by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Some of you may not know this because I do have a culinary mystery series and was on a food blog for a long time…but I don’t consider myself a good cook.
My problem is that I’m not consistent. And my inconsistency in the kitchen has a lot to do with focus (or lack of it). I’ll cook something that everyone in my family likes and then cook it the next month (differently) and everyone will be forcing it down.
When I first started writing, I didn’t find consistency important. If I’d continued on this track, it would have meant for some really uneven writing in later books. I wasn’t jotting down small facts for later books in the series, for instance. I wasn’t necessarily consistent with characterization, although I managed to smooth that out in later books.
Recipe for consistency in my books:
First off, I keep a story bible. Anytime that I throw out any details about a recurring character or setting, I make sure to keep track of it. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to mess up in later books and ruin that continuity. That’s sure to pull readers right out of a story when they spot it.
I make sure that characters behave in ways that are consistent with who they are. If they don’t, there need to be good mitigating circumstances to explain it. If I change who a character is to make the story work, I’m cheating the reader.
I ensure that the style is consistent. When I worked with Penguin, they would create style sheets for my series to make sure that if I’ve chosen a group to be called the Cut-Ups, that they aren’t called the Cut-ups in other books.
I’m consistent in terms of what I’m delivering in my chosen genre. I’m not throwing in any surprising gore or endangering children because that’s not what readers have come to expect from me or from cozy mysteries, generally.
I make sure settings and characters are consistently familiar to readers, but described in different ways (no copy-pasted descriptions) for the books.
For further reading:
Making a Series Bible Using Excel by Heidi Hormel on the IWSG site
How to Create a Series Bible for Your Fiction by Lorna Faith
A Free Consistency Checker (for Style) as a Google Docs Add-On
Keep Characters Consistent by Shay Goodman
How do you ensure consistency in your writing?
Photo on VisualHunt.com
Yes, consistency in a series is important. I like your idea of a story bible. I need to create one for the series I’m working on to keep my characters straight and be sure that I don’t forget important details about them.
When we start out, it’s super-easy to keep track of everything. I was surprised how quickly I got confused!
Consistency is really important, Elizabeth, and I’m glad you bring it up here. Readers do come to expect certain characters, writing style, and so on, and they don’t like to be disappointed. I like your ideas, too, for keeping everything consistent throughout a series. I keep files for the books I’ve written, so that if I forget something like a ‘regular’ character’s name, I can easily find it.
A file is a great idea! You’re so organized that I’m not surprised that you use one. Have a great week!
So far my style and genre are really darn consistent.
I’m a follow the recipe exactly kind of guy.
In my experience, readers like that!
I do have a series bible, per se, for my genie series, but for the most part, it’s in my head. (Not necessarily a safe place for anything to be stored.) I need to make one for my mystery series, so I’m not forced to go thumbing through the other books to find pertinent details. Or to keep track of everything in my increasingly cluttered brain. Luckily, when I screw up, my editor pokes me in the head with her pretty pink pencil.
I know what you mean about poor memories with cluttered brains!
On a slightly different subject, but my police chief from one series made an accidental guest appearance in the other series on one page. Thank goodness for editors!
I could not have written five books in my series without a story Bible and a timeline. There were too many characters and events to keep track of.
I’m an inconsistent cook because I often don’t measure. I just dump in what looks right.
I do a lot of dumping of ingredients, too. Apparently, I can’t eyeball things correctly!
Hi Elizabeth – consistence is so important in so many things and saves so much time in the long run … so agree with you – but can understand you taking your eye of the ‘cooking ball’ – it’s nigh on impossible to keep up with everything … cheers Hilary
It’s definitely a time-saver!
Cooking and I just never really hit it off. :)
I’ve kept a story bible for the couple of series I’ve started too. Can’t remember where I read about them first but it’s a life saver! :)
It sure is! Thanks for coming by, Jemi.
Excellent advice and nicely explained. My favorite was story bible. Thank you for reading and commenting on my Guest Post (Alex’s site). It’s good to met you.
Good to meet you, too, and good to read your interesting post this morning!
Offhand, I don’t recall to what extent Agatha Christie varied the description of Hercule Poirot. But I do remember always being excited to encounter the detail about his egg-shaped head.
It’s tricky to provide a regular series reader with descriptions that yield that jolt of recognition—but without copying and pasting—and, at the same time, properly introduce characters to new readers.
Kudos, Elizabeth, for describing your characters without c&p. I’m sure your readers appreciate it.
– Alex –
Like you, I’m a follow-the-recipe kind of cook!
It’s a tricky balance for sure–don’t want to bore the regulars or confuse the newbies!
Good to know I’m not the only one who must follow recipes exactly to avoid danger. :)