For someone used to world-building for fantasy novels, I have proven completely unprepared for the amount of story-building required by any kind of contemporary novel. I don't know why, but I seem to have been of the opinion that with a contemporary novel, I could just jump in and start writing. Not so much....

In lieu of a fantasy world, I have to design a Smalltown, USA. Instead of societal structure, I have to decide on a workplace and its culture. Friendships and romantic entanglements are just as necessary as they are in fantasy, and while most of my fantasy protagonists have only the slimmest of familial ties, a contemporary character requires a much more carefully crafted set of family relationships.

Just as with fantasy, these things inform and shape a protagonist and her story, and though I could just jump into the writing, I suspect the tale-telling will be significantly easier if I take some time to sort out the small, familiar world it will inhabit.