I’m writing this post with the hope that I can save some sweet, soon-to-be published author a headache because I didn’t know about this before I published.
When I was first published I thought it was my job to write a story and – if a second book came along – I could just sort through my notes and find all the missing details. SPOILER ALERT: this is not a good idea!
Especially if you, like me, kinda hate re-reading your old books. I’m an impatient person and I’d rather be writing than flipping through my notes looking for the name of a town. That’s a fine attitude IF you’re writing a stand-alone book and you don’t plan to revisit anything during the book. For everyone else, you really need a Book Bible.
What is a Book Bible?
The be all and end all of details for your book. It contains descriptions of all the characters, settings, and props. It has the proper spelling of things. It is the reference book that details what you wrote. Anything that is pertinent to the story and that you don’t want to forget needs to be in the bible.
Who use the book bible? Authors use it to reference names. Editors use it to make sure everyone has their name spelled correctly across a series. The marketing team might use it. If you hire a ghost writer or die mid-series the acquiring publishing house might use the book bible to finish the series.
What does the book bible look like?
Each series bible will need to be modified by genre and the needs of the story. Here’s what I start with for each genre, feel free to add in headings for things specific to your book.
Fantasy Headings:
People – every named character
Places – every named place
Magic – every spell/potion/whozit name
Languages – every language w/ description
Weapons – all weapons + description
Slang/In-Universe Terms – slang, curse words, or unique terms
In-Universe Fictional Things – books, plays, spells, ect
Order of Appearance – each noun or new word as it shows up so you know which book it shows up in
Alphabetical Order – all of the above alphabetized with a reference to which book they first appeared in
Science Fiction Headings:
People – every named character
Cover Identities – if any characters use multiple names list that fact here
Places – every named place
Tech – every terminal/gadget/whozit name
Languages – every language w/ description
Ships – every vehicle name and description
Weapons – all weapons + description
Slang/In-Universe Terms – slang, curse words, or unique terms
In-Universe Fictional Things – books, plays, spells, ect
Order of Appearance – each noun or new word as it shows up so you know which book it shows up in
Alphabetical Order – all of the above alphabetized with a reference to which book they first appeared in
Contemporary Headings:
People – every named character
Nicknames – if any characters use multiple names list that fact here
Places – every named place
Weapons – all weapons + description
Slang/In-Universe Terms – slang, curse words, or unique terms
In-Universe Fictional Things – books, plays, spells, ect
Order of Appearance – each noun or new word as it shows up so you know which book it shows up in
Alphabetical Order – all of the above alphabetized with a reference to which book they first appeared in
Additional Headings You Might Find Useful:
colleges, businesses, sports teams, relationships, children, families, houses, factions, list of the deceased, list of wars, ect
How do you put a book bible together?
There are three ways to put a book bible together and it all depends on where you are when you read this article. Hopefully you get this done before you turn in your book and have a copy editor come back to ask if you meant to change the spelling of a major character’s name for Book 2 (and should they go reprint Book 1?). I didn’t. It was embarrassing. Please, learn from my mistakes.
Method 1: Write the bible as you’re writing the rough draft. Did you just introduce a new character? Cut and paste that line at the bottom of the document with a note [George – superhero/Cincinnati – has the power to summon muffins – paste description here]. If you change a character’s name this method will catch the Search/Replace All function and you won’t need to worry. By the time your rough draft is done your bible is also done and all you need to do is sort it.
Method 2: Write the book and re-read while writing the series bible. This method is what you’re stuck with if you’ve already written the book and now need to go make the bible. If you do it as part of an editing draft it actually works very well. You have two documents open and simply write in descriptions as you find them in the book. Easy peasy. It’s not my favorite way of getting the series bible done, but it works. Turn on some good background noise and enjoy rereading your work. 🙂
Method 3: Pay someone else to make the bible. There are people who *love* creating bible’s for series and who will happily catalog everything in exchange for cash. If you’ve hit Book 6 in your series and readers are complaining about something this is probably the option for you. A good compiler will not only fill in the descriptions, they’ll also be able to cite page numbers or chapters of your published work so that scenes are easy to find for a reading.
Comments? Questions? Thoughts?
Hit me up in the comment box.
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