I've found difficulty thinking of new characters for my next novel because some from my (unpublished) last one fit the story quite well. As much as I hate everything having (a) sequel(s) nowadays, should I write one? What if book one doesn't get published? Or maybe if two does, I could publish it as a prequel.... #1 is a (literary, according to my editor) romance, so it might be a good idea. What do you think? If you advise against it, any tips for "clearing my slate," as it were, so I can fashion characters that aren't too similar to my old?
So, i had this big project a couple years ago. I worked on it off an on. Never finished it. Then i had this idea of a spin-off with some of the characters i felt inspired by. Like a prequel to the Book 1 i was working on but never finished ..... Well, that ended up being its own self contained story which evolved in to the first manuscript i'd ever finished (the initial story id started years ago is still not finished and i havent worked on it in years). My point is.... Sometimes old characters/stories just fit better in a different context. Those characters that you want to use.... Maybe they just fit better in the new story you are drafting. Maybe you just feel more inspired writing about them in this other way.
The characters, scenes, set pieces, plot points and plot twists that you envision are separate elements each. They also grow organically inside your head with the constant compounding of experience and information you receive. As such, there will come times when you realize that one element works better in one place than another. Doesn't hurt to try and see how it fits, I say.
There's also nothing wrong with writing similar characters. If you don't want to write a sequel, maybe change the names and switch up the details in the backstories and see how it goes. You might find out they don't end up feeling like the same characters at all after a while.
