation happening again. Great stuff!
Hi Angela,
Yep, and one thing I didn’t mention in either post is that we can run into this issue with spin-off series too.
Those same issues of wanting to repeat worldbuilding information for new readers but not give away the reveals of the other series can be tricky as well. As you said, oftentimes the best way to find the balance is to focus on what’s needed for the current story, else we risk too much info-dumping. Thanks for sharing!
Very helpful, Jamie. Your suggestions have clarified some issues for me. I am working on a sequel, not a series. And I’m unsure if the sequel will work as a standalone. Setting, characters, and themes are the same (ghosts, witches, magick), with a few additional characters and a new thrust of storyline but still a continuation of the first novel. Genre is supernatural/magick. Here’s my question for you. I noticed author Anne Rice’s wolf books is a two-book wolf story. Her first book The Wolf Gift followed by The Wolves of Midwinter has the same characters and enhanced storyline. Rice opens the sequel with an introduction “The Story So Far.” These 6 paragraphs summarize the first book, every so lightly. Do you recommend this kind of introduction as a quickie recap? Of course, this was done back in 2012 and 2013. Do you think an opening recap is still stylish? I’m hearing some editors advising not to recap at openings. Your thoughts? Thanks so much!
Hi Paula,
Interesting observation! Actually sequels are another term for how we create a series. Duologies are just a short series, after all.
To answer your first point, these sequel/duology series could be written as standalone stories (read in any order, like the Shared Character category) or as Shared Story Arc stories (must be read in a certain order). There’s honestly no right or wrong answer for how we decide to approach it, and we just need to ensure our marketing reflects our choice to keep readers happy.
We may make that decision based on marketing/branding reasons, writing or craft reasons (which approach seems easier or a better match for our skills), or other reasons. So be sure to visit my companion post to see the Shared Character techniques and decide which approach appeals to you more, as well as get more tips about handling events from prior books.
As for the rest of your questions, like you mentioned, we don’t typically see this recap type of opening, and many think it dated. One reason it’s not used is because — if it’s a read-an-any-order series — it essentially gives the first book away, leaving new readers with no reason to check it out. And if it’s a read-in-a-certain order series, it doesn’t immerse readers into the story right away, instead reminding them that they’re reading words on a page.
I’ve seen sequels start with the protagonist having a dream/nightmare, where there are a few paragraphs recapping the highlights/traumas of the previous book’s events throughout their dream. While clunky, that’s at least more in media res than a separate out-of-the-story introduction.
Either way, however, those recaps are essentially info-dumps, and that’s why they’ll always feel clunky and dated. Using the techniques in the post above to introduce information as it’s needed and/or relevant will help us avoid the need for a recap as well as the sense of an info-dump.
I hope that helps explain the reasons we don’t typically see that technique anymore, but let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Thanks for the great question, too!
Great, Jami, thanks so much.