Beyond the Page
I’m more of a pantser than a plotter in my writing… but you should see some of the planning saved in my folders over the years. I have said this on more than one occasion, and it holds, yet I greatly enjoy the pre-writing stage of the writing process. This is when I write down any ideas I may have stuck in my head about the story I want to write. On average, I will have two- or three-word files before starting chapter one (I don’t always write a prologue, but I find that even if I did start with one, it will be re-done after the story has been fleshed out better).
That’s not even the most fun part.
Creating a Character Document
For every story I write, I have at least one document relating to the characters, containing details (name, age, species, family, powers, facts…). Here’s an example from my short story, The Wolf’s Heir: Katrine’s Awakening. There are no powers, only biographical facts because the Witches cast spells in that story. Every “cast member” – this is fantasy casting, has its face, but only Kat and Idris were changed. Idris was wholly reinvented for this story. The original character, written by someone else, wasn’t even half as bad as Idris. Her heart did end up broken, and he wasn’t a nice guy in the end, having been involved with a girl she considered to be her little sister while being with her… Yeah, so I chose to exaggerate the story.
But to the fantasy cast. Kat and Idris were changed; I only went with her older face for Kat’s mother. And then names… but the list is one of the first things created for the short story. I need to get to know the character before I introduce her or him to you, the audience.
Characters have a Mind of Their Own
I’m not saying they all play nice all the time… some characters in the past have been somewhat tricky and annoying, giving me ideas for their character file and, in the writing process, becoming someone else… there is a quote I remember from when I was young from Croatian writers… it goes something like what the audience doesn’t understand is that once the characters are created, they breathe in life and can have a mind of their own… It’s paraphrased, and I couldn’t find the quote anymore (so much for nothing being gone online).
The character files are among the most important for any story I write. Sometimes, I get inspired to develop a character right there on the spot; other times, I’ll keep adding essential details as they occur in the story. The characters develop in different ways, but I find it to be a necessary (and fun) part of the journey. A significant part of this process is picking out my fantasy cast for the parts as well (which may change over time). I may start with the idea about a character’s hair colour or eyes, but I’m a fairly visual, so when I find the right face, I’ll know.
Planning Just One
Let’s take a look at another project. Just One is a far longer process, so it contains many more files than The Wolf’s Heir, and since the story doesn’t end with just the one book, some things in this folder relate to the future books. “Characters WotW 2020” is the original character list for Just One: The Weight of the World (book three).
Original Series Plan
“Antar, that was” the fan fiction story I wrote. It had elements of Just One, but it wasn’t Just One. It was more of a variation, but I kept it because it gave me additional ideas about the past life Just One always goes back to. “Book Titles” obviously are the titles for the series, but they are incorrect now because they don’t have Just One: Edge of Never on them; instead, they are just book one. I usually say this was intended to be a trilogy, and it was, but realistically, now even that has been brought into a quadrilogy which contains Just One (1), Just One: Edge of Never (2), Just One: Weight of the World (3) and Just One: Return to Innocence (4). The last title may change yet, so do not get too attached to it. The quadrilogy is then followed by Just One: Fate of True Love (5) and Just One: The Conspiracy (6).
Other Related Projects
Not to get confused here… this is not the whole series. The series also has short stories planned as extracts from the original quadrilogy where I want to explore certain characters and locations in more depth without overcrowding the main storyline… five stories there. After all this, there may be another set of Just One books, but not quite a series, as it will still relate to the original ones. I want to tell the stories of the past, show how the worlds were built (politically), and give the sequel to the Just One series, which focuses on the next generation. This will tie in with the Conspiracy story. I am infatuated with the characters developed there, and they have given me inspiration for the next generation, who seemed pretty bland before now.
So, when I say there are about seven or eight books planned, I mean to say I have fifteen books planned, including the short stories. This is why Just One has become a monster in the last few years and must be released to the world.
I wrote out a funeral of my character in a Word document, even though it was never intended to be included in the story. It was the same as an interview with the main characters from Just One: Edge of Never when I couldn’t figure out exactly what she wanted. There is an interview with her other half somewhere as well….
After spending a lot of time on the series in the past seven years (after letting it rest for a decade), there is a lot going on here.
Fantasy-cast for Just One
I should probably explain the two faces around those documents, shouldn’t I? Luke Evans is my Zannder; that’s been clear to me since his Dracula appearance. I find young Rebecca adorable, and it’s a face I haven’t changed since the beginning. Every one of my characters has a fantasy-cast face. We’ll get into this another time.
That has been all for this week’s Beyond the Page.
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Until next time…
~ Love. L.V.
L.V. Luca 