Marking the Passage

Writing makes a map, and there is something about a journey that begs to have its passage marked. — Christina Baldwin

Neverend is done. I think there's some potential for a sequel, some ideas and thoughts I've written down somewhere and stored for safe-keeping. I even wrote a starting chapter or two, but tucked them away for now — I didn't feel it was a good decision to put all of my book-writing eggs in one basket, as it were.

So I've been sampling stories from other wells lately. I've talked about my horror writing some, but I haven't had any monsters in particular chasing me lately. Neverend was a good experience for me, to learn the ropes about the e-book publishing process, what hoops need to be jumped through and how to prepare a product as best I can. I was reluctant to go down that road — the e-publishing road — for a very long time because I always wanted to take the traditional route. I felt that I was good enough, skilled enough, practiced enough to find an agent, to sell my writing through someone who believed I was as good a writer as I think I am.

Obviously, that hasn't happened, but now that I've tried the Kindle route, I think there's a potential to find an audience that way. Over 500 people got a free copy of Neverend last week during the free promotion; hopefully some of those people liked it enough that they'll be willing to give my next story a look as well.

My next story is looking to be bigger than Neverend was in scale — a lot bigger. It's another story about children visiting another world (a favorite literary theme of mine), but these kids won't be as familiar or comfortable with their new environment as David was in Neverend. The first book in the series is tentatively titled Swordbearer's Light, and tells the story about a Portuguese girl named Isabel who's thrust into a struggle larger than anything she's ever experienced in her life.

Isabel isn't the only kid who's in for an eye-opening experience, however (in more ways than one; more on that in a later entry, I think). Because of the scale of this story — which will be told over the course of a series; a first for me — I've had to sit down and hammer out an outline for the entire story-arc. I've also taken the extra-step of outlining the first two books, and will see if I can't outline more as the story progresses.

This isn't new territory for me, per se, although I didn't outline Neverend. Neverend was the fourth or fifth book I've ever completed, and when I started I knew how it began, the climax of the story, and most of the main characters. More of it developed organically and naturally as the story progressed, and some parts had to be cut or trimmed during the editing process, but Neverend as a whole was very much a "flying by the seat of your pants" approach to writing. My girlfriend, Sara, calls this style of writing "pantser-style," and even calls herself a proud "pantser." I know that other people can live or die by the outline.

I felt that for the sheer scope and size of the story started in Swordbearer's Light, I couldn't just make it all up as I went along. I needed a guide, something written down that I could refer to when needed, or I was going to go insane trying to keep everything in my head and to keep everything in order. I'm sure better authors than I have made up entire mythoses (mythosii?) out of nothing but the voices talking in their heads, but I'd prefer to play it safe for my first time as I swim out into the proverbial deep waters. Can I always recommend outlines? Nope. What works for me won't work for everyone else. Can I still recommend them? Certainly — my story has barely begun and I'm already thankful for having it.

So if you're so inclined, try something a little different when you spread your writing wings: sit down and plan it out first, just to say you tried. You can always change it later (or throw the whole damn thing away) if you think it's best.