Roadmaps

Novels are fucking huge. Even short ones. I really don't know how long mine is going to turn out to be, but I realize that no matter what, it helps to be able to keep track of where I am, and keep in mind where I'm going.

The first step of that for me is to create two documents; an outline, and a plot bible. Outlines are really helpful to me... I like to have everything laid out in front of me, so I can write with the big picture in mind. It also helps because if I get bored or blocked writing one section, I can jump ahead and write another. The one danger with that is messing up the internal continuity... I may wind up writing something in the earlier section that contradicts or invalidates something that comes after. In that case, it's a matter of reconciling the two, which isn't always easy. That's where the plot bible comes in.

I got the idea from hearing about a similar thing that exists on big, episodic TV shows, like Star Trek, or BSG (I think I first heard the term in reference to Babylon 5). The idea was that with so many episodes written by so many writers, there was a big chance that they would either violate the established logic and rules of the fictional universe, or so something with a character that was completely out of context and unprecidented. So the series creators write a big book of do's and don'ts, and the writers use it as a guide.

In that milieu, it's sort of a leash, but for me, its a valuable tool. Since my book is a fantasy book, I have to do a fair amount of worldbuilding... and even though I am focusing on this world right now, there are always other imagined worlds sneaking around my subconscious, popping up and bleeding together, cross pollinating, etc. This is all well and good at this stage, but as things progress, certain things need to be nailed down, and they need to stay that way, for the world to be consistent and believable. Same with the characters. They need biographies, they need history, or else they will just come across as talking heads. That all goes in the bible.

Some of the things I've put in the bible are:

- the source of magic, why it works and what's wrong when it doesn't.

- the creation of the world, and the saga of the creators and their descendants

- the major forces at work in the world - everything from gods to governments to crime syndicates. Not all of these will be focused on... some may not even be mentioned, but they are a resource nonetheless.

- the main character's history, and why he is the subject of the narrative

...and lots of other stuff, but that's pretty much the idea.

As far as outlining goes, it's pretty standard. I start by dividing the story into three acts, then divide those into three scenes to cover the major plot points, and add in interstitial scenes as I need or want them.

Well, that's my first step, and I'm itching to get started... here we go!