I am a mapper. When I have a story, I have to have a map to stay realistic and consistent.

My maps tend to start out small, maybe a small village, so I always have the same people living in the same house, that is always across the street from the tavern, and the other corner of the intersection is the old lady’s herb garden . . .

Then there the bridge of the stream and note that it’s a hundred miles to a town that keeps the same spelling of the same name . . .

If there a lot of action inside, there will probably be at least a sketched out floor plan.

A lot of distant travel? I’ll need to map out the continent, mountains, passes through same, rivers, cities, and deserts.

I highly recommend maps, just for consistency. They don’t have to be pretty enough to publish, they just need to keep you consistent.

Plotting, as in a solid reference of the path the story will take?

Nope. Not me.

Occasionally, I might have some bullet points. I generally have an idea of how it all ends. And I frequently change that as the story develops.

And if the story is flat, I may haul out the Hero’s Journey and map out the points I do or don’t have.  But that’s reverse plotting, sort of.

Planning? Oh that’s what I do for series. And horrible misnomer, as I change my mind about everything. Yes, even the book order. Not that I usually plan series, it’s just that the story outgrows the original end point, discovers a good intermediate conclusion, and the next book goes from there.

Now, I do have a lot of stories in the same universe . . . multiverse, whatever. Okay, and perhaps “a lot” is a bit of an understatement.

Which is probably why I’m finding myself with a serious planning issue, right now.

I have a new opponent, the first encounter with them was small and singular.

Now . . . Yeah, umm, multiple Worlds suddenly impacted, all at the same time.

They’re going to all be out of touch with the greater Alliance, and each other, with no idea of how long it will take for the other Worlds to find them, limited ability to go looking, and plenty of immediate issues to deal with.

They are all different, and will need to deal with the issues in the way that works for them.

I have a pretty good idea how they’ll all get together in the end, but the worst of them will be on their own for a year or two.

So . . . what order do I write and publish these things in?

I think I have given myself an opportunity to learn how to make a plan and stick to it. I hope I’m up to the task.

The umm, early organizational pokes are getting out of control, already.

My dislike of plotting books is already throwing in some unexpected . . .

I mean, it seemed like a good idea, I could write a chapter or two on each world, establish the characters that will be driving the story on each of the isolated worlds . . .

***

Wait! What the . . . a Nanotech war robot? Where did that come from? What do you mean it’s been programmed with the mental map of a fourteen year old girl SF fan, so it’ll flexable, adaptable, loyal and the soldiers won’t be afraid of it? Does it look like a young teenage girl? Oh, it CAN?)

Umm . . . Let’s set this one aside, and move on while that idea  . . . matures, or maybe disappears . . .

***

Okay . . . next World . . . A bunch of office workers? The old, canny boss type, that’s good. And some young gung ho backstabbing ladder-climbers? The supercilious executive secretary . . .  Uh . . . clearly a government office.

Ah . . . not sure about this at all . . .

***

Okay, how about a whole family of over achievers? From Intel expert dad to kid genius little brother. Head to head with the instigators. This will be a good place to start, introduce the Bad Guys and uh . . . can’t solve the issue in the starting book of the series, but it could have *local* victory . . .

Right. Think about this . . .

***

Oh, a bunch of college students? Obviously they’ll need to have lions and tigers and bears to deal with . . .

***

Oooo! How about I dump an Army unit and a bunch of civilians  right on top of the Bad Guys?

***

And Dinosaurs. As long as I’m throwing people randomly into strange situations . . .

***

They figure out the way to find everyone and attack the bad guys. Probably college kids riding dinosaurs led by a nano-tech warrior robot who looks like a nice little girl.

Head=>Desk

Guys, whatever you do, do not follow my creative process. Do whatever you do, do it the way that works for you. I mean, I can’t even write the way I think I write.