A house of mirrors

I’m usually a planner. I need to know where the story goes, I need to know the path it will follow before I put a single word on the page. I always have a synopsis, I know how it ends and what decision my characters make and why. That’s how I work.

Except with A house of mirrors. I know how it starts, I’ve written the beginning, but I have no idea where I’m going. On one hand, it’s exhilarating—I’m free, I can write whatever I want!—, but on the other hand, it’s terrifying. I love the beginning, I love my main character, but what if I don’t do them justice? What if I get lost on the way and never find out how the story should end?

To add to my confusion, it’s mainstream fiction. No magic, no mythology, no dark creatures, no nothing. Just my main character and her issues. To summarize quickly, when she quits her small town in the South for college in the big city, Charlotte cuts her hair, fills her wardrobe with male’s clothes and introduces herself as Charlie. In doing that, she finds the confidence and self-esteem she’d lost somwhere during high school; but the more friends she makes, the harder it is to keep her secret.

All I have right now is a few characters, a few scenes, a plot that may or may not be used as a common thread. And yet, I’m writing, which all in all isn’t so bad.

My biggest question right now it whether I should have someone know her secret from the beginning, an old friend, a brother or something. Getting Charlie’s reactions would be much easier, but I’m afraid having a confident reduces the difficulty of her whole plan.

Well, we’ll see. I’m getting back to writing, I wonder what will get out of it.