This post provides an update on my science fiction novel The Farpool, currently a work in progress for 2016.

Outlines and Progress

As of this writing, I should be about half way through my outline.  I’ve written about 180 pages to date and most of my novels have been running from 220 to 300 pages when formatted for Smashwords.com.  I always have a detailed outline before I put a single word to paper (or screen).  Which leads me to this question: when should you deviate from your outline?  Should you deviate from the outline, if it’s well thought out?

Not an easy question to answer.   In general, I use my outline to keep me on track, to keep the story moving toward some resolution.  Novels are large works and you can get lost in the details.  Some writers just write straight through, from a few notes and clean it up later in editing.  Others like me, are detailed outliners.  I don’t deviate from the outline lightly but I do it when it seems like it will help the story: explore a character more, explore a setting or a theme more.  But a little of this goes a long way.  Readers want to know a little about the character and see how they struggle with a problem.  They want to see what the characters do to solve their problem and whether they’ll be successful.  That’s the essence of storytelling.  Everything else is secondary.

I find that I sometimes don’t have the requisite detail in my outline to feel comfortable with a  scene or a chapter.  When that happens, I write another page of “Notes on Scene X” or some such.  It’s like drilling down more deeply into an idea.  And often with that extra detail, I can go ahead and write the story from that and be better assured I’m accomplishing what I want.

In general, deviate from your outline when it helps the story. 

Jargon

One of the characteristics of novels like The Farpool, set largely on an alien world, is what to do about language and jargon.  In my case, the world is an ocean world and the people are fully marine beings.  I have extensive notes on their language and words and jargon.  But they should be used sparingly.  Why?  They slow the story down.

Science Fiction writers use alien languages and words to convey a sense of “alienness.”  This is not Metropolis, USA or Mayberry or Petticoat Junction.  It’s a world called Seome and the people live underwater.  Even though I have extensive notes on language and plan to include an Appendix with a lot of this material in the final draft, I have tried to minimize the foreign words in the main body of the story.  I did too much of this in an earlier version of this novel (which I wrote in the early 80s) and it interferes with the story.  So it’s a judgment call on the part of the writer: put in enough to convey alienness and not too much to slow down the story.  A serious editorial look at the first draft, reading it like a reader, will let you know which way you need to go.  You should err on the side of a few words here and there, and get on with the story. 

I anticipate being through with the first draft of The Farpool sometime in the late spring or early summer.  Then a few weeks will be devoted to editing and pruning, probably taking out some of the alien language that has crept in, and (ideally) a final draft can be uploaded to Smashwords around July 1, 2016.  That’s my planning date.

Will there be follow-on stories?  Probably.  I am currently planning on two.  This first novel is entitled The Farpool.  I’ve provided some general story details in earlier posts to The Word Shed.

Here are some details about what will follow….

1.     The Farpool: Marauders of Seome

The Ponkti (one of the kels of Seome that opposes our heroes and envies their monopoly on the Farpool) send mercenaries and agents through the Farpool and wind up in mid-20^th century Earth.  They hook up with the Nazis.  The Ponkti have stolen Omtorish technology and have modified themselves to operate as amphibious beings.  The Ponkti are very interested in German U-boat technology and especially their torpedoes.  For their part, the Nazis are interested in what the Ponkti can to do to help defeat Allied sonar and assault Allied convoys.  Bad things follow from this unholy alliance and the effects are felt on two worlds.

2.     The Farpool: Exodus from Seome

Seomish engineers and scientists determine that their own sun Sigma-Albeth B won’t last much longer.  But Farpool still works.  A decision is made, after discussion, to begin a mass exodus of Seomish kels and people through the Farpool, to the oceans of 22^nd century Earth.  They don’t tell the humans about this planned immigration.  When the humans realize what is happening, conflict develops.  Ultimately, they allow the Seomish to come.  Now two intelligent races, one terrestrial and one marine, must learn to co-exist on Earth.  But what is worse: the Seomish have unwittingly left a path for the Coethi (the real bad guys) to come through the Farpool and menace 22^nd century Earth, even as they are menacing 28^th century Uman worlds around the Galactic Halo and Spiral Fringe.  A greater threat may be coming. 

 

So look for The Farpool this summer at Smashwords.com and also at Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks and other fine ebook retailers.

Next post will look at how my serial story Nanotroopers is going (in a word, pretty well). 

See you on February 22.

 

Phil B.