By Susan L. Tuttle, @Susan_Tuttle5

My favorite go-to as a reader is a series. So it was no surprise that when I started writing, my story worlds poured out as such. I love meeting characters and watching them grow over time, or visiting a setting that soon begins to feel like home. Today I want to talk about a few tips I’ve learned through the years that have helped me when writing a series.

1. Create a spreadsheet for your characters. As much as you believe with your entire heart that you will remember every detail about them, trust me, you won’t. Here are a few things you’ll want to note about each one:
   1. Full name
   2. Date of Birth
   3. Physical Details – eye color, hair color, unique physical traits
   4. Quirks & Habits
   5. Any job or educational information that is pertinent to the story.
   6. Add additional information like spouses and children as they occur. Don’t forget to include their traits, DOBS, and anniversaries as well.

2. Create Timelines. 
   1. One should be filled with backstory information. This includes anything that will play into the story or any key moments that shape where your characters currently are in their lives. This is especially important with family series as your characters share an upbringing. Note their ages during any big moments that affected them or the family as a whole. How they responded to it and the memories they have will depend on the age they were at the time.
   2. The other timeline will bridge the entire series. Include any pivotal moments that have or will happen in each story. Graduations, marriages, births, deaths … all of these things can happen, and you’ll want to remember not only the date but which book the incident occurred in. If you are a pantser, you’ll add to this as you go. And you will find it invaluable to reference as you write.

3. If creating your own setting, draw out the town. This isn’t going to be seen by anyone, so don’t worry if art isn’t your thing. You’ll use it to remember whose house is where. What rivers or lakes run beside important structures. Street names you’ve referenced and whether you’re heading north or south when a character gives directions.

These are only a few of the habits I’ve picked up while crafting a series. I learned the hard way that we don’t remember nearly as much as we’d like, so having all the details written down in one spot saves not only your time, but your sanity. As far as tools to create these items in, you can easily hand write them if that suits you. I’ve also simply created a document in Word and used the bullet-point system. Another really great tool is OneNote within Microsoft Office where you can create, in essence, digital notebooks to keep all of your information in.

Whatever way you find works best for you, creating these three items before you start writing and having them nearby to add to are essential for the series-writing author. Now, go write your stories!

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Out of the Blue

Falling in love again wasn’t on her checklist, but he’s about to pencil it in.

Nate Reynolds’s ugly history has dogged him long enough. He has spent years reforming himself, but there has to be a purpose for all the pain in his youth. When he discovers the perfect campground for rehabbing juvenile delinquents, he sees his chance for redemption. Even if it means butting heads with the owner’s granddaughter, Gwen Doornbos, a woman who, for all her sharp edges, possesses a heart similar to his. The more time he spends with her, the more he envisions a future he once thought impossible.

Four years ago, Gwen Doornbos lost her husband at the hands of a troubled teen. Her dream of ministering to kids died with him, and she returned home to help her grandfather run their family summer camp until his retirement. That day has finally arrived, except her grandfather has other plans for Camp Hideaway, and they include the irritatingly handsome Nate, a do-gooder with more brawn than sense who insists on bringing the past right to her door.

When an accident requires Gwen to temporarily assist Nate, she discovers that the campers challenge her in ways she’s not ready to face. Yet if she can find the courage to stay, the darkness that has shrouded her for so long may lift to reveal a love arriving out of the blue.

ACFW Carol Award finalist, Susan L. Tuttle lives in the Mitten State where she’s a mom of three and happily married to her best friend. Between still homeschooling her youngest and leading the women’s ministry at church, she finds time to write stories filled with inspiration, hope, and encouragement. Connect with Susan at www.susanltuttle.com.