Continuity
I’ve been having another long think about the place of continuity in my books, specifically my David Good books. When you are writing a series this is something that is bound to exercise your mind sooner or later.
There was never any doubt when I started writing my first David Good novel that it would be the first of several. For starters, that was a conscious decision I made right up front. And, in any case, I quickly found myself tripping over a growing pile of ideas for more stories involving my private investigator.
What I didn’t give any thought to as I wrote that first book, Good Investigations, was the matter of continuity. But I couldn’t avoid thinking about it once I started work on book two.
This can seem the obvious thing to do and perhaps makes it easier for the reader if they choose to work their way through the series starting with book one. I suppose it can possibly make things easier too for the author.
But that didn’t suit me. I was very clear in my own mind that I wanted to be able to jump around in my chosen window of time, the 1980s. I wanted the freedom that comes with that.
There does need to be consistency and continuity all the same. You can’t, for example go bumping off a character in one book, only for them to do a resurrection shuffle and re-appears in a book that is set later in time. You need to keep things credible.
So, where has that left me. Well, I do jump around in time from book to book and I will continue to do so. It suits me and I hope it’s fine with my readers. However, it has now got to the point where I am going to have to draw up a time-line, capturing key events and the movements and appearances of recurring characters. A little more work for me, maybe, but worth it all the same and I am not going to change my approach now.
What do you think? Do you prefer things in ordered squence or is a more adventurous and unpredictable approach the thing for you?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
There was never any doubt when I started writing my first David Good novel that it would be the first of several. For starters, that was a conscious decision I made right up front. And, in any case, I quickly found myself tripping over a growing pile of ideas for more stories involving my private investigator.
What I didn’t give any thought to as I wrote that first book, Good Investigations, was the matter of continuity. But I couldn’t avoid thinking about it once I started work on book two.
This can seem the obvious thing to do and perhaps makes it easier for the reader if they choose to work their way through the series starting with book one. I suppose it can possibly make things easier too for the author.
But that didn’t suit me. I was very clear in my own mind that I wanted to be able to jump around in my chosen window of time, the 1980s. I wanted the freedom that comes with that.
There does need to be consistency and continuity all the same. You can’t, for example go bumping off a character in one book, only for them to do a resurrection shuffle and re-appears in a book that is set later in time. You need to keep things credible.
So, where has that left me. Well, I do jump around in time from book to book and I will continue to do so. It suits me and I hope it’s fine with my readers. However, it has now got to the point where I am going to have to draw up a time-line, capturing key events and the movements and appearances of recurring characters. A little more work for me, maybe, but worth it all the same and I am not going to change my approach now.
What do you think? Do you prefer things in ordered squence or is a more adventurous and unpredictable approach the thing for you?
For the full version of this post please see http://www.benwesterham.com/a-writers....
Get a free copy of ‘Good Investigations’ here http://www.benwesterham.com/.
Crime fiction with attitude and humour from 1980s London.
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