I posted this on /lit/ but that board is slow af so I'll post this here as well.
I've been planning on writing a series of novels that span the timeframe of a handful of characters but I can never understand how to keep it all together. How does someone like GRRM keep track of all the characters/their backgrounds, and setting/s, etc? Do people like that write it all down beforehand in detail such as what part a specific character plays, etc? Pic unrelated btw.
>>28484001
He doesn't. He has a few really dedicated fans that have an encyclopedic knowledge of the books and short stories.
And yes, writing notes on everything you think of is a good idea, even if it has no place in the final piece.
>>28484001
Even George R.R. Martin has trouble connecting all the stories in his books; Dany's storyline is almost completely independent of the rest of the stories for the past 6 seasons.
My advice is that you read history and follow one story and see how many people interacted to create one outcome. George Martin grabbed a lot of his ideas from British history, especially the wall. Perhaps do some detailed research on Ceasar and all the people involved in his life? It's easy to make a story when you have a model.
>>28484001
Ya gotta outline, OP. Make lists for characters, settings, chapters/novels, plot points, all that shit. Writing narrative fiction is a time consuming and highly autistic exercise, but an extremely fulfilling experience once you get into a groove
It's hard, dude. I'm writing a novel with four viewpoint characters and it is a tricky dick. It's important, though, to plot each character's "arc." Focus on one character at a time, and make sure their story is complete in-and-of-itself (i.e., it has beginning, quickening, rising action, climax, resolution).
It can be pretty fun once you get into it though, as the anon above me says. A unique sort of fulfillment.
>>28484039
All I got atm is a fictional boy of 17 winters who becomes obsessed with the songs of a heroic-like figure who existed decades before him. Said boy becomes so obsessed concerning this figure that he heads out on his own journey across the land and sea in hopes of having songs being written of him. As he ages he begins to lose everyone he loves and realizes that the human body has limitations. The whole narrative is heavily influenced by Norse mythology and when it comes to historical figures all I have would be someone like Ragnar.
