Consistency and Logic

By Guest Author Brynneth N. Colvin

Much like mapping, tracking follows characters and objects throughout various plot threads during the novel writing process to ensure consistency and logic. Tracking includes:

 

Where Characters Travel

Characters possess various bits of information or even lack of knowledge about places found within the fictional worlds where they live. If a character has never graced the shores of the village on the lake, all they would know is what they've been told. Hearsay. If characters base their actions on hearsay, they may find themselves caught in unforeseen trouble when plans don't work. That's fine, but actions and consequences need to match experience and knowledge.

What characters know needs to be consistent with their experience. Fantasy writers can be tempted to throw in a previously unknown morsel of knowledge to make a plot work. However, when this is done, the thread of knowledge must weave back through the plot to keep the logic consistent. If they didn't know it earlier, they won't know it later. Track where characters travel and what they know.

 

Who Characters Meet

Who characters meet is a little easier to track unless your novel is filled with a large number of primary characters. It's the primary characters' relationships that need to be followed. Their actions and reactions move the plot along. Also track window characters (those that provide insight to various scenes and happenings in the primary characters' lives).

Just like in real life, not everyone knows everyone else. When writing a novel, include characters that work to move the story along by adding tension or conflict to the plot. This hooks the reader's attention and makes them hungry for more.

If your protagonist has never met Guard 3 within information provided to the reader, and yet at a checkpoint later in the story the two mysteriously remember each other so that the guard let's the protagonist pass-the reader will take pause to sift through what they know and question how this could happen.

Your goal as a novelist is to keep the reader reading. If you find it necessary that two characters know each other at the climax of your story, it has to be done in a way that makes logical sense to the reader. Even if it's a chance meeting earlier in the story in which the reader is unaware of a conversation, that's fine. But somewhere within the story, the reader needs to be able to logically trace back how the plot twist works based on character relationships.

 

What They Own

This category and the next are the two that present the most inconsistencies when writing. If your character loses his dagger in scene five, yet slices his enemy with it in scene eight, that break in consistency causes the reader to falter wondering if they missed something.

Tracking possessions prevents consistency glitches. You don't want to lose the reader as they flip back searching for what they missed. Track what your character owns and wears. If they have on boots that clack on the hard tile floor in chapter 1, unless they've changed they shouldn't be sneaking up wearing moccasins in chapter 4. Or if they lose their jacket, don't make it available when the temperatures drop. What characters own and use impacts logic.

Donna Sundblad's writing book, Pumping Your Muse recommends keeping a running list to track pertinent items owned or used by each character. When a chapter is written, read through it and update your tracking lists. This allows you to catch inconsistencies when the plot heads in a new or unexpected direction. Tracking allows wardrobe and possessions to keep up with each change.

 

What Characters Look Like

Characters evolve. Tracking their physical attributes provides a quick reference for novelists in the throes of emerging plots threads. Don't stop to wonder what color eyes-tracking allows the author to glance at the list, add the detail and keep writing.

Tracking physical characteristics also helps to avoid a blue-eyed character from becoming a green-eyed vixen later in the story just because green eyes suit her personality at that point. It's fine to make the change, but tracking not only follows the changes, but forces the writer to go back and search for any mention of the physical attribute in earlier chapters. It's necessary to hunt down previous references making them constant throughout. The goal is consistency.

Traits and Quirks Real people have quirks. Adding small habits and quirky mannerisms brings realism to your characters. Do they bite their nails? Twirl the hair at the back of their neck? Stand with slumped shoulders?

Such traits help to paint a personality. Personalities fluctuate but habits die hard. Track habits and quirks and keep them consistent.

Guest Author Bio: Bryn Colvin is an author of fantasy and erotica books. She is largely published electronically. When not writing, Bryn is an avid reader, an active pagan and a folk enthusiast.