I recently made a family tree for my WIP. It wasn't necessarily important to keep writing, I just thought it would be fun to make one and see all the people related to the MC in one place. I do see informational value in making one though. Do you make family trees for your stories? If you don't, would you consider doing this?
I've only done this once, for a historical novel that I have been pitching. Since the history of the locale was directly linked to the title character's family, it was absolutely necessary in order to keep straight who was born in what time period (the novel covered a span of 500 years). Not only did I complete a family tree, I delineated each chapter and the time frame it covered, then used that to develop both a historical and a story timeline. It proved very helpful.
I did once, for a character whose lineage I needed to trace back 700 years or so. Mostly I just needed to know how many generations it'd be, and keep track of a particular genetic feature. I wouldn't see myself doing it without a specific need/purpose.
As a reader, I find them extremely useful for keeping track of who's who. I like it when the author and publisher go to the trouble of including it. As a writer, my characters never have families large enough for that. I ran away from mine and joined a proverbial circus, so I'd have no clue how to write one.
