Q&A Thursdays Reprised #1: Phoebe’s Question
2019 already feels like an age ago—although it’s not so long in the life of the “…on Anything, Really” blog—and one of the WALL related features that year was “A Month of Q&A Thursdays.”
Basically, I invited readers to post in questions, and some of you did. 🙂 They were such great questions, too, that I really feel they merit another look, hence initiating this refeature.
I’ll be interested to know what you think of them, if you wish to leave a comment or @ me on Twitter: @helenl0we
In terms of the Q’s and my A’s, I’ll follow the original order and start with Phoebe’s question.
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The Daughter of Blood & WALL Series Q&A (Reprised): Phoebe’s Question
Phoebe: Do you plan your books out in chunks or do you plan out the arc for the entire book at once? They’re pretty hefty – just thinking bc could impact the addition of random side characters for plot progression etc.
Helen: They are pretty hefty, so no surprises that the writing thereof can be a hefty process too.🙂 In terms of planning, I’ve had a pretty clear idea of the story and the big hits of what’s going to happen since the outset, a statement that’s true of both the series as a whole and the three books completed to date. So there’s always an overarching plan for the story as a whole, with a secondary overarching plan for each book within that, that’s pretty much “whole and compleat” in my head.
The tricky part is always the material between those big hits. I think of it as being on a journey, with all the stops (e.g. cities and points of interest) clearly marked, but there’s often a variety of ways, such as roads or hiking/cycle paths or riverboats, that can get you there. And although I can have an idea of the preferred route between main story events as the characters set out, the route itself can generate unforeseen circumstances that affect how the story is told.
Characters, for example, tend to develop a life of their own, so they can react in ways that surprise me, including how they interact with other characters. Sometimes, too, those interactions can be profound enough that the story must adapt to accommodate them. And because the development of a story is an organic process, no amount of forward planning can anticipate all those potential interactions and adjustments, so I believe its better not to try but give the story space to breathe and grow.
Having said that, that doesn’t mean I can’t and don’t/won’t firmly rein in characters and plot lines when they seem bent on developing a “side story” that does not advance the main storyline. In fact, realizing I’m being “pixie-led” by a plot thread or characters is a major tool in my Author Survival Toolbox.🙂
A Daughter specific example that I hope may illustrate the evolutionary process and the role of minor characters is the Grayharbor section where Kalan and Faro’s paths intersect. The fact that they would meet there, that the meeting would involve the Sea fleet and Kalan returning to the Wall by ship, and that the interactions would also include ill-disposed warrior kind, was part of the story arc from the outset.
Elements that evolved out of the previous book, The Gathering of the Lost, included that Kalan would be travelling with two Emerian warhorses, and that the ill-disposed warrior kind would be the Sword warriors returning home: my initial story arc was undecided as to whether the warriors would be Night, Blood, or Swords but the evolution of the story pretty much decided the matter.
And although I knew Kalan would interact with minor characters such as innkeepers, port workers, and the Sea Keepers, the ‘who exactly’, their dispositions, and the parts they played, all evolved out of the story, the town, and its culture.