I was thinking a couple of days ago about the thing I’m currently working on.  Or rather, one of the things I’m currently working on.

There were a couple of panels at Fourth Street, wherein it was mentioned or talked around or somehow became part of my mental understanding of the panel, that sometimes, you just know how long your story will be, and what form it will take.  I’ve felt that, some, I think.  I write things, knowing how many words I’m aiming at, and what I want to have happen, and even a bit about the structure of the whole.

So, I have a question for the peanut gallery.  Have any of you started to write something, only to have unexpected layers of complexity crop up?  Have you had an idea about how big a story was, only to be surprised in the end that it’ll be quite a bit longer than you previously thought?

The reason I ask is…  Well.  So, the story involves vat grown genetically modified organisms that are cybernetically enhanced and programed while in vitro to perform sepecific tasks, and what happens once they’re ‘in the world’, given that change and evolution and growth as an individual happen from the moment of  first breath.  I already knew I was going to be dealing with the major themes of ‘what is it to be human?’ ‘what is love?’ and so forth and so on.  Oh, and also, ethics, slavery, and oppression.

Anyway.  I was thinking about it, and realized that I can add another layer to the whole shooting match with one simple move.  And, by adding this simple thing, I can add another entire level of deep thought to it.   For an example from today’s news: Farmer Joe grows corn.  Farmer Brown grows genetically modified corn (which, of course, he only gets to grow under license from the owner of the specific genetic strain he’s trying to grow; Brown doesn’t actually own the corn he’s growing, he gets to manage some of the profit from the corn and that’s about it).  Farmer Brown’s corn pollinates Farmer Joes’ corn.  Farmer Joe gets sued by the owner of the genetic strain and has to sell his farm to pay off the lawyer.

Now.  What if my vat grown cybernetically optimized organism manages to become pregnant?

I think I need to do a bit more research here.  And, I think I need to decide if I really want to write this story in this way.  I think I do, because just thinking of that made my brain light up in interesting ways, and I bet it would break a few heads in the world.

But, really, dear readers, have you ever had a story suddenly grow an entire subplot all on its lonesome?  Unexpected complexity cropping up is kinda… fun.