skriverinventar

skriverinventar is a term used in Swedish-speaking writing communities to describe an organized inventory of a writer’s fictional universe and materials. The word combines skriv er (writer) with inventar (inventory), the latter borrowed from German. The concept is not a standard literary category, but it appears in discussions of writing process and project management as a practical tool.

A skriverinventar is typically a structured collection that may include character dossiers, plot outlines, worldbuilding details, timelines, settings, artifacts, research notes, thematic motifs, and notes on voice or style. It can be kept as a physical notebook, a digital document, or a wiki-like database. The emphasis is on maintaining a living reference that authors can consult to preserve continuity and coherence across a project.

The primary purpose of a skriverinventar is to aid consistency and planning, especially for long-form or multi-book projects, series, or works with intricate worldbuilding. It also facilitates collaboration with editors, co-writers, or game designers by providing a common, up-to-date source of facts and concepts. Users may tailor the scope and level of detail to suit their workflow, from a lightweight outline to a comprehensive “story bible.”

In practice, struktur and standards vary widely, and some writers prefer light, flexible notes rather than formal schemas. The concept parallels related tools such as story bibles, worldbuil ding documents, and outlines.

See also: story bible, worldbuilding, outline, writing tools.