Just a little progress report, but I figured what the heck. That full-length Misevelin Salvage adventure I'm working on, I've got drafts of the first six chapters, coming out at about 17000 words so far. I'm probably only about a quarter of the way through, maybe a little less.
I just finished writing detailed outlines of the next two chapters, so those are on the way in the next few days.
One of the fun things about this adventure is that we're going to have some clear antagonists and I'm trying to work them into the story without spoiling too much via their actions. I do enjoy the "detective story" tone I have developed in this series, and it's an interesting balancing act, keeping a few things hidden while having the characters plan, observe, and interact.
My workflow right now is that I have a full outline, somewhat coarse, and then I'm writing a couple of detailed outlines for each chapter as I go along. I also have a detailed set of notes for all of the characters, even fairly minor ones.
One thing I want to avoid is characters missing obvious clues and stuff like that, so I have to think carefully about who knows what and who might deduce what. Then the characters share information and new developments occur.
The cool thing is that I've definitely added things and moved them around from my detailed outlines, just as a result of writing the full versions. For example, my sixth chapter ended up covering a fairly different set of events than my detailed outline.
In a longer work like this, I have a lot more characters and I need to be aware of how they interact and what their histories are. I'm also trying to work in more moments where one character gives his or her opinion about another. Honestly, it's quite fun.
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