An Essay on Writing - Part 2/2 (Trial, Error, and Accomplishment)

(( Continued from Part 1/2 ))

I know that some planning is key.  Once upon a time, I wrote a short story that people absolutely loved.  So I wrote another, then another.  People loved the story, so I decided to write more of them for people.  Then a friend of mine said, “You realize your main character changed names?”

I remember writing the stories and thinking in the third, “Its time to give this guy a name.”  I thought I had written the first two stories trying to keep everything nameless, but after rereading it, I didn’t.  In fact, other details changed, like eye color....  It was my first time trying to write a series and realizing I need an Outline.  So I went back, reread those stories and took tons of notes along the way.  Then I went back and rewrote the first two stories, and started to conceive and plan the rest of the series.