I seem to be doing a lot of outlining lately. I didn’t used to, but it has become an enormous help when juggling stories. At the moment, I’m a little nervous that Aelfah will morph itself into a duology, but I plan to type the whole story first and worry about that later.
When my internet died three weeks ago, I sort of wandered aimlessly for a while. Then my muse kicked into overdrive and I began tearing Aelfah apart. I’ve since put it aside to finalise the outline for Dark One’s Bride, but not before adding 8,000 new words to the Aelfah tale. In fact, I also seem to be jumping from one to the other.
For now Aelfah is going through some major changes, much like I did when I rewrote Dragon. A lot of the alterations are minor ones: how my Heroine’s family interacted, what they both do for a crust. She’s left the university setting, going straight into the workforce. On the flip-side, his job didn’t change, just twisted slightly.
The bigger changes relate to how the two Main Characters meet and wind up together. It makes their relationship slower, probably more plausible if I’m honest, but it also means the big reveal takes longer. I’ve a feeling I’m going to need to sprinkle a few hints here and there.
The biggest change is uplifting the whole story to my homeland. Well … the south island, anyway. Yeah, I have a story based in New Zealand (the first half, anyway). I guess it had to happen eventually. At least Aelfah fits quite nicely amongst the ferns and the tuis.
Aldrea Alien 
Go with what feels right. Editing is where you can mould it into the shape you want. For now, go with the flow and enjoy! 🙂
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I usually do a five sentence outline nowadays – mainly because I have multiple projects on the go and it helps to get my mind back onto the ideas I had. They can always be improved, of course!
Jemima
#TeamDamyanti
Blogging from Alpha to Zulu in April
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Like you, I was a fervent non-outliner–until I wasn't 😀 Whatever works, I say.
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter
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I still pants things, but I usually have an idea of where I'm going.
So when do I get to read Aelfah?
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Great post!
Please visit my blog, http://www.thatgirlybookworm.blogspot.ca
My theme focuses on books and the title of the day starts with the letter of the day!
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Oh yeah, editing is everything.
Of course, they can also turn an 85k story into a 260k+ monster…
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It does.
Of course, there's also the “what was I thinking” aspect as well. That can help or hinder depending on the situation.
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I started doing one or two word outlines for each chapter (like 'wedding' or something). It kind of grew from there.
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A starts and an ending are always good things to have. I floundered with The Rogue King for so long because I didn't have a proper ending at first.
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Oh and Aelfah has about 8,000 words at the moment, so it'll be a while. But I'll be working on getting Dark One's Bride sorted before then.
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Thanks!
And I shall do … once I regain my internet at home.
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