World building how do you keep track?

[eroticstoryspinner]

It recently hit me that my hobby/exercise writing on Lit has reached the point that I need to write a universe bible for my stories. I had been kicking this around for a while and it got moved to the front burner when i I had someone reach out to me about writing a story set in my penal slavery universe.

My mainstream stuff is SF/alt history as is my erotica. Anyone who is familiar with the genre knows readers are not shy about telling you when you goof up continuity or a bit of science or handwavium. Heck Lit readers are pretty much the same. As a result, I create story and series bibles. The only time didn't was the first couple of penal Slavery stories and I got caught out messing up character names. Lesson learned.

My question is for those of you who have written multipart stories, what if anything do you do to keep everything aligned?

 

[ChloeTzang]

Keeping everything aligned? I use a spreadsheet to track important details. Things like character worksheets are useful. So are key events.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Keeping everything aligned? I use a spreadsheet to track important details. Things like character worksheets are useful. So are key events.

I love me some spreadsheets. I tend to use Goggle Docs for character bios and teh like as I tend to write in lines, or anytime I am stuck somewhere.

 

[UtherVierDragon]

I use Tiddlywiki (https://tiddlywiki.com/) for my fantasy writing (or at least I try to).
I knew I wanted to use something free and wiki like (hyperlink functionality seems like an important trick to keep me at least somewhat organized) and I can deal with the technical hassle (mostly - I forgot an external hard-drive with setting notes and spent half a year of corona exile without them).

 

[PennameWombat]

Keeping everything aligned? I use a spreadsheet to track important details. Things like character worksheets are useful. So are key events.

Ditto. Google Docs and Sheets. Allows me to access from all devices and all places. I also use Libre Office tools when on the laptop so go back and forth.

I use the spreadsheets for both character information and for timelines. I’m not doing enough to justify a ‘real’ authoring tool or a project management suite that would offer real timeline support. But this means they’re all in the suite for me to access/update at any time.

 

[RejectReality]

Spreadsheets. Character Sheets. Maps. I even got started on a searchable database on my website. If I ever get back around to finishing that, it will make things ridiculously easy. The code's there, just need to go through and plug in the mountains of data/upload all the images.

I've got a scratch map sitting on the right side of my desk right now, showing the layout of a house, where the rooms are, who uses each one, where the doors and windows are, the main fireplace mantle, the location of the well, tub, outhouse, relationship to the workshop, stable, kiln, road, and main road.

Kept losing track of things and needed it down on paper so I wouldn't have to keep going back and reading the text from previous chapters again.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My question is for those of you who have written multipart stories, what if anything do you do to keep everything aligned?

My memory.

 

[Blind_Justice]

How do I keep my universes straight?

The same way I keep my pen&paper RPG campaigns straight. Folders upon folders of information.

Each of my named characters, no matter how marginal, has their own file, including visual information, psych evaluation and an evolving "history" segment so I can cross-reference if, when and how people have met. Referenced every story they appear in as well.

Same with places. Who owns it, description, points of interest, plot devices etc.

These notes so far are simple .txt files, but there are software solutions like "Campfire" which allow for a true database approach. Haven't decided if I want to splurge just yet.

Also, have backups! I keep one complete copy of my working directories on a USB thumb drive which gets updated every day and one copy of the same directories which gets burnt to DVD each month. That one is stored at my mother-in-law's. So, should my machine croak, I have at least two sources of backups.

 

[Bramblethorn]

For roleplaying, I use Obsidian Portal, which includes a wiki (among other stuff) where I can fill in setting information for both myself and the players.

For writing long stories, I use Scrivener. It lets me structure by chapter and by scene and add notes and tags to each scene, with a separate section for characters. Makes it easy to pull up the scenes where a certain theme or character appears.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmmm.... I don't use spreadsheets.

For my long stories... I do use documents. Page upon page of information. People, places, things(ships, androids, alien races, weapons, uniforms, etc., etc.) and my memory of what has transpired... of course I can always go back to take a look at what happened earlier.

For short stories... just my memory. Of course there is a short synopsis at the beginning of the document telling me what the story is about and what should happen.

And I usually have it all worked out in my head as to what will happen. There are hundreds of stories rattling around up there. And some people think I'm kinda squirrely, but it's just all those stories up there.

 

[KeithD]

I don't keep notes on my stories, so my nemesis is stories that inadvertently expand out to long-running series. I have a good half dozen of those that have run to multiple stories in a series and I'm finding I have to go back after the series has been running a couple of years to review and (finally) write up notes. This is exacerbated because I use the Lawrence Durrell style--minor characters and side events in earlier books/stories tend to come up later to centerpiece a new book/story. I really hate having to go back ten years in a series to research to support new writing; I much prefer to be writing the new plotline.

 

[Emirus]

My memory.

Using my memory works for me but then I’ve only had 18 stories published.

There is one exception and that’s in a series I’m on with right now. I fell in love with a minor character in a series of stories by a friend of mine (who can’t understand my infatuation) and I’ve used her as the inspiration for the main character in this series. Similar physical description, similar charisma, similar personality, similar leadership qualities. The setting couldn’t be further away from the inspiration so there’s no hint of plagiarism.

She’s the only one for whom I’ve actually got the details written down so I can refer to them because I don’t want to make a mistake where she is concerned. Especially so because this is a series and not a stand alone.

I’ve written stories before with characters based on real people I’ve met but never a fictional character I feel I know personally. Is that weird? Have other writers experienced something similar? Does it matter? Not to me because I feel I know her as if she was a real person.

 

[AllenWoody]

Google docs. A combination outline, summary, and list of the characters and places visited in the story. That's for my series Lost Colony, which is the only multi-part story long enough to need such a record.

I could be better at keeping it updated. For example, eye color didn't make it into the description summary for a particular character. I *know* I mentioned it, but I'm not sure which chapter, and I'm afraid to get it wrong.

 

[MetaBob]

Outline. You have chapters? Good. What happened when? Keep it brief, like no more than two lines for each. Who orgasmed when (important for the genre)? Who was supposed to, or wasn't?
Everything I write, I write an outline for. Usually not right away, because getting word on (virtual) paper is the most important thing. But eventually ... where is the story going? Where has it been? What's important?

Up to you.

 

[JamesMiehoff]

I just use Word. I create a Word doc to hold characters, their bios and occasionally I scout out pictures so I can keep physical attributes clear.

I don't do it for all my stories, but if I am going to explore that universe, I generally create a doc file just because it is one of my pet peeves when blond Belinda becomes brunette Marcia halfway through a story.

James