Continuity Glitches

TheIT · Oct 4, 2006

Or "when it's time to put down the pen and step away from the notebook."

I was rereading something I wrote late at night when I was tired. I'm at a point in my WIP where many minor characters are introduced, and I wrote an entire scene using the wrong character's name. As I was writing, I knew which character I meant, but I consistently wrote another name down.

Anyone else hit problems like this? Any suggestions on how to catch problems early?

Cath · Oct 4, 2006

Yup.

I have a notebook* with all the character names, hair color, sisters/brothers/parents names - all the basic stuff, so I can look it up as needed.

I need to, I have the memory of a goldfish with brain damage.

*The notebook is so I don't need to have another file open on the PC -and because it's harder to accidentally delete. Losing it terrifies me!

blacbird · Oct 4, 2006

These kinds of things can be very tricky. With me, it often involves time. When did X happen? Before or after Y? Two days before, or just one? If it doesn't matter, I can ignore it and just not mention the timing, but it is of crucial importance in one of my novels, and I kept messing it up, at one place after another. I think I have it all correct now, but it wasn't easy ferreting out all the time references to make sure.

caw.

LeeFlower · Oct 4, 2006

I once wrote a character from an entirely different story into a WIP in place of its rightful MC. That was very wierd. Especially because the character in question was from a high fantasy, and the story she was written into was... not.

It was like a bad crossover gone haywire. Sleep is good.

MidnightMuse · Oct 4, 2006

I'm in the drain bamaged goldfish arena. I try to keep notes, then get busy writing and forget the notes, then make a few Exactly-When and How-Long-Ago booboos.

I try to catch what I can *liar* and the rest, my sister (aka: Beta reader Queen) finds and marks for me.

Kate Thornton · Oct 4, 2006

I once wrote a long story - a novella - for a science fiction magazine. In it, I had a charming character named Diego Carson, love interest to the MC. I referred to him at one point as Diego Garcia. I didn't catch the booboo but my sharp-eye readers did and I *still* hear about it.

Diego Garcia is an atoll off the southernmost tip of South America, a military installation owned by the British and occupied by the Americans. I knew that.

Elektra · Oct 4, 2006

I completely forgot about an entire necessary scene that had been amply set up for until I re-read the end a week later.

DamaNegra · Oct 4, 2006

Er... cross my fingers and hope someone notices it before I send it out?

No really, that's where the cool nifty programs that have everything to make you procrasinate forever come in handy, they hold your character's info when you cannot.

Or, write it down in a notebook, post-it or whatever, just somewhere that doesn't require loading or backup.

aadams73 · Oct 4, 2006

I sketch up a simple time line and enter a day-of-the-week for my own personal use next to each chapter heading. So far I haven't mixed up characters, although in my last ms I did have a character thinking about something she couldn't possibly know yet.

PeeDee · Oct 4, 2006

I have a character named Oberon, and his son, who is named Auburon.

Just imagine the continuity problems I had in their scenes together.

MattW · Oct 5, 2006

When I name a new character on the fly, I actually can sense the name drifting to different spelling or pronunciation. I think it's a good thing - a difficult name will find the path of least resistence, until it becomes something better.

Taurus Rising · Oct 5, 2006

TheIT said:
Anyone else hit problems like this? Any suggestions on how to catch problems early?

Heh - too often. I changed two characters' names from their first to second appearance without realizing it. I only caught the mistakes when early beta readers (of the incomplete wip) asked who these new people were. I spelled one of my town's name no less than four different way over the course of the tale. I used the last name of one character in the place of another's in a few spots.

Eventually I just surrendered and began using parenthetical shorthand whenever I wasn't sure I was remembering the name correctly. It meant about three hours of going through the first draft and inserting corrections, but it also meant I wasn't getting hung up on those details during the writing. Plus, using the parenthesis made the places to be fixed very easy to find.

Jack_Roberts · Oct 5, 2006

Yup. After rereading, I caught a glitch and wrote in an explanation, but I think it’s lame. My test readers thought it worked so I guess I’m my worst critic.
I clearly stated that my tracker/vampire could not be smelled by anyone. That his scent was unable to be picked up.
Then, later on, my adult /mentor figure picked up his scent and informed the other MC about him. I wrote a lot after that, then reread and discovered it.
D’OH!

