Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Writing

How to keep track of facts for a book series?

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One thing I have been crunching possibilities on is how to keep track of details so they remain consistent between books in a series.  Sometimes it is as simple as did I spell it with a hyphen or without?  What was Misty’s date of birth again?  Is the clump of white hair at her left temple or her right?

I have been using yWriter 5 for organization and word count because it has a section on characters and a place for notes: physical description, alternate names, biography, and the like, as well as the actual chapters.  But I write in a word process and transfer scenes as I go, so I do not always have it open and easy to check my facts.

protect my husband’s wall from sticky note infestation

I have considered a notebook, but that is not split-second access ready.  A wall of sticky notes would be a great idea, but I can just hear my husband now indirectly criticizing by pointing out all the little colorful sheets of paper on the wall which detracts from his fine paint job or the ones floating about the floor because I will be working on this for a few years, what with seven books to the series, and some of that sticky on the paper is going to give itself up to variations in mugginess and dry air.  And what about the fact that I am usually working on two or three projects at once in different stages of production:  drafting, redrafting, editing, getting publication ready?  I don’t have that many walls available.

I never use spreadsheets (some sort of neurosis holding my back from that) unless there is no avoiding them, i.e., other people have to make them and my job has to require I look at them.

Right now I have a piece of graph paper with a timeline on one side and various scribbles on the other for current important facts I keep needing to confirm.  I think it is buried under a draft of my anthology and a notebook full of poetry.

So can anybody recommend a solution to this issue?  I am interested in hearing novel ideas tried and true or otherwise.  Please keep the spreadsheet recommendations down to a minimum though.

Tuesday prompt: #5 2013

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line in the road of my personal space

I posted this prompt at least a year ago on Twitter as I was posting writing prompts there. But I decided that there were plenty of other groups and individuals doing the same so I quit.  However, I really liked this prompt, so I am posting it here.

He leaned in to me, past the line I draw that says, “You’re too close.”

Tuesday prompt: #4 2013

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MASK, mask

Often people have a persona that covers their true self.  Take that idea of a mask and apply it to a character.  Design them with a strong personality, but beneath it have a second sense of self that is kept hidden. As you design these two sides (interior true self and exterior mask), try to have a few aspects cross between the two.  Both prefer to listen rather than speak first or both like the color blue.  The interior escapes from inside when it fits the exterior persona.

So the tough guy that throws knives so well is crazy about practicing darts before bed.

Revisiting linear vs non-linear plots parallel plots

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Back on 10/10/12, I wrote about a redraft I was working on for In Times Passed.  I had set up two parallel plots, one linear and one non-linear.  I felt pretty good about the changes, but I was uncertain about if the reader would be able to follow the non-linear plot line.  I had chosen the non-linear scenes to match to the linear flow based on common links in dialogue, which seemed a reasonable approach to connecting the two plot lines.

You know that part of you that syncs together what you write, that manages the pull of imagery, purpose, characterization, depth of character, release of the gathering of facts?  The inner coil that tightens as you develop plot and bothers you when things are not working. Well that place, that wellspring of creativity was giving me muffled bursts of dismay at that non-linear flow, unflow.  Last week, just to check, I moved the pieces about and straightened out the sister plot so they both ran chronologically in line but not in the same time frame (one is set in the future).  That muffled burst of dismay settled down with a contented sigh.  There was no mistaking it. 

I am letting it rest as I line edit and watch out for any more muffled bursts.  My advice, if something in you is protesting, check it out.  Make the changes called for and see if you find creative peace.  You can always revert back to the original draft.

When I have trouble getting the words out

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What some might call a mild form of the infamous writer’s block.  I have never suffered from the extreme form.  I do have times when a scene I have in mind isn’t working, but I don’t call that writer’s block.  It is more a case of not having worked out the details or I am expecting something from my character that really isn’t what he or she would do, or maybe not how that character would do it.

On Goodreads recently a writer was looking for advice on how to overcome her writer’s block.  I made some suggestions but they were based on my practices to improve my effort when I felt I was failing to produce something worthwhile.  It has never been a case of not being able to put words on the page, which does sound awful, something I do not want to face.

So these are the things I do when my writing is not up to snuff.

  • I go read someone I think is a great writer and hope his or her ability will rub off or inspire my own (my writer’s muse frequently is named Heinlein.  I can’t tell you how many times I have read Door into Summer).
  • I lay my self down on the couch, close my eyes and imagine my character in the scene I am working on.  I put in all the details: lighting, decor, emotion, what happened just before, what is going to happen after.  Soon there will be dialogue of either the character talking to me or to some other character. At some point, I find something I simply must start writing, and I am off the couch.
  • Sometimes, convinced I am just tired, I will go to lie down and that will last all of two minutes.  Counter to my intentions, I suddenly have plenty to write.
  • I tell my self to just write anything, summarize what I wanted to cover, write a scene that is needed, dredge up an old hurt my character has, anything, good or bad.  At some point I am warmed up enough that I have something to write worth writing.  I never expect perfection.  I always tell myself, “Hey, you are going to redraft it anyway.”
  • When there are times that I cannot write, but I really want to, I record it on the memo app on my phone. Then when I am actually able to write and can’t think of the wording, I listen to the recording which always has some key line that I can leap off of, and then I write. 
  • A writer once told me (YA and children’s novelist Joan Oppenheimer) never leave your writing finished. Always leave yourself at a point where you know where the plot is going next or what the next issue is, whatever. Make a quick note to yourself about what is next.  Then when I come back, there is my reminder. I don’t have to stare at a blank sheet, something is already waiting for me.
  • I review the scenes I know are coming up and see if one seems ready to be written now.  I’ll write it and later fill in the missing space that I was having trouble with.  I have the start and now the end point, so filling in the middle won’t be so difficult.