Brendan asked Jasper Fforde:

Half way through The Eyre Affair and must admit to being a late bloomer to the Thursday Next series, I stumbled onto the seventh book at my library and loved the outline. How do you not get confused with the intricate storylines? Is everything planned in advance or do you finish a draft and just think you can push the mythology a little further? Love the series and can't wait to get onto Lost in a Good Book.

Jasper Fforde Nope, I make it all up as I go along, although since these are series books, I have to have some sort of plan to make them all connect. I have my 'No plan plan' in which I cleverly leave off-ramps for myself that I can pick up at a later date. Luckily of course, the off-ramps when I use them are noticed, but when I don't, they remain in the reader's unaccessed memory. Smart move, Fforde. I would LOVE TO BE ABLE TO PLAN! I could write faster. Tried it often, never works. I do a plan, then off I go and two weeks later a tangent has dragged the plan into the mud. Ah well. But it kind of segues into your other question about intricate storylines. I have a few wacky ideas I love, then use narrative contortions to somehow squeeze them into the plot so it all makes sense. Hey presto, intricate storylines.

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