Writer Retcons - A Discussion

[Kitter Bitters]

Retcons feel like personal failures to me, even though I know the old adage says "writing is rewriting." When plots don't pan out, I often blame myself, as if their unfinished nature reflects some deeper flaw.

This really captures how I've been feeling lately about my plots. I've put a lot of pressure on myself to make them awesome and then when I have to retcon anything i just give up and delete the character.

How do you feel about rewriting or changing or retconing your stories? What have your experiences been like?

 

[Darth Nefaron]

Generally speaking, I've come to accept that they need to happen sometimes. I totally agree with you, it absolutely sucks whenever something doesn't work out and I have also deleted a character before because going back to change things was just to much for me to stomach.

Really it's just accepting that the changes you make should hopefully make things better for the overall character/story being written. I find them to be a fun challenge now, just trying to come up with something EVEN BETTER than what I had can be a good time if you can psych yourself up enough to do it, that's really the biggest challenge.

 

[Matsu Ike]

If all you do is try and force an awesome plot... you'll burn out before it has a chance.

Personally I don't rewrite unless absolutely needed. It is simply because if something fails or falls short then I find something else to try and go with. Even if it has to be solo for some of the more emotional beats.

Have fun first, do something you enjoy and others will come to it.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Retcon everything whenever possible

 

[Danger Arceneau]

I've actually done it three times now and it worked out fine each time. The interactions they had with new people icly completely shifted who they became. And yeah it was technically the same char, but the vibe was totally different because of the folks they ended up icly around.

And of course I miss the stories of the char before the retcon, that isn’t bad, but one can’t get too hung up on it.

So you got a few options. You can go full retcon and start fresh or you can just steer the char in a new direction and let the past still be part of them. Or if it feels right, handwave the weird stuff and keep it moving. No one's handing out awards for perfect continuity.

I find it was best for me to create a new subacccount for them and leave the old one be. I hate deleting chars because I love going back to reread too much and deleting the chars makes it hard to search for them and any factory / codex items I’ve made.

And I try not to overthink it. I'll usually just find one or two writers I really vibe with and won’t ghost after one reply and start a couple threads but keep them limited to two threads, maybe three max. It helps me figure out the new feel for the character without pressuring myself too hard.

Also, it takes time. You're not gonna feel super emotionally attached to a retcon right away. You're basically rebuilding all that char investment from scratch. It's like any relationship and one you gotta let it grow.

And yeah, sometimes it's easy to compare the new version to the old one, and it sucks when it doesn't feel the same. But try not to spiral into that because it only makes you feel worse.

Best advice I can give? Find a small group of writers you click with, create on a music playlist that gets you in the zone, and write whatever gets you excited and the muse flowing. Otherwise it turns into this selffulfilling prophecy where you second guess everything and end up deleting the character before they had a real shot.

 

[Jonyna Si]

I come from the comic book sphere.

Retcons are so prevalent in that space, that it's very much something the fandom just accepts. To me, retcons simply act as the same as an edit to your lore when necessary. It isn't a failure, it's simply a mistake. A mistake you can fix. Sometimes we come up with a new direction for a story that doesn't fit what we had, and the retcon facilitates that.

Don't let yourself be ruled by the anxiety that your story isn't perfect the first time around. Or even the fifth. Jonyna is technically on her...what, 6th iteration?

 

[Delila Castillon]

Best advice I can give? Find a small group of writers you click with, create on a music playlist that gets you in the zone, and write whatever gets you excited and the muse flowing. Otherwise it turns into this selffulfilling prophecy where you second guess everything and end up deleting the character before they had a real shot.

Yep, all this. Make a Pinterest board with inspiring character art/memes/settings, make a music playlist (nearly all my characters have their own, I also have a "generic" RP playlist), and find a small group of people or even one person to vibe with. I'm the type of RPer who loves to do long, long storyarcs. If I find a writer I can click with I'll spend years typing out stories with them. It really helps with the character development, even if its for three or six months.

Don't be afraid of weird situations. Best arc I had for this character was Danger's writer telling me "This guy needs a thread for his Natuloan character and he won't ghost you." Lasted for ages. You really never know which way a character is going to go, I have things in mind all the time and the RP leads them elsewhere.

I've told you before I've retconned a lot of Dells story. I dont like to retconn but I will if the situation fits or if things go horribly south. Or for example maybe I take this character elsewhere, then I'd change a bit.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter because I come to Chaos to have a little fun. You gotta do what makes you happy and makes sense for your muse and enjoyment.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I’ve always felt icky when I’ve had to remove stuff from a story or change things.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Jonyna is technically on her...what, 6th iteration?

