Sparrow Update No. 1

I am, at present, about 10,000 words into The Sparrow in the Wind Cage, which puts me slightly ahead of schedule. For the next few days I am going to plan out the rest of the first book, and if time permits I’ll go ahead and write outlines for Books Two and Three as well.

Starting this trilogy has reminded me of something that I already know from writing Descent Into Madness but, for some reason, forgot: I need to have some kind of outline before I begin writing a story. I tried to take Stephen King’s advice and hammer everything out as I went along, but for a complex fantasy with a number of threads running in various directions, the best thing I can do for myself is have some kind of plan to follow.

That doesn’t mean that I can’t deviate from the outline or that the story will be sterile because it’s too ironed out beforehand. That’s my greatest fear with outlines - that all the spontaneity and beauty of creation will be drained from the narrative because everything is too completely ordered. But having a plan of attack before diving in can be especially helpful when working out a series in the long term.

I guess that’s my bit of writing advice to offer for today: always have some kind of outline, but don’t hem yourself in with it.