Today, I am continuing to work on the rough sketch of my story. Since I worked out how book 1 ends last time, today, I went back to think about how it begins. How can my hero be as far as possible from her goal and require the most transformation – and how can I show that.
I think I have a good handle on that, though I’ll get to the specific scenes that show it later.
Moving on from the end and beginning, I am starting to describe the setting of my world now. This part is one of the most enjoyable areas for me. I love thinking about the world and setting, at least at the beginning (working in the details later can be tough).
Since this story is in a world that I have literally been thinking about for years, getting the basics down in Scrivener is relatively easy. But I am trying to avoid going into too much detail this time, at least not until I know that I need it. I want to leave some of the details specifically to be filled in according to what the story needs at that time.
In the past, I have been far too prescriptive about the world and obsessed with making it realistic – such as trying to come up with a comprehensive and logical economic system and regional industry. But all that really matters is that I make it believable (or at least, not defying belief) rather than perfectly realistic. And to accomplish that, I actually need fewer details rather than more. Plus, the details only need to come out when they are relevant to the story.
For now, my first step is working out the magic system and I have been starting on one angle of it today. More to come, much more. I fear that my challenge with this setting stage is going to be knowing when to stop.