Sequels, and sequential things
Without being really sure how, I've already got 7,500 words of a potential sequel to FT written!
This is where, although I'm still sort of developing this as I'm going along, I now need to start spending time to sequence events properly. As stuff gets revealed as it goes along, this sequencing is going to be critical.
Weirdly, I'm finding it very hard to do, probably as a consequence of Other Stuff Happening, but also because I'm not hanging it off the framework of an already existing event as I did with FT. I've also got one of my characters doing something that I really didn't expect her to do, although in context it works very well and will definitely add drama (even if I have a horrible feeling it could be a soap opera subplot, and it isn't actually essential, so I can remove it if it doesn't work).
Again, I'm not writing this with a view to having it published (and depending on what happens with FT, this may not even be a possibility), but just because, well, the characters won't go away, and the ideas keep popping up.
I'm sure other authors plot their ideas in detail before actually starting writing, so that they know where they're going before they start. I'm just awkward, I think. It's like I've followed my characters for far enough to get an idea of where they're heading, and now I know, I need to lay out a more detailed route (hopefully).
Setting FT around a particular event helped lay it out and structure it, although I'm still amazed it produced a coherent story. I suppose the challenge is doing this with the sequel without the event framework and still over a specific timescale.
This is where, although I'm still sort of developing this as I'm going along, I now need to start spending time to sequence events properly. As stuff gets revealed as it goes along, this sequencing is going to be critical.
Weirdly, I'm finding it very hard to do, probably as a consequence of Other Stuff Happening, but also because I'm not hanging it off the framework of an already existing event as I did with FT. I've also got one of my characters doing something that I really didn't expect her to do, although in context it works very well and will definitely add drama (even if I have a horrible feeling it could be a soap opera subplot, and it isn't actually essential, so I can remove it if it doesn't work).
Again, I'm not writing this with a view to having it published (and depending on what happens with FT, this may not even be a possibility), but just because, well, the characters won't go away, and the ideas keep popping up.
I'm sure other authors plot their ideas in detail before actually starting writing, so that they know where they're going before they start. I'm just awkward, I think. It's like I've followed my characters for far enough to get an idea of where they're heading, and now I know, I need to lay out a more detailed route (hopefully).
Setting FT around a particular event helped lay it out and structure it, although I'm still amazed it produced a coherent story. I suppose the challenge is doing this with the sequel without the event framework and still over a specific timescale.