[Writer Post] Continuity

It’s Wednesday. It’s a writer blog day again. So far there’s not another huge blow up like the (as of yet unconcluded) Amazon v. Hachette brouhaha. It’s just me today – a very grateful that this week is tons better than last week me – who’s trying to figure out what to write about. I think I might talk about continuity…

I’ve started my section of the next Redheads book. Suddenly I couldn’t remember if I’d ever given my primary character a last name – more specifically a maiden name from her time on Earth. I’ve asked on the ROTA facebook page, but no answers yet. So my other recourse is to open up every file I’ve had for these books and do a search. Which means sucking it up and doing it…why? Because if I just go on the assumption that Zoe didn’t have one before – someone will point it out in a panel at a convention.

Now, you might ask, why didn’t I plan all this out from the beginning? Well, ONE, I’m an idiot who didn’t’ think of it, and TWO, I’m not sure any of us thought this would grow as it did. We didn’t set out to do a chapbook and two (and hopefully soon, three) braided novels, so we end up coming up with new stuff on the fly and so far it’s all worked out.

My friend, Meredith, said, “It’s time for a wiki…” well, yeah, probably. The issue with that is finding the time (and probably the patience) to do something like that. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice… it’s just not something we thought about. In the “coulda/woulda/shoulda” terms of life, I would be a better outliner and have all this down BEFORE writing anything – but sometimes… you just gotta write the story.

I know that makes it seem like I don’t care about continuity… which isn’t the case at all (or I wouldn’t have even posed the question to begin with). I <3 Continuity. I like it in other peoples' universes. I like it in mine. (I also like it on a train. I also like it in the rain...). NOT having readers point out my brain fades and occasional oopsies is a GOOD THING, because let’s face it, none of us wants to look foolish like that.

So, I’m asking the question and doing the search (soon) to find the answer to my question so I get my own details right, because that’s what a professional does. Yeah, that’s it. And now I need to get back to doing the work…

Tags: continuity, details, fiction, Four Redheads of the Apocalypse, publishing, Writing