I'm fascinated by the visual aids that many writers post near their keyboards while working on a book. Timelines (I've got one of those); magazine or newspaper clippings of faces that represent characters; and interviews/questionnaires that the writer, "in character," has filled out for the MC are some of the most common and helpful ones I've heard about. But when I tackled a MG novel with twelve characters (most of them friends of the MC) I wanted a way to keep track of the relationships between any two of them. What I hit on was a wall chart.
My chart measures roughly twenty inches square and is divided into thirteen rows and thirteen columns, for a total of 169 squares (I did say there'd be arithmetic in this blog). Across the top, in squares 2-13 of row 1, are listed the twelve character names, and down the left side, in squares 2-13 of column 1, the names are repeated in the same order. The square in the upper left corner is blank.
The squares of intersection show what the character in the left column thinks of the character in the top row. For example, find Jared's name in the left column, Eleanor's name in the top row, and run your fingers down and across to the intersecting cell. In that cell is the word "egghead." Jared thinks Eleanor is an egghead. Find Eleanor in the left column and Jared in the top row, and you discover that Eleanor doesn't disdain Jared (as she does most people); rather, she's mildly scared of him. Ann thinks Nicole is a popular golden girl; Nicole thinks Ann is plain and on the dull side. Run your hand across any row and find out what that character thinks of everyone; run your hand down any column and find out what everyone thinks of that character. Pick the same name at the left and on the top, and the intersecting cell will tell you what that person thinks of her- or himself. Obviously, this type of chart could be made quite easily with a spreadsheet as well as by hand on posterboard.
Have you found any neat visual aids or organizers that have helped you with a specific project?
9 comments:
I've got cork board adhered to the wall next to my computer. I keep note card summaries of each chapter of my WIP. It helps me remember where I put all of the details, and helps me decide if they might work better in another place.
I like your character relationship chart idea.
I write down fragments of thoughts about the plot and the character that seem like ramblings. Actually, they are more like a word chart (I am the anti math writer). Short words like, "Lynn/crushed" bring to mind a whole scene.
It sounds spacey - especially compared to Marcia's super cool character relationship chart - but it works. I guess I think more in images. I also know I can't sit down to write without those ramblings.
I think how we approach writing says a lot how our minds work. Still, in the end, we all come up with the same thing: stories (and hopefully good ones : ) )
Nora -- I do something similar, but on paper. It helps me see when certain plot threads haven't been mentioned for a while and keeps me from forgetting them.
Anne -- I talk to myself in the margins of the draft when what I'm writing now suggests future developments. I'm such a mix of organization and spontaneity!
Nora -- I do something similar, but on paper. It helps me see when certain plot threads haven't been mentioned for a while and keeps me from forgetting them.
Anne -- I talk to myself in the margins of the draft when what I'm writing now suggests future developments. I'm such a mix of organization and spontaneity!
I was making a tedious chart of names on one side and dates of significant event across the top: wanting to know how old a batch of siblings, for example, are at the time their baby sister drowns.
It was helping me explain and remember their reaction and individualize them.
It was useful but time-consuming, so I complained about it on my blog. Then one of my lurkers reminded me that her husband was an Excel wiz, maybe he could whip up something for me.
I sent him my needs and he sent me back a program. It has made my life *so* much easier: now all I have to do in write a name and birth date to have a string of ages, or enter the date of an event to have character ages all the way down the page.
Simply. awesome.
(I don't need it at this stage of my writing, but it was a big help earlier and will be again when I finish cleaning up.)
Amy Jane, that sounds terrific. Aren't computer wizes great people to have in our lives?
yes. *Huge* blessing.
I keep an eye out for people who remind me of my characters, then I watch them and note their mannerisms (I hope I'm discreet when I do this -- I'd hate to scare people!). I have a notebook, too, where I keep my ideas about the story, a floor plan of my characters' house and town, and things they think, like, dislike, etc. Your chart idea is great, but I despair of ever being that organized!
Mary, I do some of this, too. I watch people who seem to have a lot in common with my characters, and I am big on floor plans! I create kind of a "Bible" for each novel. I like having the chart up where I can always see it, but it's pretty specific to one thing -- character interrelations.
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