Inconsistancies

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Inconsistancies
Topic Started: Apr 28 2009, 03:32 PM (76 Views)
Lykaios	Apr 28 2009, 03:32 PM Post #1
Administrator Posts: 671 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: May 23, 2008	What do you do about inconsistencies in your writing? What I mean is, like, how the characters behave and settings and how things work out in a story, etcetera. I'm writing a really big story at the moment and I'm currently rewritng it, but I've found a lot of inconsistencies that I don't know how to fix and I was wondering if any of you had similar problems and what you do about them?
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Wannabe Writer	Apr 28 2009, 09:21 PM Post #2
Fountain Pen Posts: 252 Group: Moderator Member #27 Joined: Feb 8, 2009	I research if I don't know about a place or something like that. Also, on the forums of most WriMo's, there's a Realism forum where you can ask questions about stuff like that. It helps to write what you know.



Lykaios	Apr 29 2009, 04:48 PM Post #3
Administrator Posts: 671 Group: Admins Member #1 Joined: May 23, 2008	Yeah, that's what I do too, but I meant like plot problems. Where early on you say something and then contradict it later or something . . . Umm . . . it's hard to explain. Okay, firstly, I have this character who's caught up by the actions of other people and doesn't really have much choice. He's confused, but not self-pitying, but at the same time he wants to fight the people he works for, so effectively, he fights what he's become. I'm stuck because I can show him as good and bad, the two sides that confuse him, as well as a mixture, but it makes him too unpredictable and thus, I get lots of inconsistancies with the plot . . . Also, like little things. I found this one while editing: A character had a phone and then when he got up, the phone is forgotten . . . But it's boring to explain what happens to the phone, you have to fit it in somehow. Or you say that a character does something, when they're already doing it (eg: sitting down), but you don't realise. Other things are like discriptions that change, etc. and how locations fit together without messing up timing. If a character needs to get somewhere, and it's far away, then they can't just appear in the other place. I think it's more of a problem with longer stories than short ones, though.
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Majyk	Apr 30 2009, 02:28 PM Post #4
Moderator Posts: 184 Group: Moderator Member #10 Joined: Jul 7, 2008	In my long story (the one you read), I ended up finding lots of those problems while editing. Once, one of the characters did the same thing twice, just a few paragraphs down. With the characters repeated actions that sometimes happen, just carefully edit, I'd say. Quote: Okay, firstly, I have this character who's caught up by the actions of other people and doesn't really have much choice. He's confused, but not self-pitying, but at the same time he wants to fight the people he works for, so effectively, he fights what he's become. I'm stuck because I can show him as good and bad, the two sides that confuse him, as well as a mixture, but it makes him too unpredictable and thus, I get lots of inconsistencies with the plot . . . I don't know about this--I have to work on that stuff myself. Quote: Other things are like descriptions that change, etc. and how locations fit together without messing up timing. If a character needs to get somewhere, and it's far away, then they can't just appear in the other place. What I would do (I don't completely remember what I actually did while editing the Legend) is write down the different locations in your story in an extra document or on a piece of paper, then write down what those locations look like and use it as a reference when you come back to that place later in the story. Also for location, I drew a map so I knew where the towns were compared to others. It's not very good, and was only so I wouldn't get messed up and have them going the same direction they just came from, but it worked.
	By your decisions you paint a portrait of Who You Are. ~ an uncommon dialogue Rescued by Death (53,000 words)


Wannabe Writer	Apr 30 2009, 08:48 PM Post #5
Fountain Pen Posts: 252 Group: Moderator Member #27 Joined: Feb 8, 2009	Lykaios: That happens to me all the time, about the characters, I mean. I write down character biographies, then I change their personality, eye color, etc. Do you mean like plot holes?? Majyk: I'm also planning on drawing a map of the cemetery that my story takes place in, and also the surrounding area. When I was writing my first novel, I kept a map of the country at my side the entire time. It is filled with lines showing where characters went at certain times... very confusing.



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