Tracking Your World

i keep plenty of notes, though i don't usually organize them. i put them in a file and delete them as i go as a rule. i keep a few lists as i go. otherwise, i rarely, rarely, rarely outline. on paper, at least. i amend my lists as i progress through the story. these things i think are helpful for a lot of writers, especially those who prefer outlines. i think these lists and organizational methods can often spur other ideas particularly if you're not the type predisposed to thinking about an ecology.

I have tons and tons of information about two planets on which several stories... novels... (everything unfinished, so far) take place. Names of countries, characterrs, animals, maps, calendars, and lots of other stuff. I gues you could call it my reference libray.

killed by stampeding ducks shouting Aflac

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Ouch, that's gotta hurt.

I've never found just one system for organizing my worlds. None of them have ever been a "perfect" fit. But I like the simplicity of this, Dave, so I think I'll give it a try. Thanks!

right, it's not an outline, though i think it compliment an outline very well. to say what i meant in better terms, if you're an outline type of writer, something like this seems like a good fit. even if you write in a rather sloppy, loose, haphazard way like me, there's got to be *some* organization for those longer stories. i thought i could pull a trilogy off using my typical M.O.. uhm, no, didn't work, lol. even in a normal-size book, i'll have a hundred little ideas that at some point i'll put in chronological order, and i've always got these little researched facts that go into the mix. when actually creating a new world, there's a lot of things to consider.

there should also be a caveat with world-making: i'd read this one guy's truly awful fantasy on another world where he just went on and on about how this monarchy worked in detail and trivial little things about the plants and animals and, well, everything we never wanted to know about the damn place.

i think it's interesting to note that, at least for me, it's much easier to discard and/or use pertenant facts when those facts are ones i picked up from research than it is to discard 'facts' i thought up to fit a new world, as if by virtue of me thinking them up they're more worthy of inclusion into the story. for me, it's harder to separate the two.

I'm doing research right now for a historical fantasy set in Restoration London (which may end up as two books). It's worldbuilding through excavation, rather than accumulation (which I've done on previous, thankfully unpublished, stories). Since I have a background in history, I'm obsessed with getting the details right.

To keep track of everything (and already there is a lot to keep track of), I use 1-1/2" three-ring binders. I don't have characters yet, but I have one binder devoted to politics, economics, and international affairs, and another devoted to religion, society, and culture. A third has my notes on the environment (both natural and built), and technology--which includes things like ships and weaponry, medicine, and scientific knowledge, as well as the various types of magic and alchemy that go into the fantasy elements.

As the amount of information I gather expands, some of those categories will get their own binders, others will split into two or more categories, and as characters and specific settings emerge I will have files on them, too. I'm starting with broad categories and refining it into narrower ones as I go along.

I also keep separate research notes. After a day of poring over books and writing down various facts, I sit down at the end of it and write down any thoughts I might have about my nascent plot, and what directions it might be headed in.

Eventually, I will have to create a map to keep track of where all of my locations are, and draw pictures of places and people. I do very detailed character worksheets, and I've found that creating a timeline that accounts for where everyone is and what they are doing in a given scene (or behind the scenes) makes life a lot easier--I notice plot holes and continuity errors very quickly when it's all laid out in front of me in one place.

ever run one of your characters through one of those online personality tests, answering as they would? did the results match how you perceived your character to be? if not, is that the writer's fault or a flawed test?

Because I don't have a very good memory, I like to keep fairly comprehensive notes, so I'm a sucker for this sort of thing. Mostly, I like to keep this idea in mind: that the longest sequence of items that can be stored in short term memory at any one time is seven. I take this to mean that if I want to write a story readers can follow, I need to write it so they don't have to remember more than seven things at once.

The way I get around this restriction is to organise information into heirarchies. For example, I may divide the setting of my novel into four or five general areas. So that's one list of four or five names the readers will hear when my characters start to talk about their world in general, and the broad sweep of events. The events of the novel itself would be restricted to one of those general areas, which I would further divide into four or five locations. And if one of those locations plays a significant part in the story, I'll break that down. It's my way of ensuring that the readers won't be inundated with names, dates, facts, and figures at any one moment in the story.

