One of the many pitfalls that a writer might face when taking a more 'organic' approach to writing a story is possibly running into a flurry of decisions that you made in the heat of the moment and may change your mind on those decisions later on. When I talk about an organic approach, I mean having a certain structure and plot in mind...but still giving yourself room to create on the spot as new ideas come to mind. I definitely write that way, and I feel like it connects me to my stories in ways than trying to stick to a rigid game plan without any deviation, whatsoever. I don't know, it just takes a little bit of the freedom out of the process for me.

However, that puts me in a few difficult places from time to time...and I'm sure that some of you have experienced this as well. Who knows? Maybe you come up with a much better idea further into your story arc. Maybe you have elements in your story that you feel just aren't working for you, or maybe they're not being received well by your readers. There might be whole characters in your story that end up doing more damage to your story than good. Whatever your reasoning might be as an author for taking a sideways look at your work and decide that you want to fix it...it can be done.

Now, what I'm about to talk about this time around...I want it to come with a 'Comsie Disclaimer'. 😛

If you write your stories in full before you start posting them in public, or even if you have beta readers and usually give them all of the chapters, from beginning to end...take some extra time to be sure that you want to make these new changes and won't end up running into the same problem further down the road. And then...make all of your changes before putting it out there for other people to read. Even if it's just one or two trusted editors. Straighten it out, and smooth as many of the rough edges as you can before you make it available. K?

However...I happen to be one of those authors that releases my stories one chapter at a time. And I know plenty of authors who have completed stories already and also only release them one chapter at a time. For anybody in either one of those categories, you may run into a few of these issues somewhere along the way. And sometimes, your only salvation may be trying to turn into the skid and correct course before you end up flying off of the road.

But beware! Only use this technique if you absolutely have to and don't have any other way out of it. Otherwise, it can end up putting a bunch of dings and dents in your story as a whole, if not potentially ruin it altogether. Obviously....that would be a bad thing. So only use it as a last option. And if you do...be smooth with it. Trust me, it matters.

So today...let's talk 'retcons'!

I've written some stories in the past where I attempted to add certain elements into the series that ended up not really fitting in with a lot of the other plot points that I had going on at that particular moment, and I wanted to write those elements out of the story so I could focus on the details that were really helping to move the story forward, while some of my other ideas were beginning to hold it back. I had plans for what I was doing...plans that I wanted to stick to...but ultimately ended up writing them out of the story gradually until they just weren't there anymore. Hehehe, I could tell you which ones, but I'm sure that you can pick out plenty of mistakes in my writing without me pointing even more of them. Anyway, I could sort of 'feel' the not connecting with me, or the story, or my readers, the way that I wanted them to. Luckily, I caught them earlier enough where I could pretty much fade those ideas out as quickly as they had been introduced. And with time and practice, you will be able to develop those instincts as well. And then, when it comes to the editing process...you might be able to go back and cut those parts out of your story altogether. This is a method that you can use if you think you can make an easy transition from having it in your story and not having it in your story. But...

...This isn't what a 'retcon' is.

An actual retcon is used when you've completely woven a certain idea or character so deeply into your plot and ultimate writing strategy for that story...that they can't just simply be 'removed' without leaving giant plot holes and changing the nature of your entire narrative with no way to repair or write your way out of it. A retcon is the act of actually moving forward with your story, but altering certain details to correct issues that you've had in past chapters. This is NOT easy! And yet, like I said...it can be done. You're going to have to finesse the shit out of it though! LOL! So be careful!

If this is something that you need to do to write the best story that you can, here are three things to try to keep in mind while trying to figure it out. After all, half of putting a story together from scratch is problem solving. And this particular problem can be a big one.

#1 - Identify the problem. That's the first step in this process. What is it that you, personally, felt went wrong with your story? I say 'you, personally' because you are the architect of this whole thing. Just because a particular character or a plot point isn't a fan favorite...doesn't mean that your audience won't understand and grow to love these parts of the story further down the road. Remember...you know how this story plays out...they don't. So examine it and see if there's really a problem at all.

After that, if you do detect a few problems that you feel need fixing...try to gauge how closely related they are to the main story itself. How much damage do you think it's doing to the rest of your project? And don't be afraid to cut your losses if you have to go back and simply take something out of your story in order to stay focused and tighten your storytelling up a bit? Do it. Just make sure you go back and make sure that you won't have any gaps or confusing jumps that don't make any sense later on. Look for references to events that may have never happened once you're taken them out. Look for places where dialogue or plot points are based on anything that you're getting rid of. If that means starting from scratch and re-reading, re-editing, and re-writing, a great deal of your story...so be it.

