[META] Tips for tracking plot lines

[Tom Russell]

On Nov 18, 9:29Â pm, rickhindle <rickhin... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Any tips out there for tracking characters/story threads? Â I'm trying
> to make sense of the somewhat complicated continuity I've created for
> myself in Thunderclap (#16 will be out...someday) and I'm looking for
> tips/hints/strategies that have worked for y'all in the past.
>
> -Rick

I've found outlines/timelines and charts to be useful: outlines/
timelines to keep track of what event happened when and resulted in
what; charts to help organize the development of various threads so
that they all pay off when I want/need them to.  Let me illustrate
with a simple example.

Let's say that I'm writing issue 46 of ACTION ARTICHOKE ADVENTURES.
For the special holographic cover anniversary 50th issue, I want to
pit Action Artichoke against his nemesis, The Red Felt Pen of Doom,
while the life of love interest Ginger Pinch lay in the balance.
Sounds perfectly serviceable, but there's three problems: one, Action
Artichoke is engaged to someone completely different than Ginger
Pinch; two, Ginger is married; three, the Red Felt Pen of Doom was
dead.

These are not, of course, insurmountable obstacles for superhero
comics, but given that I want to basically achieve a different status
quo in the space of four installments, I better sort it all out so I
don't end up with EMERALD TWILIGHT or something.

And so, a chart, with each row representing an issue and each column
representing a story thread.  For the first slot, I put where I'm at
currently, for the last, I put where I want to be.  And then, in-
between, I figure out what gets me there, shifting things around for
effect: sometimes more casual (if Action Artichoke and Ginger Pinch
both lost their lovers in the same issue, it'd seem awfully
contrived), sometimes more artificial (if Action Artichoke and Ginger
Pinch were both  mourning their lovers in the same issue, it could
contrasted for thematic purposes and underscore their loneliness/
need), and sometimes because you can make all your threads flow
together seamlessly (if Ginger Pinch's spouse was the Red Felt Pen of
Doom in disguise, who then killed Action Artichoke's fiance...).

Granted, it's been a long time since I wrote anything that used a lot
of different story threads/subplots/complicated chronologies, and the
stuff I did write in that mode leaves more than a little something to
be desired.  So, my advice re: charts and such should probably be
taken with a grain of salt.

==Tom