scary stuff

I wrote the majority of Thistleswitch without any prior knowledge of where the plot was going or what was going to happen next or what anything meant at all. The remarkable fiddle, the Whisperers, the thistleswitch itself...I didn't have a clue of the importance of any of them when they first made an appearance. I didn't plan out how many quests Aries would go on, or choreograph the battle scene, or decide that Kaye and Quicken would exist beforehand. I just wrote. And it worked.

So now that I just finished writing an outline of a giant chunk of the still-unnamed Jovie and Terrence story, I'm kind of freaked out. Writing without a plot works well for me. To put it into the words of Diana Wynne Jones, someone far more experienced than I (who happens to share my feelings exactly on this point): "I know how the story begins and how it ends, and I also know, in great detail, at least two scenes from somewhere in the middle. When I say great detail, I probably mean precise, total detail. Colours, speech, actions, and exactly where the furniture or outdoor scenery are and what they look like, are all with me vividly and ineradicably. Often I am quite mystified as to how you get from the beginning to one of these scenes, or from one of them to the end. Part of the joy of writing is finding out. And I deliberately do not ask more when I start to write, so that the book has room to keep its flavour and pursue its own logic."

Part of the reason that I was so thrilled to find this quote was that it seems to be agreed upon by the majority of authors out there that you should have your story completely planned out before you even start writing it, to make sure you avoid plotholes or contradictions. So, theoretically, I should be a good thing that I know so much about the story I plan on writing next.

But it doesn't feel like a good thing.

Thistleswitch had no plan, and it worked. I finished it, for goodness' sake. So if I deviate from the process - even in a way that most people seem to think will expedite it - will it change the outcome?

Logically, I know that I don't have to stick to this outline. I made decisions ahead of time for Thistleswitch that I later realized were lame or confusing, and I threw them to the wind without a second thought. Logically, I know that the story will take on a mind of its own once I actually get into the swing of it. So there's no reason to be scared of an outline.

And, as if that weren't enough, I'm also scared of The Chapter in Which We Become Acquainted With a Number of Important People and Places, which served as the prologue for Thistleswitch and will fulfill the same role for this new story. The first time around, I popped out that chapter so quickly and unexpectedly that it was like I was reading it as I wrote it. I had no idea where the idea came from or what story would follow, but I immediately fell in love. There was no pressure, because it was an entirely new thing. It was just fun.

Now, there's nothing but pressure, because, heck, this is the prologue, and if people don't like it than what the heck will make them want to read the second chapter? How will I get out all the information I need to in a sensible fashion? How will it all connect? What if I can't make it suitably thisleswitch-y? What if this whole novel thing was just a one time event?

I'm overthinking things. I realize that.

But that knowledge doesn't make a second full-length novel any less frightening.