Editio Self-Publishing discussion

Does anyone else have a complicated plot for their book(s)? If so, how do you keep track of everything?

(My plot is getting more and more involved, and I'm looking for ideas on not forgetting anything, lol.)

I've personally found it helpful to keep a little notebook handy to write down details and plot lines that I might otherwise forget. It gives me something that's right there for me to consult when I start wondering whether I've explained something already or not.

My cousin is trying to write a long, complicated book as well, but he's trying to plot the whole thing out first. He says Powerpoint has helped him keep things fairly straight, using a different slide for each chapter.

I have a whole colony of notebooks living on my desk, lol. Unfortunately I'm so disorganized that I put things in the wrong ones. But powerpoint slides...that sounds very unique. I should try something similar. Thanks! :)

I use an excel spreadsheet with colour codes. I list all the scenes in the book and then make notes next to them regarding follow up, payoff etc.
It's also good to have all the scenes in front of you.

Good luck

That's a good idea, too. I can add that to the outline I'm already working on. Thanks, and good luck to you, too!

Based upon what has been said, I recommend you take a look at Scrivener (Mac or PC). I have found it to be an extremely powerful organizing and writing tool. Categories, tags, secondary notes, color codes, outlining and index cards... I know I have barely scratched the surface but it helped me get my novel under control, produce a script first draft in about two weeks, and generally get organized.

Thanks for the suggestion! :)

I keep a compendium open as I'm writing. In this I keep a list of characters and their particulars. Also keep particulars of some of the locations that may be revisited.

Beyond that the idea of making an outline or maintaining a spread sheet is appalling. My former job loved doing flow charts. The protocols would be set and then generally ignored by all.

Outlining the story, IMHO, is an invitation to creating a wooden and predictable storyline. I would find myself surrendering story development for organization. I write a scene and then labor over what happens next. Once I figure out the next scene I jot down a half a dozen pertinent notes to remind me of some of the ideas I had.

So far, I've done an outline, a very basic one. As long as I know what needs to happen, and which character reacts in what way, I'm free to do pretty much whatever I want. But there's just so much going on (or will be going on in the future) that I need to keep track of it somehow. There are side characters that have strong personalities and back stories that may or may not do weird things when faced with what's going on. And I have LOTS of those, so it's confusing. xD It's a series, and it's going to be complicated.

When something gets complicated, I do what I always do: organize. Lol.