I try to be careful about keeping track of when things occur in my stories. This is especially important when writing series with books that contain overlapping events. Wandering Soul is actually the first of three books that will hopefully mark the beginning of such a series. The next two occur over the same three-day span (I pack a lot into those three days). And it all takes place this year—in 2015!
To make sure I had everything straight during edits (and while writing the second book—which is already submitted *fingers crossed*—and plotting out the third), I figured out when things happened and wrote them down in my actual yearly planner. My system for separating my real life and the lives of these characters is simple. Anything that’s a book event is in brackets (<>).
It is so cool to see things like, “<Dante’s Birthday>” and then flip a few pages and see “Real-person’s Birthday”. And I noticed something extra-special this week—the first event of Wandering Soul (you know, that whole, “pulled from certain death” part of the blurb) takes place this very Saturday!
I will absolutely need to do something to celebrate, even if it’s as simple as raising a glass of tea to Elsa and Dante and wishing them luck on their journey. Over the ensuing couple of weeks in their universe, they’ll certainly need it!
*raises glass of healthy apple cider to Dante and Elsa and you!* 🙂
[…] written about tracking fictional events in my planner. I’m still doing that. Every year, I write in the birthdays of my friends in Summer Park, […]