Really?? Like 6th here at Chaos?

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I've actually done it three times now and it worked out fine each time. The interactions they had with new people icly completely shifted who they became. And yeah it was technically the same char, but the vibe was totally different because of the folks they ended up icly around.

You ported a lot of characters over from similar boards I did. Did you just completely restart them as padawans when you came over?

 

[Danger Arceneau]

You ported a lot of characters over from similar boards I did. Did you just completely restart them as padawans when you came over?

My retcons were whatever rank they had at the time, or some I just rebooted to padawan if they came from SWTOR, so yes and no. Then I just tossed them into the fray as if there was no difference in the ic year.

But I also used the following restart tropes with either no reboot of the past, partial, or full.

1. Rpd as if there was no difference in the time period. Just hit the ball rolling.
2. amnesia - so doesn’t remember anything
3. multiverse - the force in its craziness resulted in getting sucked a la Star Trek from one universe to the next and now this is the new norm
4. ship stuck in the fringes of a black hole that made months being stuck in there actually be hundreds of years and now after the ship es either a) released or b) rescued by other writing partner helping you restart
5. force ritual or world beyond worlds jump point that prompted the travel between time and now we are in chaos
6. or literally came back from the dead but came to the present through netherworld events

 

[Jonyna Si]

Really?? Like 6th here at Chaos?

Sixth in general. I had to rework her several times back when she was a tabletop character, and her chaos iteration was sort of the culmination of that. Me taking what worked, discarding what didn’t, and figuring out what was most important to her story going into the new setting.

Before she went into the ice, she had 8 siblings, two very alive parents, and a whole rebel crew that supported her, including two boyfriends.

She lost all of that, and has a whole bunch of survivors guilt as a result, but I’ve worked that into her story, and figured out small ways to bring those characters back. Her mom lives on as a ghost within Jonyna’s saber crystal, and she can visit her siblings in a tomb that exists on Ryloth. But she still mourns her crew, her dad, her old life.

Could I have NPCed my old crew, her siblings, her parents and just reinvented her in the modern era? Sure. But I think having her have that loss has given the character a level of maturity and depth she never had before, but also gave her something to ground her in this new era.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

For me like the biggest thing right now is figuring out my characters goals. Like if she magically ends up in this universe… would she just join the Jedi and move on? Why would anybody even become a Jedi? Seems like a crappy life TBH

 

[Danger Arceneau]

For me like the biggest thing right now is figuring out my characters goals. Like if she magically ends up in this universe… would she just join the Jedi and move on? Why would anybody even become a Jedi? Seems like a crappy life TBH

I think the better question is if she does magically end up in this universe, how does the knowledge that she’s in the present and lost everything affect her moving forward. That’s going to affect goals on what to do then.

Tici from tgc came into this universe and ended up turning into a force suppression pill popping bounty hunter that decided to cut herself off from the force than deal with the trauma of mental past ghosts and guilt. If she doesn’t take her drugs she gets withdrawals and it comes back along with all the physical and mental ramifications of drug use and becoming reconnected with the force again. I play that it’s painful. And she has to make credits so bounty hunting it is based of the skills she learned before hunting down sith in the past, forcing her to do bounties and interact with others in those spheres.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

I think the better question is if she does magically end up in this universe, how does the knowledge that she’s in the present and lost everything affect her moving forward. That’s going to affect goals on what to do then.

Tici from tgc came into this universe and ended up turning into a force suppression pill popping bounty hunter that decided to cut herself off from the force than deal with the trauma of mental past ghosts and guilt. If she doesn’t take her drugs she gets withdrawals and it comes back along with all the physical and mental ramifications of drug use and becoming reconnected with the force again. I play that it’s painful. And she has to make credits so bounty hunting it is based of the skills she learned before hunting down sith in the past, forcing her to do bounties and interact with others in those spheres.

That is kind of how Kat is! In my story I said Order 66 happened so she went underground and ended up meeting someone and getting married. He left her and she fell to pieces. Couldn't handle the loss. She has a particular vulnerability to the darkside (like kryptonite to Superman) so she traveled to Zeltros and met a darksider. Being with him made her dizzy and forgetful so she could forget her husband. It was like being high all the time. But then her old padawan realized Kat was alive and came to help her. Kats actions got the padawan exposed and the empire killed the padawan. So Kat is full of guilt and dealing with a drug addiction too.