If you do all of that, and you still need to add a retcon in there somewhere? Then things will be a bit more difficult. For example...I saw a trailer for a brand new 'Boba Fett' (Star Wars) TV series not long ago. Hehehe, well...I know that Boba Fett is dead. I watched him die on screen. So...I'd be interested to see how they work that out to bring him back to life again! "Oh...I managed to get out using my, ummm...Lazarus resurrection powder and my super freedom laser!" ::Shrugs:: Ok. I'll buy that. Hehehe, just give me some more Boba Fett! THAT would be a retcon!

'Star Wars' does this a lot though, so I'm used to it. Which is why Luke can make out with his sister and we just conveniently forget that part in later movies.

#2 - If you're going to do a retcon on your story...be SUBTLE about it! Or, at least try your best. Remember, you're taking something that your readers has already accepted as a permanent part of the story, and completely turning it on it's head. Changing its meaning. Flipping perspectives. So this is where your finesse comes into play. Instead of forcing your readers to take some giant leap of faith in order for you to alter your own storyline...think of ways to soften the blow by having it make sense within the context of the rest of the story. Remember, every time you alter something major in your story, you're creating a stumbling block for your readers. You force them to pause and readjust their entire vision and understanding of what's going on. The bigger the leap between your original plan and your great new fix for the problems you found in the story...the more distracting it becomes.

Imagine if you were reading 'Little Red Riding Hood', and halfway through she gets to Grandma's house and sees the wolf...and then she slowly reaches over her shoulder to take a hold of her shimmering katana blade. Wait...WTF??? And the writer was like, "Oh! I never mentioned that Red Riding Hood used to be a ninja assassin and trained killer? Well...yeah, she was. But she gave it up. Anyway...back to the sword and the wolf..." Yeah. That's not subtle. Hahaha! That's one hell of a reveal, but it has nothing to do with the beginning of the story, nor the end of the story. So it sounds like you just threw it in there for the sake of being weird. When creating a retcon, it may be extremely difficult to change past events, but if you're going to tackle that task...you want it to be as unnoticeable as you can make it. It can be done, you just have to find the best way to do it according to your particular story and style of writing.

Effective retcons are all about how you introduce them into the story. If you have events or characters that you can't remove completely, and you can't write them out afterward...then you have to figure out all the ways that they fit into the story and build a quiet 'off ramp' so you can get them out of there and have them fade away into the background until the more interesting parts of your story slide into the spotlight and take center stage while those other elements are eventually forgotten about. The idea is to craft a sneaky exit for the elements that you don't want without having anybody get struck by lightning, hit by a truck, or ravaged by a pack of hungry wolves, out of nowhere with no explanation, and no ties to the actual story. Hehehe! That comes off as a serious 'cheat'! And, make no mistake...you ARE cheating! But there's no reason to let everybody else know that.

So...how do you keep things subtle while still changing a major part of your story while erasing their history in previous chapters? Well...that brings us to tip number three.

#3 - See if there is a way to somehow complete those character arcs or loose ends in your story in gradual pieces. But quickly. What I mean by this is...don't leave stories left to dangle without any kind of conclusion. Whether you, personally, liked those parts of your story or not...chances are that your readers are still paying close attention. And it'll be unsatisfying for them to reach the end of your story and immediately think, "Well, what happened to 'such and such'? i guess I'll never find out." I've read a lot of stories like that, seen movies and TV shows like that too. Not to mention that I've written many loose ends, left wide open without a conclusion. And that takes away from the story in general in my opinion.

If you have something in your plot that you were all hopeful and excited about adding into the mix, but later decided that it just isn't working...examine it, condense your plans for it, and try to wrap it up over the next chapter or two if you can. Take longer if needed. But don't leave it open or it becomes clear to all of your readers that you clearly were looking for a way to abandon that part of your story. But if you complete that storyline, even if it feels a little short, at least they have some closure for it and can forget it and move on without looking back with the expectation that it's going to come back into play some time later. Or...you know...at least that's the goal. Hehehe, it doesn't always work. But, hey! This is YOUR retcon, not mine! So figure it out. Trial and error is the only way to gain the skills to do it right! So best of luck!

Anyway, I hope this helps you all out in some way! Just remember that it's better to not use retcons than it is to find sneaky ways to do so. But...if it becomes necessary, these few tips should, at the very least, give you a few ideas on how to pull it off.

I've failed many times at it, myself...but I can, thankfully, say that I don't find myself in that trap as often as I used to. So the best way to do a retcon is to NOT do a retcon. Just know that if you've gone too far to turn back and start from the beginning again, there are options available to you. So go to work, ladies and gentlemen! And I'll seezya soon with more!

Happy writing!