Not simple, but - the gist, by allowing the idea to breathe, settle, expand and develop for TWENTY YEARS before selling the first book, and by submitting it as a FINISHED NOVEL, everything in place.
By the time Curse of the Mistwraith went to press, I had drafted all the way up to the Iyat storm in Traitor’s Knot; and detailed, extensive notes and fully written scenes filed in order for the rest.
Twenty years of labor to vol 1/and thirty more to rewrite/finalize the drafted sections and complete the gapped notes compiled for the five volumes to finish out.
Massive spreadsheets aligning factions, timing and events. Boxes and notebooks of history to flesh out the world, only a small portion of which show in the series, but may provide the basis for more short fiction going forward.
I felt, at the inception of the idea - that I was not mature enough to write it; nor did I have the worldly life experience to handle it as it deserved. I made the choice, immediately, to work out my learning curve on other, smaller works while I gained the perspective required. And ruthlessly curbing the impetus, as I went, not to tip my hand, and to ‘leave’ enough classical assumptions in place until the foundation was built solid, before ripping the veil off the actual forces at play.
I chose the language to be timeless. I wanted a series that would grow in depth with additional life experience so that it would not date, either by age or pop culture. Time will tell if I succeeded in that regard.
And: during the writing of Arc IV and V - a continuous rotation of re-reads/and review of ALL past threads - multiple passes - to notate what needed to be wrapped up.
That’s the long answer. The brief one: I set out to do this, and I spent most of my breathing life for fifty years shaping it as it deserved.
Delightful you stopped by to ask.