As every writer should know, remaining consistent throughout is very important. 

I'm curious how everyone here remains true to their lore and story, while also keeping track of character design and items. 

I'm currently using a word document and a spreadsheet. Word document is for characteristics and major plot points, while the spreadsheet is for keeping track of casts inventories and injuries. 


Any suggestions or ideas that you've found that greatly benefits your writing?


Thankfully I'm only on chapter 4 of my newest story, so I don't have to worry about consistency as much. :P

I'm not sure how everyone else does it, but the current story I am writing is broken down into volumes. I keep a separate log/document for all the characters that appear in that volume, as well as the plot for the volume.

Since my novel will expand on the characters already known in a volume or add one or two more characters in a new volume I don't have much to worry about. Since besides the main group everyone else is busy doing things 'off screen' and will re-appear when they are needed. So when I want to bring them back up, I already have a log/document to remind me of their looks/habits etc.

For every volume, I have certain plot points I want to hit and try to expand on those. Those points are saved since it is basically a short summary to remind me what happened in that entire volume. When I go on to the next volume I connect the points in some way, if need be.

Locations/factions/terms all have their own document so I know key members/clans and their goals. Terms so I remember all the important words that I might forget later as I continue to write.

For one volume I may have eight to sixteen separate documents to keep track, which I then keep in its own folder. When I want to look back on it, I click the folder then document and bam!

That is how I keep track of everything.

Oh! I also write/note all the important parts down in a separate document as I write. Like a reminder to myself of something that might happen or may happen in the future.

I keep several resources available to me while writing. These sources include characters, world-building (further broken down into geographical, political, economic, demographics, ect), and a general plot outline. You may want to print out your world map with a scale on it for frequent distance and directional references, but most of the other things are easy enough to look up as is if you are organized. As you become more familiar with your own universe you will find that it becomes easier to write without constantly checking your reference materials.

My stories themselves are then broken down into a hierarchy, with the largest being the "story arc" or sometimes "book" segment, and the smallest being individual scenes. I keep track of these via nested folders. Each folder is also accompanied by a description of what that section of the story is about. If it's a arc document that means it's a summary of the arc. If it's a scene document that means a list of characters in order of appearance and a summary of that particular scene.

My tip is to limit the characters and items in the story. Instead of inventing new items, I try to find new and interesting ways to use the old items. This also makes getting new items and abilities feel rare and special like the character has really earned it.
Also, limiting characters helps the story feel more concise. For instance, instead of bringing in a new character you could add backstory to one of your previous characters that weren't fleshed out.

For the LitRPG I'm writing I use Scrivner, and every time I add a character I create a text for them where I list a few things about their appearance, describe how they speak to get their personality down and what their goals are. I may even add a few examples of how they speak so I can ensure it is different from the other character's I've introduced.

I actually need to start doing a better job of keeping my items listed. Since this story is one where I am not posting week by week I've focused on the actual story and game mechanics rather than specifics such as numbers and items. I plan to go back and add those in my next draft and before I send to beta readers. I hope this will ensure consistency.

For the GameLit I'm writing week by week, here on RRL I actually have everything in a single google doc. If I need to find something I just use the search function. This only works because I'm not planning on it getting any larger than 50k words and everything is very focused and concise.