Story Structure: Inspiration vs Engineering

I took a lifetime to brainstorm the world I’d end up writing in, often it was just a thought floating around without much to tether it. Within the last decade, when I got serious about becoming an author, I created a role-playing game system and spent time balancing it. Being a storyteller and player of a number of RPGs it seemed the most comprehensive way to build a world, with the advantage of it could be used to play games with friends to boot.

My first several writing exercises that haven’t yet made their way to publication were grand elaborate feats of engineering with various scale plot arcs woven together, trying to convey a number of messages, and develop a varied cast of characters. The labor of love taught me a great deal, and yet the first book I published was one of inspiration. A character came into the center of my mind and wanted me to tell his story.

I followed the character’s motivations and drives, allowed him to tell his story, and just had fun with riding around on his shoulder (and often in his mind). It was a break from my typical deep tangled web of creativity, but in hindsight he didn’t care about worldbuilding nearly as much as I would normally. He also took the narrative in directions I hadn’t anticipated, and had to deal with the consequences. The experience was positive overall, and inspired me to turn a single book challenge and begin a series with it. The engineer within me even tucked the Coalition of Strangers into the metaplot of my more elaborate endeavors, aligning it in time and space with the rest of my work.

Turns out, another stroke of inspiration struck while I was working on a number of different project simultaneously. Inherited Nightmares is still in production, and although it exists in 13 Realms of Eternity: Earth, it can exist anywhere in the reading order (before the finale of Realms at War series, another project in development).

Characters always augment the flow of the story to some degree, and as I write scenes that’ve been engineered I attempt to achieve various goals within the word-count and placement in the work. Some events shift and realign throughout the process, but there is more challenge in juggling all of the expectations, intentions, and responsibilities of both the ensemble cast of characters in addition to the storyteller rather than slipping into first person and telling a single character’s story. I aim to be up for the challenge, and make the 13 Realms of Eternity a rich and diverse metaverse to explore for my readers and players. I hope you’ll join us for the adventure!