keeping track of characters in books

[kuroc]

From now on I'm going to use excel to make a speadsheet of characters that are in books that are in series.

The reason I'm doing this is because when I read a book in a series most of the time I don't read the next in the series right away I go to another book that is a stand alone or in a series.

I remember what happens in the book but sometimes I forget some characters names.

Does forgetting the name of characters in books happen to any of you?

Heres how I have it set up. Each file is a series and each worksheet is a book in the series.

Heres how I have the worksheets setup so far:

characters Sex changed into(for council wars) job Relation description

So what do you guys think?

 

[KristoCat]

Sounds interesting, kuroc. I am doing something very similar with the online fiction database I'm building. All I have to say though is, if you constantly have to stop reading and record facts or descriptions, it takes some of the pleasure out of the experience.

 

[Stewart]

I am doing something very similar with the online fiction database I'm building.

Tell us more...

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Heres how I have the worksheets setup so far:

characters Sex changed into(for council wars) job Relation description

So what do you guys think?

I think some commas might give me a clue what you're trying to record. Characters Sex or Sex changed into?

Anyway, I think you're keeping track of characters in a sci-fi or fantasy series, is that right? I sometimes have problems with large Russian novels, something like Life and Fate for example has 160+ characters all with unfamiliar Russian names and many of the main ones also having patronymics. I ended up drawing a family tree diagram to get my head round the main protagonists of that book.

Regards,

K-S

 

[kuroc]

All I have to say though is, if you constantly have to stop reading and record facts or descriptions, it takes some of the pleasure out of the experience.

I don't do it until I finish reading the book.

 

[kuroc]

I think some commas might give me a clue what you're trying to record. Characters Sex or Sex changed into?

Ok here it is with some commas:
characters, Sex, changed into(for council wars),job,Relation,description

 

[KristoCat]

Tell us more...

Well, it's coming along pretty slowly, because a lot of it is just data entry. What I'd like to eventually accomplish is a website where you can search for books you know (as in, something you've read and liked) and then get a list of read-alikes for that book. I will also have a list of most characters (everyone with lines is my goal) in each book, as well as series information, genre and subgenre categories, and a plot summary.

 

[Samerron]

From now on I'm going to use excel to make a speadsheet of characters that are in books that are in series.

The reason I'm doing this is because when I read a book in a series most of the time I don't read the next in the series right away I go to another book that is a stand alone or in a series.

I remember what happens in the book but sometimes I forget some characters names.

Does forgetting the name of characters in books happen to any of you?

I really like the idea of yours, and I think I'm going to do the same for some of the long novels I'm reading.
My problem is I forget the character roles! So, don't worry you're not alone.

 

[SFG75]

All I have to say though is, if you constantly have to stop reading and record facts or descriptions, it takes some of the pleasure out of the experience.

I would say it slows it down. My personal preference is to read a chapter or two and then jot down everything I remember. This is incredibly useful if the work is very complex and has a lot of characters.