A close friend of mine gave me a great suggestion on keeping tabs on the characters in my story. She heard about a Fantasy author who uses this strategy as most Fantasy stories have a lot of characters. It is a great tool.
Each of my characters has their own folder. In it I have included: physical appearance, age, occupation, marital status, the pages they appear on and what they do/say. This a good process to follow who is who, what happens and tie up loose ends. It’s also about being consistent in your story and plot. I found it constructive as it allowed me to find sections in the story that needed extra work or tightening up. Plus sometimes you forget what you have written and this save time in re-reading the manuscript. Its like having your own personal Cliff Notes.
Even if you don’t have many characters, it’s a valuable process. Besides, anything that helps improve your story is worth doing.
Luciana Cavallaro 