New writing software: Aeon Timeline
I'm still gaga over the new writing software.
I was pointed toward Aeon Timeline by Tracy Grant. (Thank you, Tracy!) It's timeline software made for writers (and it even lets fantasy authors create their own calendars). Bonus: it will sync with Scrivener, and we all know how I love Scrivener.
Last weekend I finally sat down and started plugging in dates from the French Revolution, just to see if I liked how it worked. This turned into a hunt through all my relevant books to find those that boasted a chronology, compiling all of them into the timeline. Then I put in a few events from my story, just to try out the story arcs feature. Then a few characters and places to work with entities. And labels to keep everything visually clear...
...it turned into this. Yes, it's colour-coded down to whether the scenes are drafted or not. There is also a story-arc view. The spreadsheet-lover in me is positively orgasmic.
One of the hurdles to progress on Twenty Years After is the sheer amount of information I'm trying to keep in my head. I have the historical record, Pimpernel canon (and all the contradictions between the two*), plus various backstory events I've invented to fill in the gaps, then my own plot laid over everything. Add an obsession for historical accuracy and I defy you not to start popping Advil.
I've been meaning for ages to re-read certain parts of the original series, and I now realize part of the reason I was hesitating was because I had no reliable way to record the information I wanted to mull over. The closest I came was in thinking of buying an enormous whiteboard and drawing all over it, but now I'm seeing even that wouldn't have been enough space. Aeon lets me throw all the info into one file and then filter it down to what I need at any given moment.
Aeon is also perfect for a project I've had in the back of my head even before I started Jack's story. I want to create an integrated French Revolution / Pimpernel timeline, complete with citations to the various novels and links to maps, etc. (Spreadsheet-lover + Pimpernel freak, that's me!) I first thought to create it inside the Twenty Years After file, but five chapters into Sir Percy Hits Back and I already suspect it might get unwieldy, I hope I can easily split it into its own file if it does. I do know I'll be able to export it without my events, for the use of any other fans who want it.**
Aeon is currently in beta, so there are still a few bugs, but I'm already fully on board. It's opened up my own novel for me in a wonderful way. I still haven't actually solved my plot problems, but seeing my own events lined up in-between those of the historical record has inspired a couple fanfics backstory scenes and I've just realized that Percy, Chauvelin and Napoleon walk the same ground (albeit at different times) in the Dauphiné. I'm certain that as I work on the Totally Awesome Complete Pimpernel TimelineTM more ideas will fall into place.
Cate
* Not that I'm complaining. After all, explaining certain of these contradictions away is now the point of my trilogy -- similar to the sherlockian Game.
** This is likely a project that will take years, so if you know of someone who is already doing/has done it, please let me know. I don't want to find out at the end that I've just repeated someone else's efforts.
I was pointed toward Aeon Timeline by Tracy Grant. (Thank you, Tracy!) It's timeline software made for writers (and it even lets fantasy authors create their own calendars). Bonus: it will sync with Scrivener, and we all know how I love Scrivener.
Last weekend I finally sat down and started plugging in dates from the French Revolution, just to see if I liked how it worked. This turned into a hunt through all my relevant books to find those that boasted a chronology, compiling all of them into the timeline. Then I put in a few events from my story, just to try out the story arcs feature. Then a few characters and places to work with entities. And labels to keep everything visually clear...
...it turned into this. Yes, it's colour-coded down to whether the scenes are drafted or not. There is also a story-arc view. The spreadsheet-lover in me is positively orgasmic.
One of the hurdles to progress on Twenty Years After is the sheer amount of information I'm trying to keep in my head. I have the historical record, Pimpernel canon (and all the contradictions between the two*), plus various backstory events I've invented to fill in the gaps, then my own plot laid over everything. Add an obsession for historical accuracy and I defy you not to start popping Advil.
I've been meaning for ages to re-read certain parts of the original series, and I now realize part of the reason I was hesitating was because I had no reliable way to record the information I wanted to mull over. The closest I came was in thinking of buying an enormous whiteboard and drawing all over it, but now I'm seeing even that wouldn't have been enough space. Aeon lets me throw all the info into one file and then filter it down to what I need at any given moment.
Aeon is also perfect for a project I've had in the back of my head even before I started Jack's story. I want to create an integrated French Revolution / Pimpernel timeline, complete with citations to the various novels and links to maps, etc. (Spreadsheet-lover + Pimpernel freak, that's me!) I first thought to create it inside the Twenty Years After file, but five chapters into Sir Percy Hits Back and I already suspect it might get unwieldy, I hope I can easily split it into its own file if it does. I do know I'll be able to export it without my events, for the use of any other fans who want it.**
Aeon is currently in beta, so there are still a few bugs, but I'm already fully on board. It's opened up my own novel for me in a wonderful way. I still haven't actually solved my plot problems, but seeing my own events lined up in-between those of the historical record has inspired a couple fanfics backstory scenes and I've just realized that Percy, Chauvelin and Napoleon walk the same ground (albeit at different times) in the Dauphiné. I'm certain that as I work on the Totally Awesome Complete Pimpernel TimelineTM more ideas will fall into place.
Cate
* Not that I'm complaining. After all, explaining certain of these contradictions away is now the point of my trilogy -- similar to the sherlockian Game.
** This is likely a project that will take years, so if you know of someone who is already doing/has done it, please let me know. I don't want to find out at the end that I've just repeated someone else's efforts.