The Series Bible: A Topic Workbook, #2
()
About this ebook
Fictional worlds, even based on real locations, require consistency. Writing a series involves multiple drafts and changing ideas. A Series Bible will help you keep details straight, allowing you to keep your flow of character quirks and setting details that your readers will always catch. Topics, exercises, and resources included.
Based on Devon Ellington's popular seminar. Important Note: This Series Bible is for prose: novels, novellas, novelettes, linked short stories. It is NOT for theatre, film, and television production, although it uses some crossover techniques. Series Bibles in those mediums use a different format, specific to the medium.
Devon Ellington
Devon Ellington publishes under half a dozen names in fiction and nonfiction. She is also an internationally-produced playwright and radio writer. She has published six novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles under the various names. She spent over 25 years working backstage in theatre, including Broadway, and in film and television production.
Other titles in The Series Bible Series (7)
Setting Up Your Submission System: A Topic Workbook, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Series Bible: A Topic Workbook, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Graveyard of Abandoned Projects: A Topic Workbook, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreative Stimulus: A Topic Workbook, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complex Antagonist: A Topic Workbook, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrganize Your Writing Life: A Topic Workbook, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeveloping The Series: A Topic Workbook, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Read more from Devon Ellington
The Ghost of Lockesley Hall Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrangers in the Snow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeverance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Series Bible
Titles in the series (7)
Setting Up Your Submission System: A Topic Workbook, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Series Bible: A Topic Workbook, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Graveyard of Abandoned Projects: A Topic Workbook, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreative Stimulus: A Topic Workbook, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complex Antagonist: A Topic Workbook, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrganize Your Writing Life: A Topic Workbook, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeveloping The Series: A Topic Workbook, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Developing The Series: A Topic Workbook, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Media Res: Business for Breakfast, #17 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaster Fiction Writing: Craft A Novel in 31 Days: Selling Writer Strategies, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnti Rule: Navigating The Lies About Fiction Writing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complex Antagonist: A Topic Workbook, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharacter: The Heartbeat of the Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters to New Authors: Preview: Letters to New Authors, #0 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Short Guide to Writing and Selling Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriterpreneur: The Basic Formulas of Fiction: Writerpreneur Guides, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Enjoy Being Edited: A Practical Guide for Nonfiction Authors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWriting with the Master: How One of the World?s Bestselling Authors Fixed My Book and Changed My Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Finish & Publish Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Creative Writer's Toolkit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelf-Publishing for Traditionally Published Authors: Method Writing, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndie Writer Companion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecome a Full-Time Author: Practical tips, skills and strategies to turn your writing hobby into a career Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStory and Character: Interviews With British Screenwriters Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Walk On Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNovel Study: Decoding the Secrets and Structures of Contemporary Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStory Boarding: 3-in-1 Guide to Master Storyboards, Writing Films, Non-Fiction Story Planning & Create a Visual Storyboard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWRITE NOW! (How To Write That Novel--Today) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYour A Game: winning promo for genre fiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Time Management for Fiction Writers: What No One Tells You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRead to Write Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Short Fuse Guide to Book Publishing Rights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Language Arts & Discipline For You
Verbal Judo, Second Edition: The Gentle Art of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Show, Don't Tell: How to Write Vivid Descriptions, Handle Backstory, and Describe Your Characters’ Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust & Get Extraordinary Results Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Win Your Case: How to Present, Persuade, and Prevail--Every Place, Every Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spanish Workbook For Dummies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy... All new photos! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Speed Reading: How to Read a Book a Day - Simple Tricks to Explode Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels: How to Write Kissing Books, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's the Way You Say It: Becoming Articulate, Well-spoken, and Clear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to write a novel using the Zettelkasten Method: How to write..., #1 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How To Write A Children’s Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shut Up and Write the Book: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Novel from Plan to Print Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Series Bible
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Series Bible - Devon Ellington
Introduction
ANYTIME YOUR STORY covers more than one book, you need to keep notes for consistency. On Broadway and in film and television production, we kept continuity bibles. Characters had closets
—we’d keep all the clothes a regular character wore together, so we could match if we had to go back and reshoot, and, so we could mix-and-match over the course of the season, the way a real person would go into a closet and wear something more than once.
Every detail, every accessory, even the number of buttons closed or left undone was carefully noted in photographs and verbally. It’s jarring to watch a piece with continuity errors.
It’s equally jarring to read a series with continuity errors.
As a writer, it’s difficult to maintain continuity. We work on multiple drafts. Things change from draft to draft. Our editors may work on multiple drafts with us, and something might get past both of us.
Creating a Series Bible helps you keep things consistent as they need consistency. It also gives you context when you CHOOSE to make a change. Let’s say your protagonist, in a long-running series, likes to change her hairstyle. You establish that she enjoys this, so five or six times in the course of ten books, either her hair color or cut differs. You keep track of it in the Series Bible, so that you can address it logically in the text without the whole series becoming about your character’s hair.
Of course, creation is only the first step. Then, there’s maintenance. I have suggestions for that, too.
Important Note: This Series Bible is for prose: novels, novellas, novelettes, linked short stories. It is NOT for theatre, film, and television production, although I use some of the techniques I used in those fields. Those Series Bibles use a different format, specific to the medium.
Enjoy!
Topic #1: The Medium
Decide what’s the most efficient way to keep your notes. I like to keep my Series Bible in a three-ring binder. That way, I can separate out topics, and move pages, add pages, delete pages as necessary.
Sometimes I work in longhand; sometimes, I’ll make notes as I’m working on the hard copy and then type them up, or work in longhand as I read on screen and then type them up. Sometimes I move between screens.
If you keep the bible primarily in your computer, make sure you have multiple backups.
Whether it’s a hard copy or a digital copy, keep a section for Old/Discarded Information. The minute you permanently delete a file, you’ll need to refer to it—an editor will want something, you’ll discover the direction you were convinced was right isn’t working, and so forth. It’s much easier to keep the different versions organized in hard copy than digitally, in my opinion., but if you’re super-electronically organized, digital formats might work better. I like to be able to physically move things around.
I’ve played a bit with Scrivener, but have not yet mastered it. I think it’s more