Reader Question: How much of your story idea do you have when you start the book, and how much comes to you as you write?
This is a difficult question, but I will try my best to answer it as completely as I am able.
When I start writing a book, I typically have an idea of where I want the story to go. Sometimes, I’ll have a list of events that I want to have occur during the course of the story, and oftentimes, I’ll know how I want to end the book as well. I almost never have the small details worked out, or the minor events; those come to me as I write and as I focus on individual scenes.
To give you an example, when I began the latest iteration of The Caein Legacy, I knew before I began writing where and how I wanted the story to end. I had worked out most of the details of the main character (Andrew Caein), even drawing a bit from my biology background during the creation process, since he is an unusual being and the scientist in me is compelled to explain how his existence might work in a semi-real world sort of way. I had a good idea at the onset of how Andrew would interact with his half-brother, Alexander, who is also a prominent character in the series. I also knew many of the details of the world these characters would inhabit before I began, and then built upon them even further as I continued to write.
One of the major things that I did not have planned at the beginning was the Andrew-Colin interactions. I knew that Colin would be an antagonist, but until I began writing some of his dialogue and the scenes in which he featured, I did not know how much of an antagonist he would become. He took on an unexpected life of his own, but I believe the final product was exactly what was needed in the context of the books.
As I was writing the first book in the series (Exile), I found myself coming up with events that would need to be addressed in the second book. (I did know from the beginning that there would be at least two books in The Caein Legacy). When I was about half-way through with writing the second book (Guardian), I knew that there would also be a third book. And later, a fourth.
Some of the books that I have started but left unfinished are that way because I did not fully develop my plan for the story. If I cannot see where the end should be, I tend to stall in my writing. I put those projects aside, and come back to them if an idea strikes me later on. Some of these unfinished projects encompass one- or two-hundred pages. While it is difficult for me to walk away from something that I have invested so much time into, I know that one day I will return to that project and either rewrite it from the beginning, or finish it as it stands. (I tend to go the route of rewriting more often than not; I don’t know if this is typical of other writers, but it usually works out best for my own creative process).
To help me keep track of characters and places, I do keep notebooks. I have one for characters specifically, and I add notes to it as events unfold within the story. I find it particularly helpful with supporting characters that may come and go throughout the books; if it has been a while since their last appearance, I find it that it’s nice to have something to refer back to regarding what they may have been doing or something important that was said. Otherwise I spend an hour (or more!) sifting through the manuscripts looking for a specific instance that I know is in there somewhere, but that I can’t recall which chapter or page it might have been on. From the perspective of a reader, I dislike finding discrepancies within a book, so I do try my best to avoid having them present in my own work. The notebooks also help me when I am coming back to a project that I may not have worked on in years.
I believe that everyone has a process that will work “best” for themselves when it comes to writing. Some may need to have most, if not all, of their details worked out ahead of time, whereas others might be able to start writing and are content to see where the words take them. For me, it is a little bit of both; some details are known at the onset, and others happen more spontaneously.