I make other sorts of lists too. I particularly like to maintain a foreshadowing list. Every time I plant some sort of set-up in a novel to use later, it goes on the list. When it pays off, I cross it out. When I'm planning my next bit of plot, I have a look at the list and see if there's anything on it I can use. It usually works out. I can tell you, my foreshadowing lists are usually a better source of inspiration than anything else. It can throw up some surprises, because of course, when I put things on the list I have no idea how I might eventually use them. Again, I want to make sure there are no more than seven active items on the list at any one time, so the plot is not too complicated for a reader to follow. Anything that's left unused at the end will have to be taken out in the rewrite, so the list comes in handy there as well.

Another thing I do occasionally is keep a timetable for my secondary characters, which keeps track of their habitual movements at certain times of the day and days of the week. I do this on a spreadsheet, so that I can cross reference characters to locations within my setting. This way they sort of take on a life of their own. For example, I'll know that Joe Blogs generally eats lunch at a cafe near his office on weekdays, so if my main characters happen to visit, they'll see him there. It represents quite a bit of work, but all the work's up front, and once it's done, you can use it all throughout your novel, and any subsequent novel you write using the same characters and setting.

Cool stuff!

This is some good information. Thanks for posting it. I like writing big, detailed epics and, well, I wasn't sure how to categorize characters or to remind myself what a certain area's ecology is like. Thus I've never been able to keep good track of all the individuals or places in my books. Things have a tendency to clash in my stuff because of this. The ideas you all have posted here are great. I look forward to reading more of them.

Despite not having done anything even vageuly series-oriented yet, I almost always timeline. If the significant events of the plotline take place over more than few days, I'll timeline to make sure that everyone has time to eat and sleep, for one. If there are things going on in multiple places at once, I'll timeline to ensure that messengers don't have to run at FTL speeds to communicate plots.

And I'll always, always timeline if the story runs long enough that the ages of characters change significantly over the course of the story. I learned that lesson the hard way, when I misremembered the birth date of one of my own characters. His resulting relationship ... well, my proofreader caught the mistake, and asked me whether or not his baroness wife-to-be was really supposed to be "that kind of sicko." Yeah. Timelines are good.

Whilst you're all talking about world building...

Some writing students and I have been reading fantsy novels. The students are keen to try their hand at writing fantasy so were critically examining some of their favourite fantasy novels. We did find some awful howlers in these books (No, I am not telling you authors or titles because many will be your favourites!)

It was simple practicalities that made us laugh. The way horses are treated like cars. Seems fantasy horses can go all day without food, rest or water. They never lose a shoe or need feet trimming or teeth care or grooming or debugging or worming! Same for fantasy oxen or any animal form of transport.

Weapons.
Bows kept strung all day. Most peculiar arrow heads and inaccurate details of how to use some bows, particularly the long bow. If the type of wood is mentioned it is often the wrong type for arrows or bows. The string is often kept where it would get wet in a sudden shower. Quivers and bows are slung carelessly about and often are without covers. No provision seems to be made for fetching arrows, hunting lost ones or remaking the darned things!
Daggers and swords seem never to rust or need sharpening. Stone and wooden weapons don't break or need sharpening. Some of them don't even sound useable.

Out in the wilderness.
The hero and friends, or heroine and friends often are, we are told, expert at woodcraft. Yet they ignore the basics of safety we have to use whenever we go into the bush today. We all laughed loud and long at the heroine and faithful companion who were on a secret and dangerous journey through a wild and wicked forest, and were being followed closely by the enemy, yet they undressed every night and dressed in the morning. Also all that talk of blankets. You try a few nights out with a couple of blankets and you'll see what we mean.

Could I beg you fantasy world builders to do some practical research and experience through re-enactment groups, practical archaeology sessions, and reading some darned good books! Just one book on the Iceman would give you a great understanding of tools, woods, clothing and vital survival equipment. The BBC History and Archaeology website has some good interactive 'game' sites where you can learn how to light a fire and cook on an open fire, make bread without modern camping gear.

Get out there and ride a horse all day, learn how much food and water and rest it needs. Try to light a fire and find your food. Learn how to knap a flint axe head or use a bow and fletch an arrow. Try to see an animal killed, skinned and butchered. Watch the work that goes into making the skin into a soft supple useable article. Try your hand at a bit of spinning and weaving, using everything from grass to bark fibres to wool.