Gotta be more careful!

Jaycinth · Oct 5, 2006

I have a 'bible'. It is probably bigger than my books. I have a family tree for each of my characters. For the major characters I've gone 10 generations into the past and 5 into the future. I have descriptions, likes, dislikes, schools attended, people dated, etc. I've developed cities and planetary systems with the detail of a 'Dungeon Master'. (Yes, being a geek, I have maps!)
I can look up characters by family name and by first name. (for people with identical names, I change the spelling Betty/Bettye/Bettie)

I've got a regular 'Homeland Security' dossier on each of these people.

Why? Because my writing schedule is so fractured, I forget. So sometimes before I write I consult my 'bible' and I'm reminded of what drives these people. I kinda get an overview before I jump in. Also I've discovered that when my muse is not with me, if I just jump in and look at the notes, descriptions and stuff, I start to get a feeling for what should happen next, what motivates the people. (and the monsters, we cannot marginalize the monsters simply because they are monsterous...)

Seeing as I just forgot what this post is about, maybe I ought to start an 'AW bible'......

Cath · Oct 5, 2006

I_Shrugged said:
Thank dog for Find Replace in MSWord.

Yeah, I did that once (changed a surname from Brown to Richards) - one of my characters ended up having "deep Richards eyes". Never again!

sassandgroove · Oct 5, 2006

OH, I was forever stopping and saying "What did I name her brother?" So I made 3x5 cards for my main characters with their vital stats, hair, eye, faves(like Beatrice loves chocolate milk) and family members or other pertinants, like a teacher or boyfirend. (myMCs, so far, are all girls.) I hung the 3x5 cards on the wall where I wrote. I am far enough in the process right now that i remember brothers names, etc, but making those cards is part of what helped me remember. Right now I don't have a set place to write, but I'll do that again when we move.

MidnightMuse · Oct 5, 2006

I sometimes wonder - for those of us who aren't married, and don't talk about our writing with family members - what they're going to think when we die in that tragic (but well written) accident involving the waiter and those cuban cigars, and they're going through our personal belongings and finding these diaries filled with life histories of people they've never heard of, and physical descriptions that border on stalking.

When the aliens come and remove all of us from this planet - and strangers are picking through our crap looking for the jewelry - what are they gonna think when they find detailed maps to places that don't exist on this planet?

TheIT · Oct 5, 2006

It's also fun revising scenes and missing some of the original pieces. In my previous WIP, I moved a conversation which originally took place while the characters were on horseback to later in the evening when they were at camp. The characters were sitting in their tent talking when one of the horses flicked an ear. My beta reader asked me whether the horses were enjoying the campfire and conversation, too, and was having difficulties imagining the horses fitting in the tent.

Usually I'm better at keeping track of the details like character names. It just surprised me that I could so easily use one character's name in place of another's. Perhaps it's telling me I haven't done enough to distinguish the two in my own mind yet. They're pretty minor characters, so their personalities are vague right now.

sassandgroove · Oct 5, 2006

In my first attempt to edit my WIP, I made the cuts and changes as I went along, instead of noting what needed to cut, changed or added. I would make a change and then find I had addressed said issue in a few more pages. So now I know, read through, note what I think needs fixing, and fix it later. I ended up with things happening before they should or after or not at all. Luckily, I had kept an untouched version I could print out to start over.

MidnightMuse · Oct 5, 2006

I've learned to ALWAYS keep a copy of the original version on the computer, regardless. Edits can backfire, or spawn different changes, or end up having been solved already in the next chapter.

That way if you do a global Find/Replace and end up with someone having "deep Richard eyes" it's easier to fix

Continuity Glitches

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Cath

The mean one

blacbird

LeeFlower

Lurker Extraordinaire

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

Kate Thornton

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere

Elektra

Don't Call Me Sweetheart

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

aadams73

A Work in Progress

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

MattW

Company Man

Taurus Rising

Jack_Roberts

Scribe of my muse, Annabelle

Jaycinth

Your Cuddly Sociopathic

Cath

The mean one

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading