Thread "Changing something mid story (even a small thing) is never a great idea..." in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 2:07PM, Jul. 15, 2021

I complete a story before drawing it to avoid plotholes.

Sometimes, though, I think of a better idea right in the middle of drawing the story. Sometimes it's a very simple idea change like I once had for a simple piece of clothing I decided to add cos it would actually help with the story a little. "It won't take much just to alter that," I thought.

But as soon as I changed that, then I realised I needed to change something else further back in the story, and further on, then I realised I actually had to change the story itself, etc, etc, etc…

In the end it seemed better to have never made the change.

It's like what they say about changing an event in time, you alter one tiny, seemingly innocuous thing and it ripples out and alters a dozen more things and becomes major.

Just my musings…

Posted at 6:07PM, Jul. 15, 2021

Yup, the tighter the structure the more hassels you have when you do that.
I even find that with fairly loose structured stories- if I can't exactly remembe how things were supposed to go and I do something else for the page insited and the direction of the story only to find the original draft later and see that it was SOOOOOOooo much beter and that now I've spoiled things by going the wrong way XD

BUT, you could always just write as you go… I've been listening to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy again and that seems to be how he made the first part of that. Then you can just do anything and fit things together and make it work later.
That's an exhuasting way to work though. Good way to burn out.

Posted at 4:07AM, Jul. 16, 2021

Retcon, Retcon, retcon.

I try hard to record everything and keep referring back so I can keep things consistent and if I want to change something– work it into the plot.

I've changed hairstyle, costumes, and made it part of the story. If characters change– someone notices and explain the life change.

The past changes? People do that too. They didn't tell the truth and can't keep the story straight.

Story telling can be organic. It can grow and evolve just like things in real life tend to.

My worst is forgetting how a character spells their name and me being lazy and NOT looking it up. Oh yeah, the character spells their name differently at times. Yeah, uh-huh so the realname is Jennessia but sometimes she goes by Jenness. Yeah.

Posted at 7:07AM, Jul. 16, 2021

I take a Wolverine approach to writing; a gooey outer body wrapped around a hard rigid skeleton. As long as you have the skeleton down, you can play around with the softer details.

Recently in my comic I did a bit where I wanted to have a character's clothes get ripped, all so I could eventually down the line have someone say something to the effect of "Normal clothes get ripped so that's why we wear costumes." That was something I decided to do at sort of the last minute, but I knew that once I made that decision I would need to commit to drawing this character's clothes torn up for every single page following afterward.

So what I would say is that 1) get your skeleton locked-in 2) Feel free to experiment with the gooey bits. 3) But make sure you commit to whatever changes you do make.

Posted at 9:07AM, Jul. 24, 2021

Thanks for the comments and experiences, all noted. Cheers.

Posted at 5:07AM, Jul. 28, 2021

And then there's tweak, tweak, tweak.

Since I often end up a month ahead of my update schedule there is plenty of time to fix things and even do some changes.

That's what's so wonderful about keeping a moderate update schedule of a few pages a week as opposed to dumping all at once. You have time to adjust things as you go because story telling is organic and things can and do change and you have to give yourself lead time to make the changes. That is what is so wonderful about this medium.

Posted at 3:07PM, Jul. 28, 2021

bravo1102 wrote:
And then there's tweak, tweak, tweak.

Since I often end up a month ahead of my update schedule there is plenty of time to fix things and even do some changes.

That's what's so wonderful about keeping a moderate update schedule of a few pages a week as opposed to dumping all at once. You have time to adjust things as you go because story telling is organic and things can and do change and you have to give yourself lead time to make the changes. That is what is so wonderful about this medium.

Very true.