Character Mapping

It is really easy to lose track of a character or a personality when writing a story. That means that your character Charles may migrate from being an architect on page 10, to being a guy that makes those plastic balls that go in the pits at the good McDonald's play places. You see what I mean?


You need to remember the little details for all of your characters because, after spending hours, days, months with them, the details can get a bit hazy. The easiest way to do this is to write everything down on a separate sheet of paper for each character. These act like mini biographies for each character. Every time you reveal something about the character, write it down. If you say that his mother came from wales, write it down. If you say his mother came from whales, write it down.

This may seem unimportant, but it can save you loads of time off the back end. When you don't have to go back and correct a hundred continuity errors, you can spend that time doing real editing and real revisions. This doesn't only apply to characters either.
You can and should map places or events if you plan on revisiting them often. However, in my experience, it is most important and saves the most time to map out, and keep track of, each and every character.