Writing Question - How do you keep track?

[Kara_dija]

I have a question about how you keep track of all the loose threads in your story. You know, for long-running series, there are a lot of unresolved threads hanging around, and we need to keep them in mind when writing new chapters and planning how to resolve them. What I wanted to ask is, what's the best way to do that?

Right now, I keep all of this mess in a doc and just hope I find what I need when I need it. It’s not efficient at all, and I know there’s a better way of doing it, I just don’t know what that is. I’d really love some ideas.

İ wrote the key points of my novel at the very end of the same doc. So I can come back to it whenever needed :D
Sometimes though, I'd realise that my story has turned in a way that I wont need those specific those points/loose threads. The notes in my doc help me keep everything summarised :D

 

[CharlesEBrown]

A notepad. A physical notepad that I can actually have sitting next to me while writing.
You want something that doesn't require you to alt-tab ever.

Yeah - been using Google Tabs to track SOME stuff (place names, item names, character names and briefs), and it's useful but a pain.

Of course, excessively rereading your own story also helps a ton.

Heh - that's what led to me realizing that one character in Between Worlds had grown far beyond what I'd originally intended (and went from support character/running gag to one of the six main characters).

 

[soupsabaw]

I have a doc (sometimes google, sometimes word, sometimes both) where I keep all the information and key points. Even character details I don't want to forget. I organize it by separate lists: characters, geography, political system, glossary. If I write a scene that I plan for foreshadowing then I jot it down so I don't forget I even wanted to do it. I also reread my work a lot to refresh myself of it

 

[melchi]

You guys keeping tracks?

Same. I just reread if I am not sure.

 

[EphemeralEmperor]

You either plan ahead, and write out your whole plot, some and improvise the rest, or you don't. In the last case if your writing is compelling enough your readers online will let you know, but you'll lose people checking for consistency. Pros and cons abound.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I've never once written a story without an outline, a "skeleton" of the story start to finish, so I know for sure where I am, where I've been, and where I need to be. I also suggest a character list, detailing each one, their relationships, and where they fit in the story. *^^*

 

[OokamiKasumi]

I have a question about how you keep track of all the loose threads in your story. You know, for long-running series, there are a lot of unresolved threads hanging around, and we need to keep them in mind when writing new chapters and planning how to resolve them. What I wanted to ask is, what's the best way to do that?

Right now, I keep all of this mess in a doc and just hope I find what I need when I need it. It’s not efficient at all, and I know there’s a better way of doing it, I just don’t know what that is. I’d really love some ideas.

The most common way for writers to keep track of what's going on in a story is the tried and true Outline. I keep my outlines on a separate document in a folder specifically for that story, along with character lists, and base timeline.

When I want to keep track of a longer work, or a series. I use a free Mind-Mapping program called FreePlane.

FreePlane: https://docs.freeplane.org/

Example:

Though, I use FreePlane most often when I'm making a Visual Novel game.

 

[Rezcore]

I use a Word document with an AI assistant. Assistants aren't LLMs, they simply do searches or transactions as programmed.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

The only real answer is to retroactively edit your chapters and then gaslight readers into thinking there was never any plot hole or contradiction

 

[Anonjohn20]

Right now, I keep all of this mess in a doc and just hope I find what I need when I need it. It’s not efficient at all

You could organize that doc to make things easier to find: in one part all the characters, in another part all the loose threads, in a different part the extended lore of your story, etc. Then it's a matter of using the (Ctrl + F) hotkey to take advantage of the search function.

I keep a glossary for my work.

Same. Some people even keep two, one for things alreeady in the story and another for things they may add in the future.