People often ask me how I keep novel details straight while writing. Whether it’s the consistency of a character’s eye color, unique phrases only one character uses, or plot twists with loose ends, authors are forever wondering…did I catch everything? Usually, I track character details and plotlines on spreadsheets.

Yes, I’m part nerd.

For my next novel, Dry Ice, I’ve decided to accept the challenge of writing from multiple perspectives or POVs (points of view). As a result, my standard excel quickly ballooned past the point of no alt-return. My incubating novel required special handling, so I went retro style and whipped out the good ole shimmer gel pens and a notebook.

The image attached to this post is the almost-finished product of several story boards, or rather novel boards. How did I get to such a state of scrap paper madness, you ask? Read on to delve into my recent creative burst.

Side note: If you could care less about my authorly process – because snoozefest or you’re afraid to see inside my brain (valid concern) – you can skip this section and jump to the good part where I leak upcoming book details 😊

Here are the dilemmas I was attempting to solve with my novel boards:

• Equal Read Time: For a successful multi-POV novel, the main characters should get approximately the same read time. Distribution doesn’t have to be exactly equal, but one character shouldn’t have 20 chapters while another only has 4.
• Interconnected Plots: Main plotlines must carry from chapter to chapter regardless of who is telling the story. Yes, each character will have their own motivations and side narrative, but ultimately the story has to move along without creating unlinked tracks.
• Realistic Emotional Arcs: Perhaps the most challenging, is a character’s emotional arc over the course of the novel. Emotional arcs and character growth are difficult enough to tackle when every chapter is told from one perspective in sequence. Skip chapters – where you’re in someone else’s head for a while – and the task becomes daunting. You must determine where the character last left off in their chapter, add in any subsequent reactions they had as a side character in following chapters, and then pick up the baton at the precise emotional state required to continue. Can’t have a character end a chapter in a major fight with their romantic partner, then pick back up with a cutesy scene where they’re madly in love. It doesn’t make sense.

Needless to say, I was quickly confused and drowning in possibilities. As my goals for plotlines and characters grew loftier, the Dry Ice story mashed together until I had a bowl full of tangled, day-old spaghetti noodles. What I wanted was the colorful pasta salad everyone looks forward to at the family picnic.

What’s a first-time multi-POV author to do? Option 1) Quit for the day, eat Oreos on the couch, and wonder why you can’t have a normal hobby that doesn’t take years to finish. 2) Rewrite, reorganize, re-expand and re-delete your spreadsheet dozens of times. Or 3) change tactics.

After doing both 1 and 2 with minimal results other than a sugar high and the world’s largest spreadsheet, I finally decided to give option 3 a whirl.

Enter: the grade-school art project on steroids. Where colors represent different story lines, characters, and shuffling.

So, did it work? Do I have the much-needed clarity to start writing again rather than spinning in my head.

The short answer: mostly yes. It’s much better to see everything in one view. Even with my multiple screen setup in my home office, the spreadsheet wasn’t fully visible on display. It’s also much better because I can quickly follow a character’s arc to see where I left off. The only reason I say it mostly worked rather than totally worked is…it’s still flipping gigantic! Which is challenging for me, and yet, hopefully fun for you, my lovely readers.

Now on to the good part. After all this scribbling and pasting, which characters made the cut for Dry Ice? Whose perspective will you get to read when the novel is ready?

1. Glacia: Obviously. Our leading lady from Thin Ice takes front and center stage in both the romance and action storylines in Dry Ice. There will be no shortage of snark, heart, and tail-kicking from our fave mermaid.
2. Felix: Whaaat? That jerk made it into the next book? With his own chapters? Yes, and fun fact – he’s not a complete jerk. Once you get inside his head, you start to figure him out.
3. Joren: Oooh, I sense romantic drama. Correct, because what kind of love triangle would it be if there weren’t multiple hotties to choose from.
4. Reya: Yes! This fun, sassy mermaid gets a main role in Dry Ice. Not only will she pump up the volume, she’ll also give you a glimpse into her past.

Not to worry, other characters from Thin Ice are interlaced throughout the story. Yes, including Colbert for my quiet-and-brooding friends. The main four characters listed above were selected as the voices to best shine light on their friends, lovers, and colleagues with their own unique pizzaz.

So here we are. And here we go. I’m off to my cave to write. Got my storyboards lined up, shimmer pens at the ready in case I missed something, and a brain bursting with an adventure I can’t wait to share.