I suppose it's inevitable that eventually I would make a boo boo that required an already-published chapter to be edited in such a way as the story changes, or at least one aspect of the story. I mixed up two characters' histories and simply changing the name wasn't an option. This made me wonder, how do I prevent this from happening again? The short answer is that I can't, an unforced error is just that.
I already had a story index for Tamara's Debut but it was skeletal. I'm expanding it to include all relevant events and bio details for the characters, almost all of whom are met for the first time in Debut. That requires reading every chapter and noting every few paragraphs. It's time consuming and in the past 4-5 hours I've worked through eight chapters. Having said that, I have found three errors that require minor edits to some chapters and there's a couple of typos too. The thing with Debut was that it was proofed, after I'd been through it, and sometimes chapters were proofed twice when I made serious edits. Still those errors crept in!
I want to get this done now for several reasons, firstly I have an interest in publishing the Tammy stories for a wider audience, so I'm watching any news on a BCTS front about self-publishing plans. Secondly I want to avoid future errors (as if!) and thirdly, the stories are now close to 250,000 words in total and getting bigger every few days.
None of the edits that come around from this proofing/indexing will change the storylines, so you won't need to re-read any chapters, not unless you want to of course. It all starts here
Comments
Here is how to avoid such problems.
This made me wonder, how do I prevent this from happening again? The short answer is that I can't, an unforced error is just that.
Actually, there are ways to avoid the problem. Some times, a story requires more than one outline. Such as an outline for the main plot, outline for the subplot, and an outline for each of the important characters. And comparing all those outlines, to make sure no mistakes are made.
When writers write themselves into a corner, or make such errors, 90% percent of the time, the reasons are because they did not make a story outline. The outline was not thorough enough story outline. Or, they did not keep their outlines for reference notes.
I know this is more work. But, some work is needed. This, along with research. Still, from personal experience, I have found story outlines and notes, taking together, to be a sixth to a third in size to the story the outline is about.
Also, I realize you may not have wanted to hear this. But, my post is only intended to be constructive and helpful.
Paul
Outlines
A story outline is a nice idea but I don't work with anything detailed as it restricts me and focusses attention where it's often not needed. I research all legal, medical, location etc stuff to ensure it's as accurate as possible, even if I force a character to get it wrong (initially) because that's how RL works, learning from mistakes.
My errors are not procedural that would be fixed using better continuity but more of not remembering what I've previously said on a subject. A case in point is that, in Debut #3 Tammy withdraws cash from an ATM inside the bank but in a later chapter has an argument that she can't use the external ATM (following an assault) and wants cash over the counter.
As I'm running at 250,000 words in this universe, there's alot of history on some characters who come around often. I know those characters well. Other characters appear less often and I should refresh my memory so as not to contradict myself, but sometimes try to do it from memory anyway, getting it wrong into the bargain. Emily Bonney is a case in point, I allocated history to her that should be with Suzie Small. Both are occasional characters.
So far as story development goes, I use an abbreviated note system with advance story dates (and still get that wrong occasionally) plus potted relevant details from any research I've done. The rest just flows around that sparse detail.
In another life I teach IT skills to adults, I've done that in various environments for 25 years. I don't use any notes these days and talk it from experience, in the past I used a sheet of single word prompts (not even cue cards). That's how I work, and it's good for me. As I said, the errors are unforced but rare and most are caught before publication. The human condition is to get it wrong occasionally, to err or, to falsely believe that something was true. That occurs in every part of our lives, including my writings, despite best efforts otherwise.
Shiraz
A few thoughts on the subject.
You need to think of outlines as maps. Outlines are necessary for very long stories.
Also, it sounds like you are on the verge of burnout. And the best way to avoid that is to back off a little, and pace yourself. This is not a sprint, this is like a long distance journey. Everyday you do a little more, and eventually, you will get it done.
And you need to understand the difference between working from experience and not. With teaching the same thing, over and over again, you know what the course work is. And you may not need notes.
But, writing a story is completely different. You are creating something new, not repeating the same thing over and over.
Writing a story is like writing new software. You have to have an idea, and a plan, of what you are working towards, or you will run into problems.
An Idea, Maybe
I think you do a fantastic job of self editing. I have experience editing reports from work that had to be perfect and know it's not easy. It has occurred to me that using the "Printer-friendly version" feature on this site to load a full storyline and then your browser's find capability, you can easily search for little used characters or items like cash machines to quickly find how you've used them in the past. Of course you could do the same thing with a word processing software even more easily as you could load all of the series storylines written to date to a single file.