Topic of the Month: Consistency*

Hello, Friends.

First of all, sorry this post is up late. I had a busy week last week.

Anyways, this topic applies more to writers than readers, so sorry about that.

Have you ever read a book that was inconsistent in some way? Doesn't it just bug you to no end? I once read a fairy tale twist of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," and with twelve sisters, I know it can be hard to keep them straight. However, in the next books in the series, not only the order of birth was different from the original book, but also the number of years in between each character. Honestly, authors should make sure their stories are consistent, and if the authors themselves can't do that, at least the editors should be able to. I know sometimes authors have contracts and have to get books done by a certain time, but it would be better to get it done late than have a not as high quality book.

Sorry for ranting about that. It's just something that really bugs me.

In any case, what can you do about this?

Answer: Make calendars and timelines.

One or the other might work better depending on what you need to check for consistency. For example, if you had a timeline of when all the daughters in "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" twist were born, you could just look at that whenever you couldn't remember the order. However, if you had events or the book took place over multiple years, it might work better to do a calendar. I once knew someone who, after reading her manuscript and finding too many full moons, got a calendar from a few years ago and put the events in her book on the calendar so the phases of the moon would be right.

I wish more people would be this meticulous and care about consistency this much.

Even though it's a pain to put your entire book on a calendar, it pays off. You don't get the reviews that take stars away for the lack of consistency. Not to mention, if you really want to share something so amazing with other people, don't you want to do your best?

What books have you read where the lack of consistency detracts from the book as a whole?

Spruce Nogard

*Post actually written on July 31st. See here for details.

Attributions: https://pixabay.com/en/diary-pen-teacup-writing-calendar-2116244/