I'm a little stunned by how enormous my series bible for THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS turned out to be. I'm usually my own worst critic, but I'm really happy with the world I've built and the characters I've created. It took a long time to go through the manuscript and cull details for the bible. This is a good thing, though. It tells me that I've woven my world facts and details into the story versus a lot of info dumping, which is never a good thing.
Having all these descriptions and facts in one place is going to be way helpful as I work on Book 2. Consistency is the key. I want my world and characters to come to life and the reader to always feel like, when an old character reappears in subsequent books, that it's like visiting a friend, someone they've come to know and can envision easily. If one of my guy's skin naturally smells like faded cologne and cedar, then it needs to smell that way in the next book. And sometimes as I speed along in my writing I might forget little details like this. So having a bible is a great way to keep me true to the characters and the world of Underground Atlanta and beyond.
4 comments:
When I wrote my epic fantasy, I at first had everything in Word tables. Well, that got cumbersome so I struck on this idea of putting it all in a Wiki. So I did. It worked so well that I started another Wiki for my urban fantasy. It's great because linking and cross-referencing stuff is a cinch. I use Tiddler Wiki.
Hey Kelly! Having a series bible is an awesome idea. I've gone without with a few of my series, but I won't make that mistake again. Lol.
Have a great day!
PS. OMG! I cannot wait to read your book. I'm very excited about it. :D
Am I the only one who laughs at the words Tiddler Wiki? :D No, seriously, though, it's a great idea! One of these days, hopefully, I'll be able to sit down and teach myself how to use it! For now, I just did a notebook with subject tabs -- ya know, old school like. ;-)
Yolanda: Re: the P.S. -- Hee, hee. I can't wait for you to read it, too!
Argh, I've got to update my Wiki at some point. So many things have changed (and improved) that it's almost totally inaccurate now. Sigh. Edits really are murder.
One of my characters always, always wears a very proprietary cologne. Because I'm a great big dork, I got hold of some essential oils, mixed up a batch, and tweaked it until it smelled right. It's fantastic on the Import, but on me, it just smells like rotting citrus. There's no citrus oil anywhere in the mix. Go figure.
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