What Is a Story Bible? How to Make One, With a Series Bible Example

What Is a Story Bible? How to Make One, With a Series Bible Example

By book three of a series, you will forget the colour of someone's eyes, the name of a minor village and what exactly the magic can't do. Readers won't. A story bible is the single place where all of that lives, so your books agree with each other.

This guide explains what a story bible is, what to put in it, and how to build one on the free Book Series Planning board in Skrib.

What a story bible is

A story bible (or series bible) is a reference document for your story's facts: characters, places, rules, timeline and themes. TV writers use them so a whole room of writers stays consistent. Novelists use them to stay consistent with themselves.

What goes in a story bible

• Premise and logline: what the series is about.
• Characters: a profile for each, with appearance, history, want, need and arc.
• World: places, maps, history, culture and rules.
• Magic or technology: what it can do, what it can't, and what it costs.
• Timeline: what happened when, across every book.
• Plot per book: the main beats, so later books don't contradict earlier ones.
• Research: sources, images and notes.
• Style notes: spelling, naming rules, tone.

How to make a story bible in 5 steps

1. Start with the premise. One page on what the series is and where it ends.
2. Write a profile for every recurring character. Use the same headings for all of them.

1. Build the world section. Answer the questions the books actually use.

1. Add a timeline and a per-book plot summary.
2. Update it as you write. A bible that is out of date is worse than none.

Do it in Skrib: keep the bible and the draft in the same project. When you invent a new village in chapter twelve, add it to the bible without leaving the page.

Tips for a bible you will actually use

• Keep entries short. Facts, not essays.
• Use the same structure for every character. It makes gaps obvious.
• Log decisions. "Brann is 61 in book one" saves you a reread later.

Do it in Skrib: pin the notes you check most as tabs at the top of your project, one click from the draft.

FAQ

Do I need a story bible for a standalone novel? A small one helps, especially for fantasy and mystery. For a series it is essential.

When should I start a story bible? Before book one, and keep adding to it as you write.

Build your series bible in Skrib

Copy the Book Series Planning board and every section of the bible is ready, next to your draft. It is free to start.

Copy the Book Series Planning board

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