“Using Appendices and Supplementary Materials in Your Book”

Using appendixes and notes and other supplementary materials is normal in non-fiction, but not so much in fiction.  In general, I have shied away from this in most of my fiction, but in my sf novel The Farpool, I did include an appendix.  Why?  Here are some reasons why you might want to consider an appendix, especially if you’re writing science fiction.

1. Done properly, an appendix can explain or clarify details about the story, the characters or the setting without bogging the story down in informational details.  The great sf classic Dune had multiple appendices and for many readers, this was part of enjoying the story.  Being able to dive into such details gives the reader a real sense of being there and interacting with the characters in a more realistic way.
2. A well-done appendix can support world-building efforts of the science fiction writer.  Particularly in sf, stories often take place in exotic alien environments.  In my novel The Farpool, the alien world is an oceanic planet and the main characters (the ones that are not human) are intelligent marine creatures.  Pretty alien.  In my story, I found it advisable to include an appendix to explain details of their history, culture, language, politics, time-keeping and myriad other details.  One of the main human characters is named Angie and she keeps a journal of her experiences through the story.  In deciding to add an appendix, I hit on the idea of making the appendix a longer version of her personal journal.  It seemed to work pretty well.
3. An appendix can expand a reader’s understanding of your fictional universe.  This is related to number 1 above but note that doing this well can help keep the reader in the story, connected with the characters and the details. 
4. As a parallel to number 3 above, adding an appendix can add realism to your fictional universe.  Every story is a peek through a window into a larger fictional universe.  For stories set in the here and now, sustaining the reader’s interest and suspension of disbelief comes fairly easily.  When you write that a character landed at New York’s JFK airport, that doesn’t need a lot of explanation.  The reader can imagine what that might be like.  But when you write that “Kloosee pulsed happy bubbles inside Angie and led her quickly to the kip’t,” that needs some explanation.  You do a simple explanation in the story, so as not to bog down the story, then add more details as needed in the appendix for those who are interested.  Some will be.  Some won’t. 
    
   There are other ways to supplement your story with items other than just straight text and dialogue.  In The Farpool, I wanted in the worst way to add a map to the story file, but most ebook retailers and readers don’t have software or devices that will support map-like graphics, so I had to put that off.  I still think it’s a good idea; many print sf novels do this.  Perhaps later.
   And in my series Tales of the Quantum Corps, I’ve included things like reports, memos, orders and directives, even letters and news reports right in the body of the story text.  A little of this goes a long way, but done right, it can enhance the realism of the story and support the reader’s desire to suspend his disbelief and get into the story (the word for this is verisimilitude…resemblance to the truth).  Also it gives you a way of taking a slightly different perspective on the story or some action or development in the story. 
    
   Some authors like Brad Thor and Stephen Coonts even add lists of characters at the beginning, with little bio notes to help the reader keep track of everybody.  I may do that in my current work, a sequel to The Farpool.
    
   As an example, here’s one of Angie Gilliam’s journal entries from my novel The Farpool:

Angie’s Journal: Echopod 1

“Well, so here I am, dictating this journal.  I hope I’ve got the thing working right…Pakma showed me how it works.  This is really crazy, you know.  Here I am, dressed up, changed somehow, so I look like a circus freak from Sea World and we’re traveling halfway across this ocean world called Seome to speak with some more humans who are somehow destroying this  very world.  I can’t even come close to understanding it.  And, really, I’m not sure I want to go on this little adventure…I’m kind of homesick.  I miss Mom.  I miss Dr. Wright and the Clinic and working with all the patients.  Most of all, I miss my bestest friend Gwen…so this is for you, girl.

“At least, Chase is here.  He seems to be really into all this, but then I always said he’s part fish anyway.  That’s what the Seomish are…really intelligent fish.  Oh, Gwen, you wouldn’t believe what we’ve seen…whole underwater cities, ships, submarines, glowing coral…they really are intelligent and clever people…fish…amphibians…whatever they are….

“We seem to be getting mixed up in their politics as well…they have tribes, or clans.  They’re called kels.  And they don’t get along that well…they have conflict on how to deal with these other humans.  By the way, these other humans…the Seomish call them Tailless People of the Notwater—isn’t that a hoot?—are up on some island way up north.  We’re heading there now.  These guys are operating some kind of machine that makes an awful racket in the ocean.  A weapon, I think.  They’re fighting a war with another race…another planet, I guess.  The Seomish don’t seem to understand all that, or they don’t care.  They just want this noise and vibration to stop…it’s really hurting them.  The Seomish want us to talk with the humans and make them shutdown the machine.

“I don’t know how well that will go but I do know one thing: after we make this trip, I want to go home.  Back through the Farpool…boy, is that a ride!  And I want to get changed back too…I don’t like looking like some kind of giant frog.  I miss checking out my cute little butt in the mirror and my long legs…these scales are the worst.  They hurt when you touch them.

“I asked Pakma and Kloosee about all this…going back, getting unmodified and so forth.  They haven’t answered me straight so far…I think they’re more worried about this little mission.

“But first chance we have, I’m going back…even if I have to go by myself.  That worries me a little.  I don’t think Chase wants to leave just yet.  This was supposed to be a short trip, just to help out Kloosee and Pakma.  Deep down inside, I think Chase would like to stay here, become one of them.

“Not me.  I guess we’ll deal with that when we have to.  But I’m worried about it, Gwen.  I really am.

“That’s it for now.  I’ll try to keep this journal going…get some other sounds.  Pakma said there’s a way to record visual and scent impressions too.  I have to record this.  You’d never believe it, Gwen, if I didn’t.

“Until next time…Angie, out.”

End Recording….

 

Use appendixes and other supplementary materials in your story carefully.  Don’t overdo it. But do it when it adds to the story or to the reader’s enjoyment of your fictional universe.

The next post to The Word Shed comes on August 28.  In this post, we’ll take a look at something every writer of fiction has to deal with: choosing and using effective names for your characters.

See you then.

Phil B.