The Writer Within: Constructing a Solid Story

Happy Saturday! Let's get to it.

There are endless resources for emerging writers on the Internet--from how to properly plot a story, to the Hero's Journey and building characters who are fun and believable (one of my favorite resources is Stant Litore's Write Characters Your Readers Won't Forget: A Toolkit for Emerging Writers). But if you have your eye on epic fantasy or science fiction--or better yet, a massive series--how do you go about planning something that could--and should--take years and years to develop? How do you make sure things align properly and wrap up all of the plots at the end? And, better yet, how do you do this without boring your readers?

Well, you could sit down and plan everything out--from start to finish--and in a series that's eight or fewer books, I think this might be the best option. Small plots will unravel and appear and disappear as your write, but that's part of the writing process; expect surprises. Yes, it's time consuming to plot everything out, but if you're planning to have a cohesive series, this is not just a benefit, it's a downright necessity.

"But," you might ask, "what if my series is bigger? You're writing a huge series. How do you plan?"

Truth be told, I plan all the time. I have notebooks upon notebooks filling file cabinets and trunks and boxes of plans. Will all of them be used? Heck no! Will I go through all of them? Heck no! I don't have the time, and by now, I know which plots I want to include in my Chronicles. I know where to put them and where to leave them out. I also focus on only two or three series within the Chronicles at a time. The more mature a series is (Frendyl Krune) and the more involved a series is (Soulbound arc), the more material I find I can draw from.

When it comes to individual books, I often reread the final draft of the book published before it in the series to create a sense of cohesion. I want to make sure my readers know what's happening and why, as well as see the characters grow from past experiences without dwelling on them. In the case of the Chronicles as a whole, many, many, many of the characters are used and explored outside of series where they may have appeared briefly or are a minor character (a great example of this is Frendyl Krune, who started out in the Soulbound arc as a knight, but who eventually became the star of his own middle grade adventure series). To do this successfully, I often fill out a simple form at the start of each book (especially when working on the Soulbound arc; less so with the Frendyl Krune series, since it's less complex): I name each major character, list out what that character's goals are, and then I try to see how I can either make it impossible for them to reach their goals while still staying on track for the major plot lines, or I determine how (if the character is lucky) they eventually reach their goals.

To me, this is a bit different from outlining a book. Here, I'm taking it to another level entirely. I'm asking each character to show me what they want to achieve, and then I'm ripping that away from them. It's never exciting if a character's story is obvious, or if they reach their goals with only a little staged hindrance. I say staged here because if an author throws obstacles in the way of their characters the wrong way, the challenges don't feel real. They feel like the next act in a play--staged, phony, and there's no stress. No push that the character has to undergo to grow and fight for his or her goals. To keep readers interested, the threats to your characters need to feel real.

Now, not every character will go through tough challenges at the same time. You need to let your readers breathe once in a while. The Soulless King is a good example of a book where the characters' plights will quickly overwhelm the reader if I'm not careful, so I chose a few scenes with care and allowed my characters to have something go right. This gives readers a chance to feel like the world I'm building, though difficult, is still fair. If the world is constantly unfair, then the reader will become depressed or disinterested, because they assume all of the good or interesting characters die or are maimed in some way. That shouldn't be the case.

That's dandy, but how does one keep track of all of the plots and subplots and strings and things in such an enormous series? Well, rereading previously finished works helps a lot. It takes time, but it's very worth it. I also cheat a little. I have an incredible memory--not quite eidetic, but very close--and that benefits me a lot for when I don't write things down. I can recall most of the larger plots in my various series just from memory. I also write a lot of short stories. A lot. These help significantly, especially in exploring non-point of view characters (such as Jae in Frendyl Krune Origins: The Ekrim's Oath or Nicholas in Soulbound Origins: The Crow Prince). By writing short stories, I learn each character's motivations and attitude, and I can round them out better in the larger tomes without requiring a lot of screen time.

Another thing I do, and this, I'm learning, is pretty unique to me, is pull from my other books in order to create and develop entire series. Yes. Thanks to the Soulbound arc and a quick cameo in The Soulbound Curse, Frendyl Krune got a six-book series, multiple short stories, an upcoming YA trilogy (slated for 2018-19; more on that later), and a novella (early 2020s release). From just a few scenes I pulled together a lifetime for another character, one who is pretty minor in The Soulbound Curse, but who becomes a fair player in other aspects of the Chronicles. In kind, Kel, who is a secondary character in the Frendyl Krune series, now has her very own serial novel being released this year (a 20-part serial called Axis of the Soul). Navyni, another secondary character in the Frendyl Krune series, is going to have his own story, though I haven't yet decided if it will be a trilogy or a tetralogy.

From there, I've also drawn on the lore of the world, and plan on releasing the Legends series in 2017-18, and then the novellas detailing the rise of Princess Yorsyl (the Stone Princess from the Frendyl Krune book of the same title). Do I have all of these planned out yet and plotted? Heck no. I have some of them done (namely Axis and The Glass Heart), but I have general ideas of where I want to take these different series. I just need to make certain that every series I write coincides properly date-wise and timeline-wise with the parts already published, and pull on events from each series to build the characters up.

This may sound difficult. It is. That's part of why I want to write it. Something of this magnitude is new to the epic fantasy realm, and I think it would be an exciting and fun way to explore the boundaries of the genre. Does it require a lot of planning? Oh, yes. Of course. But I take notes as I go, categorize them, record them digitally--because "find" is an amazing function and has saved me so much time--and move forward with each project. It will take time. All things done well take time. Still, I love what I do, and I think the results will be well worth it.

I'm excited to hear how you construct your stories. What do you do to outline? Do you do something different for a series vs. a stand alone novel? Why? Do the differences work well for you? Let me know in the comments below!