It doesn't matter how different your invented world is, certain basic practicalities remain the same if your characters are going to survive. Please don't make your readers laugh at the wrong things for want of some research.

pdr said:

It was simple practicalities that made us laugh. The way horses are treated like cars. Seems fantasy horses can go all day without food, rest or water. They never lose a shoe or need feet trimming or teeth care or grooming or debugging or worming! Same for fantasy oxen or any animal form of transport.

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Terry Pratchett's latest novel Going Postal, although in nearly all respects a marvellous book, has the reverse problem: he has a supposedly express four-horse mail-coach, not overburdened, mostly running on quite good terrain and with regular stops to change horses, taking IIRC two months to cover two thousand miles - which is no faster than human walking speed for somebody fairly fit.

BE VAGUE! That's my motto. Don't mention details of horses, bows, camping, oil lamps, embroidery, or anything else when you can possibly avoid it. That may sound defeatist, but besides limiting the howlers you commit it will keep you from bogging the story down in trivial details that may bore readers (unless your initials are RJ). It will also avoid pearls like this (taken from a hardback fantasy novel):


"Swinging one leg over the pommel of his saddle, he slipped quickly to the ground..."

I bet he did. Pity he didn't just "dismount."

Have you noticed how few fantasy authors put scales on their maps? Guess why. (This bugs me, though. It proclaims sloppiness. There are scales on my maps, by golly, even though that meant that when two ships coming from opposite directions over great distances had to cross paths on a given day it took me a long time to work out the departure dates. I had to rewrite part of a chapter.)

DaveKuzminski said:

I also found it useful to track lesser characters.

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I just found this thread today. Glad I did, before it had gotten too long and discouraged "catching up."

Dave, I love your technique. I did have trouble keeping track of my lesser characters personalities and tone. Your way of tracking, is an excellent idea, thank you.

i see your point there, vomaxx, but just from that particular example it seems the author was trying to make the character seem cool or slick, rather like the difference between opening the door and getting into your convertible or jumping over it into the seat. i'd say that's got some different connotations. anyone can dismount, that character did it with *flair* going over the pommel and sliding down, lol. just from that statement, i can deduce the character is a horseman, is confident, probably cocky and somewhat a bit of a show-off. that is, of course, having absolutely no other context to frame my deduction in. having said he 'dismounted,' well, what can be said about that? sorry, don't mean to sound contradictory, but considering it in hindsight, did the author do a good job at expressing his character better the way he wrote it or would it still have been better had he simply 'dismounted'?

Depending on the shape of the saddle, he'd probably have caught his crotch on the pommel and ended up in a heap on the ground. Or the horse would have raised its head as he tried this manouvre, whacked him on the knee and tipped him over. There are reasons why people dismount by swinging their leg across the horse's tail.

Sorry but vagueness won't do!

A reader can tell when the writer is cheating because they haven't done their research. It's the old iceberg story. Only the tip of your research shows but you write a better and more honest story for understanding how your world works.

There's a slight misunderstanding

Sorry everyone. I did not mean that fantasy writers had to do the research and then add all that knowledge to their fiction. Selected details to make the scene seem real are what most readers want and what a good story can carry. However if the writers don't know enough to select the most telling and appropriate details then there is a credability gap for the reader.

If your hero is an expert in woodcraft yet can't make a quick and simple shelter to protect himself from the overnight rain then some of your readers are going to lose faith in the story.

You can find out about an amazing number of things if you talk to people. People who are experts or keen amateurs at something often love to talk about their 'hobby'. You can pick up a lot of telling details just from listening and asking questions. Then use those details in your fiction.

Translations!

Ah, we say bushcraft, Dave. I translated that as woodcraft for you Americans, should it be forestcraft?

But the point about an overnight shelter is not necessarily the skills to make it but the knowledge that it can and would be made. Two books our group read by respected writers had their main characters cursing the rain as they huddled beneath cloaks or trees. The characters were supposed to be beings who were skilled in bushcraft. If they were why hadn't they made shelters?