The Main Struggle of Novel Writing

I have learned that the enemy of an author is continuity. In writing I have struggled to keep the attitudes and personalities of my characters both genuine and consistent. I don't want them to sound robotic. I want them to be relatable to the audience. However, since I don't write every day and it is hard to remember every detail that I have typed I am struggling with these concepts. 

I recently began editing the first 60 pages of my book and in doing so I was enlightened on various particulars that I had overlooked. For example, I had forgotten that my main character had mentioned her sister's favorite food was mashed potatoes. While I haven't needed this information since the page I mentioned it, it is helpful to know. For this reason I began to keep a journal with such small information. This journal also contains character descriptions and quotes to use later on. The keeping of this notebook has helped me greatly in the process.

Continuity is the single most important aspect to look for when editing. It keeps readers from feeling confused and thinking that they don't really know the character that they have spent so many pages trying to know. It is frustrating to reread my earlier work and know that I haven't been keeping my characters and their details straight. My biggest goal is to make my book enjoyable to its audience but before that can happen I need to leap over the obstacle of my mediocre continuity.