WinterSteelWords

From time to time, I’ve talked about writing an ongoing series. In particular, I’ve really went on about how important it is to have your series planned out ahead of time. You can really tell when a storyteller went into a long-running series with no plan, no map; you can tell when they’re just making things up as they go. On the other hand, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as following a long-form story that’s been planned ahead. Your audience will usually respond positively when you can foreshadow events that are paid off, when character progress makes sense, when your plot follows from one major event to the next in a logical pattern.

But what happens when, mid-stream, you want to change course?

Well, you’ve got a few options. Ideally, you just don’t do it. You’ve got your plan and you follow it step by step to its logical conclusion. Realistically, though, you’re going to have an idea, an impulse that you want to follow. Most often, this happens as you develop your characters or setting, when some minor point that you never really planned to do much with suddenly catches your interest. Then, you have some work to do. If you want to make a change, it has to be organic to the story, it has to obey your established plan and it has to serve the advancement of the story.

Maybe the best example I’ve ever come across of a good long-form story that was planned out ahead to time is Straczynski, Babylon 5.

He had the entire main plot set before they even filmed the pilot. He always had a 5-year outline. The war against the Shadows was established, developed, reached its climax, and had a logical resolution. You saw character beats and plot foreshadowing in the first season that weren’t paid off until season 4 or 5. Over the course of the series, we followed Londo Molari as he went from a powerless ambassador of a dying empire, through the corruption of him and his people, to his redemption and assistance in defeating the Shadows, and even to his tragic end.

In season 2, there was a seemingly stand-alone episode about aliens that suffer from a plague that ultimately wipes out their entire species.

This seemingly ended that story, but the death of that world plays into another episode in the next season in a fight against a Shadow vessel. The audience is engaged not only with the individual episodes, but also with the small bits of world-building lore and step-by-step character progression because everything matters. Everything grows and intertwines and contributes to the advancement of the central story. This is the great advantage of planning your long-form story out ahead: you can make everything matter and you know where everything is going.

On the other hand, the lack of a plan is HORRIBLY obvious. Consider literally anything by J.J. Abrams. Lost, the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the Star Trek Kelvin books. Abrams is obsessed with what he calls the “mystery box” narrative style.

This, I think I’ve ranted about before, is a terrible writing style. The concept is to present a mystery to the audience that you, yourself as the storyteller, do not know the answer. When Lost began, Abrams had no idea what the island really was. Nothing introduced in season 1 had an answer going in. It was the same with the Star Wars sequel trilogy; Abrams had no idea who Rey’s parents were. He had no idea what Finn’s backstory was. He had no idea why Luke Skywalker retreated to that island. The loose ideas were utterly undeveloped, Rian Johnson eliminated them entirely, and then Abrams pulled some very weak excuses… excuse me, resolutions out of his ass for the third film. With no plan, that series feels like exactly what it is: random.

Now, there is a risk to having a plan but not following it. Consider Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin has repeatedly claimed that he has the entire story mapped out. The early seasons of the HBO show would seem to back this up. There is quite a bit of foreshadowing. The problem is, once the show reached the end of the current books, the plan falls apart. Consider the prophecy of how Cersi Lannister will die. In the books and show, we’re told that she was told by a witch/seeress that her younger brother will kill her.

This is part of the reason she is so cruel to Tyrion: not only is he a dwarf, but she believes that he is fated to kill her. We see the development of their relationship, of him trying to reconcile, to work with her, but she is constantly sabotaging their relsationship. The show’s resolution to all this foreshadowing? Cersi dies in a roof collapse.

Neither of her brothers kill her. There might have been a plan, but it was not followed. If you are going to map out your long-form story, you need to follow the plan.

My fantasy series, The Master of Fate, is planned out.

The Southern Invasion completes the first 5-book series. There will be two more of these, each focusing on a different POV character. I’ve foreshadowed things in Into the Northlands and The Northern Keep that won’t pay off for a log while. Consider the prophecy that is central to the entire series. I reveal in book 1 the exsistance of the prophecy and I give a few more details in book 2, that Cyras and Fak’Har are the only ones in full possession of it.

In book 3, you learn that the cause of the two brothers’ rivalry is their different interpretation of the prophecy. In book 4 you get more context about what the prophecy predicts about the imminent end of the world, and in book 5 you actually get to see some of the scenes that Cyras and Fak’Har witnessed.

I spell out the events prophesied as well: the Greysoul will assemble the Seals of Stalline, the Death of Calonar, the Inversion, the return of the Dark Empress, and the return of the Demon-God. Tomas’s 5-book series is the Death of Calonar and the beginning of the Inversion. The next series will be the resolution of the Inversion and the return of the Dark Empress. The last series will be the return of the Demon-God. Because I have the whole thing mapped out, I can foreshadow events to come. The risk is, what happens when I get a different idea?

Originally, the second series POV character was going to be Rogan. He was going to take over from Tomas. That was part of the outline for series as a whole. But, as I was writing book 2 and working with all the supporting characters, a new idea came to me. Rainer was always going to be an important character in the defense of the Northern Keep. His children were, therefore, an important part of his character development and his youngest daughter, Ilse, will be very important in the future. Aloisa, though, Rainer’s adopted daughter, was going to die in the defense of the city. Other than that, I never gave her much thought. However, as I continued planning ahead, the idea kept coming to me of who takes over from Tomas. As I developed Rainer’s family, I came upon the idea of what happens after Fak’Har retreats. Originally, I was just going to have him jump from body to body, but I also knew that I needed to reveal more of what he knew, of his plans, his hopes, and his fears. Aloisa as the host, acting as the audience surrogate into Fak’Har’s memories, solved a great many problems. It wasn’t a part of the original plan, but it also didn’t contradict anything. That was the important key. Making that change did not violate and previous events, it didn’t create plot holes. In fact, introducing Aloisa, developing her as a supporting character, letting her take over a bit as a POV character, all of this contributed to her eventual use as the main character in the next series.

I’m doing my pre-writing for the next Adam and Holly book, Redeeming Love. The series outline always had who they were going to face, Lilith. This book, specifically, was always intended to focus more on Candace. You get much more of her backstory and you find out something rather important about her. I won’t spoil anything here. As I’m developing the plot of the book, I keep getting tempted with alternate ideas. So, as I work, I need to resolve any of these ideas against the original outline. The question that I have to keep in my mind is this: will there be plot holes and do any of these changes better serve the plot? This is the key consideration for making changes to you plan.

This weekend, I’ll be at the GNE Holiday Show at the Capital City Sports Club in Concord, NH.

I’ve got a little idea for a new decorating trick. No spoilers, but you should be able to spot my booth from a while off.

Keep writing!