I need a good way to sort out all of my characters. They are all entwined in each other's lives, sort of like a soap opera, but I can't figure out how to sort each individual life out. I can't fit everything into a web, but I don't know how else to organize it. I'm not the type of person who can just write about all the characters and plot all together; I need a very clear, structured image of the situation and each character and character relationships. Any suggestions on organization would help me so, so much! Thanks!
Start with an individual's motive for why they do what they do: what brings them into the web, and how does their individual personlity affect the web? Hope that helps any.
Write why the characters want to reach the goal and then give him/her a taste of failure that keeps him/her form reaching that goal. The failure could be caused by another character or an external event. Then make sure that the failure is linked to the centeral conflict of your story. That may be something to keep in mind. That's all I can come up with right about now, I think.
Try scrapbooks - it perhaps isn't as structured but each of mine have a collection of images I think works for them and a box of words they would use that I wouldn't.
For a very complicated historical work, I used most of the wall next to my desk, six colors of index cards and a of of pins and colored yarn. The character cards were at the left in a column and the horizonal movement was through time, noted along the top. That way I had a visual all the time and stopped having one guy be in two places at once. Might seem old-fashioned, but worked for me. Besides, I liked the way I could see the action and just move a whole scene someplace else.
