Sticking to your world

I ran across a review by Kiki Howell, where she mentioned that

“To me, as far as world building goes, the challenge is not really creating the world as much as sticking to this world.”

I’m sure authors can debate which side of world building – creating or maintaining – is actually harder.  Either way, any SF or fantasy author understands the effort it takes to adhere to your world’s internal logic.  As your plots and subplots twist together into action-packed resolutions, it’s easy to mix up a detail or two.  It may seem trivial, but this is a big deal – even the tiniest inconsistency can jar the reader out of the story.

Keeping your research handy (and searchable) while writing is half the battle.  My style of organization has evolved over the past few years.  I started with PBWorks (PBWiki at the time), where I created a free wiki for each world and made a comprehensive entry for characters, places, plot points, and everything else under the alien sun.  As I could access the wiki from any computer, it was the perfect tool to allow me freedom to write anywhere.

About a year ago I switched over to another online system, Evernote.  The beauty of this service lies in its compatibility with mobile devices.  Evernote apps are available on many smart phones, iPods, and the iPad, and you can use it on your computer as well.  With my phone app, I can type out a note or take pictures and upload them directly to my account.  Files in my account are all accessible on the phone as well, so if I’m writing in a local park with no internet access, I can flip open my phone and check world-building details directly.  You can also use a web browser add-on to save clips from web pages with the push of a button.  See a web page with some crazy-good inspiration?  Clip it and send it directly into one of your Evernote folders.

Another program I use is Scrivner, a writing program for Macs that allows me to write my fiction and also create wiki-esque research folders in the same menu.  Sleek and a breeze to use, it’s the best writing program I’ve used.  Everything from Evernote gets cross-posted here for even quicker browsing when I’m actually writing my manuscript.

So what are your methods?  Do you used online databases or packed filing cabinets to keep everything straight?  In any case, it pays to have a system so you can stick to your world and still leave open plenty of time to write.