Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Keeping track

by Dietrich Kalteis

I have to go along with Robin, a story bible and spreadsheets sound a bit too organized for me. I don’t write a story outline, but I do create a reference sheet for my characters. I keep track of details like backstory, physicality, age, where and how they live, things like that. At the start of a story, I drop a character in the scene, and at that point they’re still pretty wooden. And as I work through the first draft, the characters get fleshed out and develop. Once I get to know them, then I don’t need to refer to the sheet that much.

And I have a habit of rethinking scenes and details as I go, and I often change a character’s name until I feel I’ve got it right, and the character sheet helps me keep these things straight. Nothing worse than attributing something to a character that just doesn’t fit and getting a note from an editor pointing it out.

When I’m away from my desk and I think of something I want to work into the story, I write myself notes. Bits of paper usually litter my desk until I work them into the story, then they get balled onto the floor where they provide entertainment for my cats. 

Other than that, I write a one-page timeline toward the end of the story just to check the sequence of events. And I keep a folder for scenes or chapters that get cut. I used to think I might use the discarded scenes somewhere else, but I never have, so now I just toss it all out when the story’s done.

House of Blazes is set during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. For this one, a lot more research was needed than the three previous stories which are set in present time on the West Coast. At first, it was a bit daunting, knowing Google wasn’t going to be like one-stop shopping, but I really enjoyed doing the research. I learned a lot about some interesting times and places as I worked my way through and organized a mountain of archives, period maps and photos, and endless personal accounts. Aside from keeping what I needed in a file, I expanded on the one-page timeline to keep the story events running true to the path of the real events.

The next couple of stories I wrote are historical as well but didn’t need as much research. The timelines are back to being simple, and I just used them to check the sequence of events: Zero Avenue is set during the early punk rock scene in Vancouver and will be released later this year, and Poughkeepsie Shuffle is set in the mid-eighties and revolves around gun smuggling between Toronto and upstate New York. It will be out sometime next year.

4 comments:

  1. I forgot about those cut scenes. I also set them aside in case I find a place for them later. But like you, Dietrich, I've almost never used them. Good post. I enjoy reading about the variations in our approach to writing. There is no 'right' way. We do whatever suits us best.

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  2. I'll take any course you may someday teach on researching for fiction. Just reading Triggerfish I can see you're a pro. Historical fiction must be even harder because of the discipline you need to take what you came for and get out of there fast, before you get sidetracked :).

    I keep my best outtakes in a folder, because sometimes it's interesting to go back and look at those paragraphs/chapters that have been removed for whatever reason. This file can be crazily poetic, and freeing too, because nobody will ever read it but me!

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  3. You're right, Robin. There's no right way, it's what works for each of us.

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  4. Dieter, it's fascinating to see how everyone approaches their work. But I guess it's whatever works for us as individuals. Though I do keep trying to find a program that will do a bible. But I also know I'd probably never stick with it.

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