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This XKCD strip shows a visualization approach for tracking character interactions -- who's with whom when. It works pretty well even with a complex plot with many characters (one of the examples ...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T03:32:19Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/11009 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
[This XKCD strip](http://xkcd.com/657/) shows a visualization approach for tracking character interactions -- who's with whom when. It works pretty well even with a complex plot with many characters (one of the examples is _Lord of the Rings_). While I haven't tried this myself, in your shoes I would try a similar approach, adding lines for the artifacts and themes you want to track. When a character "touches" a theme (talks about it, takes action based on it, etc), treat it as that character "meeting" that theme. Artifacts can be modeled as characters directly using this approach. As for tools, since my goal is information not art, I would use any graphics tool that can model lines and connections (Visio, Open Office's drawing tool, Visual Thought, etc). Or, lower-tech, consider a whiteboard -- or possibly a corkboard with push pins and string.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2014-05-25T17:34:25Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 5