Keeping Track of Story Details

Randy Ingermanson's blog contained a list of questions he's going to tackle over the next week/month/year, how ever long it takes him to get through them. He asked for a vote: which question to conquer first? The list of questions inspired me to write a blog entry of my own, answering one of them: how do you keep track of story details?

I keep track of story details in an elaborate three-ring binder, divided into four sections: a character table, a map section, a calendar of events, and character profiles.

The character table is separated into columns, each containing a different set of information: character names, occupations, place of residence, special skills, family members, description, and special notes. It's handy to sort the table in different ways within my word processor, but I usually keep it alphabetically by character name. I find myself forgetting a minor character's description or spouse name (I have a massive cast for my book series), so it's nice to have all that at my fingertips without having to sift through my text.

My map section is relative small. I've got a hand-drawn map of the region my story takes place, and hand-drawn map of the wilderness setting where most of my story takes place. I've also got a small-scale city drawing so I can remember the basic layout: river, docks, shipping district, housing, downtown, residential areas, and outlying farming community.

The most valuable section is my calendar. Each page covers one month; I simply write in the highlights of each day on the proper date. I not only keep track of plot points, I also track my protagonist's birthday, the equinox and solstices, pregnancy due dates, foreign events -- basically anything that can be attached to a date and has significance within my story.

The fourth section contains my character profiles, usually one sheet per character, and an odds-and-ends section where I keep track of things like foreign words I've used in the story, city populations, the meanings of names, etc. 

That's how I do it, for what it's worth.

-Sonja

Books Worth Buying: A Question for Readers

Rebecca Miller posted a quote in her blog from an anonymous reader, who happened to be a clerk in a Christian bookstore. The woman stated that, if we wanted sci-fi and fantasy on the bookshelves, we and our friends need to buy that sort of book. Once sales go up, the stores will stock those books. Rebecca re-emphasized the main point: fantasy book sales mean more shelf space dedicated to fantasy books.

It makes sense. However, I can't afford to buy every new title that comes out. I usually check them out from my local library, and if I really love the book, I'll save my coins and purchase the work. The most frustrating thing, for me, is that many of the CBA titles I'd like to read aren't carried by my local library.

And I'm not just frugal, I'm downright cheap. There's nothing I hate more than shelling out cash for a book that doesn't beg to be read over and over again. Based on reader reviews, I've recently checked out thirteen titles from my local library, but in the final analysis, the books didn't grip me enough to purchase them for my library. In the past two months, I've only purchased two books from the CBA: Donita K. Paul's DragonFire, and John Olson's Adrenaline.

So, that brings me to my question: What books are worth buying? What books have you, readers, purchased that gripped you and kept your attention, even after you finished the book? What CBA sci-fi/fantasy books belong on my bookshelves? I value your input, as does my pocketbook!

-Sonja

I Stand Corrected

A while ago, I posted some amazing advice I learned from Colleen Coble, in the class she taught at the ACFW Conference: she told us to outline our books from the POV of the antagonist. I found this exciting and new and extremely helpful for finding my antagonist's motivations. Then Colleen wrote to me with this data nugget: the information originated with Donald Maass! I guess she said that during class, but I was so excited about the concept that I missed the origins. Thank you, Colleen, for clearing that up. I own the book you quoted from, so I should probably read it again.

-Sonja

To the pointy-eared among us

The ultimate highlight of the ACFW conference, in my opinion, was the two-parter Science Fiction and Fantasy course taught by John B. Olson. I can't give away all his secrets; we were sworn to secrecy. However, we didn't perform any ritual handshakes involving spit, so I think I can share the highlights without offending John. I found him extremely personable, humorous, and genuinely interested in all his students. When John spoke, I felt empowered to continue writing in my genre, as opposed to flushing it and migrating over to prairie romances. (Note: there's nothing WRONG with prairie romances, but I'm not the right gal to pen them.)

But enough of the ooey-gooeys. John gave us MEAT to chew on:

The world needs sci-fi and fantasy (SFF). Like no other genre, SFF fulfills the need to search for transcendence, to find something new, to escape the real world, to find all our wishes fulfilled. If we, as writers, keep these things in mind, we can write the stories that help fulfill these needs in our readers. Especially as Christians, we can help our readers find meaning in the universe. Life is not random. We are significant. We have hope.

In order to fulfill these needs within our reader, we must write BIG stories. Unfortunately, John didn't mean 150,000 word epics. Which is unfortunate for me, because my first drafts always come out around 155,000 words or so, and then I've got to cut 25,000 - 30,0000 just to catch the eye of an agent or editor! What John meant by BIG was HIGH CONCEPT. The basic hook of the story must be meaningful, unique, and bigger-than-life: too exciting to walk away from. And within SFF, this high concept will involve fantastic elements: engaging characters, world-shaking (or universe-shaking) goals, immense opposition, and exotic setting. Without the "fantastic," the story isn't SFF.

I probably shouldn't say any more than that. If you need to know it all, attend the next conference and sit under the teachings of Master Olson. But I want to sum up the most important thing I took away from the course: What makes my protagonist SO SPECIAL that it's his story and not someone else's? What makes him unique, fantastic? Why is he the "chosen"? What's the "hook" of my story, the basic concept that, when I say it aloud, every head in the vicinity whips around and asks me to say more? Once I can answer these questions, I'm ready to write.

-Sonja

(posted with permission from Master Olson)

Vital Information

As promised in the last post, I'd like to impart some of the wisdom I soaked up at the Writers' Conference in Dallas. I'll probably take
several posts, and then just barely brush the surface.

Keynote speaker James Scott Bell shared this nugget: "Say something passionately with excellent craft skills." It pretty much sums up what I've heard from so many others, but it still rings true. A great story that's written poorly won't sell. Fabulous prose wrapped around a ho-hum plot won't sell. Mr. Bell also instructed us to produce words every day, to make a daily writing quota and stick to it. Again, I've heard this before, but it bears repeating. I find myself going weeks on end without producing a single word. I've spent my time reading other writers, or researching, or jotting down character sketches... I feel so busy, but in the end, I don't have any written words to show for my time. Excellent advice.

Colleen Coble taught a series on Mystery and Suspense. She suggested writers outline their entire book from the POV of the antagonist. This will give us a much better understand of the villain's motivations and highlight any major motivation problems that ordinarily we wouldn't see. I found this approach ingenious, and amended her idea to include ALL major characters. I found more than one weak motivation after completing the exercise.

That's it for today. Next time, I'll discuss the highlight of the conference (for me): John Olson's Sci-fi/Fantasy Course.

-Sonja