When plotting a series of books, how do you account for plot changes you didn’t foresee you had to do? For instance, I read that Elend was originally going to be a minor character, but the end of Mistborn wouldn’t have been the same without him. How did you work him into the plot later on without breaking the story?
After I wrote the first book, and Elend grew more important in my mind, I reworked the three-book-outline. Usually, when I build a series, I spend a lot of time on the first book and then have a few paragraphs on the rest. Then, after finishing the first book and seeing how it worked (and how the tone was) I go and do much more in-depth outlines for the rest of the series.
When the first book is happening, things are much more ‘anything goes’ as I don’t have any established cannon yet. I allow myself to toss the rest of the outlines out the window, and just try to make the first book the best it can be. From there, I have continuity, and I feel it is important to maintain that for the integrity of the series.
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