I’m currently using Obsidian. It's a bit complicated but has a really useful function that lets you link notes together. I’m still only scratching the surface with it though. I did try Lore Forge and Fantasia Archive, but I didn’t really like them at first.

A notebook.

But I also have several Google docs and I used to use spreadsheets.

A spiral notebook and Word.

Honestly, what worked for me was to have a single file with a sort of a glossary, so I could look up different terms used in my story.

One IMPORTANT tip I have though: if you're gonna make one, make sure you give each term or piece of worldbuilding something like a tag. A word by which you can easily search through the document and find it. Like making sure you write "event" somewhere under every important event. The longer your story, the bigger that file is gonna be.

But if you are looking for a piece of software, what worked out really well for me is Chronicler. It's less known but definitely looks friendlier than Obsidian. It is also completely offline and free, plus continuously updated. I think the only downside is that it can't do as much as Obsidian technically could, but then it's really up to what you need and prefer.

Obsidian.

Bold of you to assume I keep worldbuilding notes. The story is the notes lmao

Memories

NotebookLM. I just dump entire novel + rough notes etc into NotebookLM. Tada. Database.

Luckless Gambler Wrote: Memories

The most mad lad in this forum post. O.O

katisnow Wrote: NotebookLM. I just dump entire novel + rough notes etc into NotebookLM. Tada. Database.

To each their own, but for obvious reasons, and as a person who had their entire work stolen before, I would not recommend other writers to put their entire novels into any sort of AI.

Keep Notes

HorribleWriter Wrote: Honestly, what worked for me was to have a single file with a sort of a glossary, so I could look up different terms used in my story.

One IMPORTANT tip I have though: if you're gonna make one, make sure you give each term or piece of worldbuilding something like a tag. A word by which you can easily search through the document and find it. Like making sure you write "event" somewhere under every important event. The longer your story, the bigger that file is gonna be.

But if you are looking for a piece of software, what worked out really well for me is Chronicler. It's less known but definitely looks friendlier than Obsidian. It is also completely offline and free, plus continuously updated. I think the only downside is that it can't do as much as Obsidian technically could, but then it's really up to what you need and prefer.

Oooooh sounds interesting. I'll check it out!

Artemy Mandus Wrote: Bold of you to assume I keep worldbuilding notes. The story is the notes lmao

Madlad

Luckless Gambler Wrote: Memories

Two madlads

I literally have 10 whole tabs in a google doc here dedicated to different parts of worldbuilding. It's either bulleted lists of stuff in the world or just random writings i thought of on a random day. It ain't organized but it helps keep track of everything.

My bestiary and botanical book: Why bother explaining world-building in extreme detail to my readers if I can just point them to a book with all the detail they want?

I use google docs organized with NotebookLM. I love that I can ask any question about my world's continuity and get a fairly accurate answer on demand, AND that I can ask queries like "Find any internal inconsistencies in my sources" and know what I need to fix- that's a lifesaver!

MisterTut Wrote: I use google docs organized with NotebookLM. I love that I can ask any question about my world's continuity and get a fairly accurate answer on demand, AND that I can ask queries like "Find any internal inconsistencies in my sources" and know what I need to fix- that's a lifesaver!

You know it's been awhile since i heard of notebookLM. Is it really that good? I'm now thinking of finding another place to store my notes

Phobos105 Wrote: You know it's been awhile since i heard of notebookLM. Is it really that good? I'm now thinking of finding another place to store my notes
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Well, I can honestly say I couldn't manage my world lore without it. 

I also use it as a pre-alpha reader. I have it summarize my story back to me and, if it gets it wrong, odds are that I've poorly expressed my ideas. Sometimes it does make mistakes, but far more often it has shown me where I was either unclear or somehow wrote the opposite of what I meant (such as omitting a "Not" or something similarly banal). Unlike grammarly, it doesn't make change suggestions, so there's no AI-contamination concern there.

MisterTut Wrote:

Phobos105 Wrote: You know it's been awhile since i heard of notebookLM. Is it really that good? I'm now thinking of finding another place to store my notes
Signature

Well, I can honestly say I couldn't manage my world lore without it. 

I also use it as a pre-alpha reader. I have it summarize my story back to me and, if it gets it wrong, odds are that I've poorly expressed my ideas. Sometimes it does make mistakes, but far more often it has shown me where I was either unclear or somehow wrote the opposite of what I meant (such as omitting a "Not" or something similarly banal). Unlike grammarly, it doesn't make change suggestions, so there's no AI-contamination concern there.

Hmmm, i'll test it soon. Thank you!