Plowing through the plot

I am currently in the middle of writing the sequel to Millicent Marbleroller. The title is "Sequel to Millicent Marbleroller and the House of the Toymaker", and is going to stay that way until I figure out something better.

I created an outline of the whole story first, laying out a chapter for pretty much each line in the outline. Then I started filling in the details from the beginning.

Sometimes, I make story notes instead of write. An idea strikes me about a plot point, a character, a bit of action. When it does, I go to the chapter that matches from the outline and put the notes in there. Being a computer geek, I usually surround it with XML style tags to make it easier to find later.

From that point, I have just been writing freeform from the start of the book and moving forward. I have been trying to write a little bit every night, even if it is just a paragraph. I am not thinking very hard about the overall storyline, instead just letting the ideas come in the story as I type. The outline mostly inspires the ideas, but I don't check it once I have started. This works out pretty well, but sometimes the story strays. Sometimes the logic of the original outline doesn't work, or the motivation of one of the characters isn't really believable. Sometimes I introduce a new character or scene that contradicts the story, or creates a new point of view that has to be explained. Sometimes I pepper in too many clever parts for humor or interest, and those distract from where the story is going. When I am first writing, though, I ignore all of that and just move forward, writing what hits me.

Right now, I find that the story is moving in a direction that wants to pull completely away from the original plot outline. Maybe I will do a comparison of where it is gong versus where I planned it to go after I finish the book. I come from the world of software development where you don't tell the customer what you planned on doing until actually do it, so I would rather show the finished product and then talk about specifics on thought development.

Anyway, at the moment I am seeing if I can still have the story flow out naturally as I write it and still follow the outline. If the two cannot resolve I will likely let the free-form version win out, although I am definitely going to review it afterward to see if it feels right.

The thing that I worry about the most right now is the motivations and actions of the primary character, Millicent. I can do just about anything I want with the other characters, but I have to be sure that Millicent is not too flat, and not just playing observer. In the first book, Millicent was an observer, standing in for the reader who is being introduced to this strange new world inside the toymaker mansion. She had some cleverness to demonstrate, but for the most part her decisions were guide ala deus ex machina by the General, Nobbins, and when you think of it, the house itself. This time around, Millicent needs to make some of her own decisions and needs to demonstrate more substance and less just following along as other people determine her fate.

This means more time for character development. For Millicent, this will come through inner conflict and decisions - she is young enough that the storyline itself is where we develop her character. The other principle characters, Nobbins, the Admiral and the General, can developed through more background storytelling.

Another thing I don't want to do is unbalance the story with the first book. In one sense, the readers expect something new out of a sequel, so you are forced to up the ante somewhat. This means at least as much action as the first book, and some humorous surprises. At the moment, the problems in the story have been more cereberal and less physical, something I need to tune before I finish. However, I am very worried that the final surprise action moment may be so over the top as to seem to cross genres. The first book had a little bit of wonder in it, but never went so far as to be completely physically impossible - just short of Willie Wonka (with vermicious knids and all that he stepped off into fantasy, really), but definitely not as realistically grounded as Little House on the Prairie. I definitely want the readr to feel as if they are talking about the same characters in the same universe playing by the same set of rules when they read this book.

Okay, back to writing.