The Pantser Becomes a Plotter

 

    It's been ages since I properly outlined a book. I'm more of a pantser than a plotter. I like to discover the story as I write it, sometimes, though, that's not how a story wants to be written.

    Despite having three series I'm working on new installments for, I've taken on another project. This one is far different than anything I've written. It's a historical urban fantasy story told through both the eyes of a modern character and the journal of several dead characters. I'm toying with titles, but the story is loosely based on my ongoing Alphabet Ancestry series here, on the blog. 

    The story will follow eleven generations of a family from Atticus homesteading in Nebraska, in 1862, to June inheriting the homestead in 2040. Real history will be mentioned, but there were be underlying paranormal and fantasy elements, as the homestead isn't normal. 

    I've created a timeline of character generations and a timeline of historical events I may want to mention in the story. I would list the historical events out here but there are so many of them that I'm sure you would stop reading before you even reached the halfway point of the list. I spent way too much time giving myself a crash course on American history for this book. I mean, I knew the basics from history classes, but I needed to make sure I had the dates correct. 

   Historical fantasy is not a genre that's done often. It's tricky to write. You have to keep in mind real events while weaving in your own fantasy world. It's difficult, but it's a challenge I've been wanting to take on for a while now. Ever since I read the Lost Apothecary, by Sarah Penner, in April of 2021, I've wanted to give this a shot. Penner didn't include as much fantasy as I want to, she was rather light with it, but she created an alternate version of the 1800s that I wanted to believe happened so much that it found its way into my dreams. 

    Now, when I say I'm writing historical fantasy, I'm not using that term like I do for my Tales From Morzania series. This isn't going to be a high fantasy novel. I'm not crafting a completely new world. There won't be dragons, goblins, or magical weapons. There will be witchcraft, possible vampirism, possible lycanthropy, living scarecrows, and a generational curse. The world will be our world, however. The world we live in today. 

    Nebraska will be Nebraska. Homestead life will be homestead life. Sodhouses will be sodhouses. Fields will be fields. There will just be a strain of magic in the air and a string of paranormal events.

    Because this book is so different for me, I'm considering doing beta readers and ARCs. I'm also thinking of hiring a friend of mine to do the release party and make the cover. I still want the cover to have a fantasy feel to it since I'm a fantasy author, and I'm afraid that if I try to make it myself it'll end up looking like a Little House on the Prairie book. Which, I mean, people around here would pick up that book without a second thought, but the story inside wouldn't fit the cover. 

    One of my goals for 2022 is to strengthen my brand. Thus, I need to be mindful of how all the elements of wordsmithing come together. My covers need to match my brand, I need to attend in-person events this year (I'm planning for at least 3), and I need to make sure I'm not cutting corners when it comes to editing costs. Luckily, I'm part of a great author tribe and we have editors, PAs, and cover designers. 

    As challenging as this book will be, I'm not afraid of how it will turn out. It's going to be epic. I just have to pull out some old organizational techniques I haven't used in a while. I'm talking binders, outlines, note cards, and a storyboard. The storyboard will be challenging in and of itself, as I don't currently have an empty wall to put it on. However, I'll figure it out, even if I have to use a regular piece of paper for it.