Continuity problem

[Writer61]

I have a continuity problem with a crossover between two series.

In the first story, already published, the FMC from series A meets the MMC from series B in Amsterdam. In that story, the MMC has not yet moved to the city.

I am working on the story from B in which the MMC first moves to Amsterdam. In that the plot depends on him not meeting the FMC from A until after he has moved there.

• Ignore the error, or
• Find a way to explain the discrepancy (I have one, but it’s lame)

What would you do?

 

[old_prof]

How lame is the excuse?

 

[sirhugs]

find a less lame excuse... i'm no expert on amersterdam but undestand that it is a City of almost a million people. Therefore meeting each other is not inevitable...

 

[Writer61]

How lame is the excuse?

"For some reason, I told her that I was only visiting."

 

[Writer61]

find a less lame excuse...

Working on that.

i'm no expert on amersterdam but undestand that it is a City of almost a million people. Therefore meeting each other is not inevitable...

It doesn't work; she deliberately goes to Amsterdam to meet him.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Some discrepancies can be explained away as someone misunderstanding or outright lying in another work.

In this case, it could be a misunderstanding. As in he says things in such a way that she doesn't think he lives there. Which could lead to a whole tap dancing plot until he realizes the misunderstanding and attempts to correct it.

Or you could come up with some good reason for him to use that line.

 

[cw5523729]

I have a continuity problem with a crossover between two series.

In the first story, already published, the FMC from series A meets the MMC from series B in Amsterdam. In that story, the MMC has not yet moved to the city.

I am working on the story from B in which the MMC first moves to Amsterdam. In that the plot depends on him not meeting the FMC from A until after he has moved there.

• Ignore the error, or
• Find a way to explain the discrepancy (I have one, but it’s lame)

What would you do?

I listened to an interview once with Mike Schur, the creator of the Good Place. In it, he mentioned early in his career working as a script writer and the team had a problem with getting a character back to the US from Australia (I think) - so they came up with a long, convoluted explanation for it. The producer's solution was to say "Guys, just bring him back. No one cares." Because trying to justify it did a disservice to the viewer by distracting from the story itself since only a tiny fraction of viewers would notice and/or care about the continuity problem but everyone would notice the distracting tangent to explain it.

tl;dr - don't fret it

 

[THBGato]

Can he be there on business? Long term, so he's got a rental? (I once had to be in Barcelona for a month for work. *sigh* Life is so hard.) He's legally domiciled eslewhere, so it would still work that he hasn't moved there.

 

[Writer61]

Can he be there on business? Long term, so he's got a rental? (I once had to be in Barcelona for a month for work. *sigh* Life is so hard.) He's legally domiciled eslewhere, so it would still work that he hasn't moved there.

It is going to have to be something like that, a fudge for why he has to book a hotel rather than wherever he is living.

I once had to be in Barcelona for a month for work. *sigh* Life is so hard.

I feel your pain . On several occasions, I have spent many months in cities/countries away from home.

 

[Britva415]

I'm not seeing a discrepancy.

What is it that needs to be explained/lampshaded/papered over?

I feel like some information is missing, here.

 

[ElectricBlue]

• Ignore the error, or
• Find a way to explain the discrepancy (I have one, but it’s lame)

What would you do?

Ignore the error. Do you seriously think readers know and worship your content so much that they'll notice a detail like that? This is an author-centric concern that won't affect readers at all.

 

[Writer61]

I'm not seeing a discrepancy.

What is it that needs to be explained/lampshaded/papered over?

I feel like some information is missing, here.

Story 1 (published) says that A is meeting B, who is visiting Amsterdam.
Story 2 (WIP) requires that B meet A after moving to Amsterdam.

 

[Writer61]

Ignore the error. Do you seriously think readers know and worship your content so much that they'll notice a detail like that? This is an author-centric concern that won't affect readers at all.

No, I don't think anyone else will care, but it offends me.

 

[THBGato]

I submitted an edit of Thirty moving the whole story forward by a year so that it would fit the timeline of Forty. Forty needed to tie in with Glastonbury Festival 2007, as a key scene was going to happen to the backdrop of Bjork's set... only I never wrote that scene, so the whole edit/shifted timeline was unnecessary.

So, you're not alone!

 

[Baztrachian]

I submitted an edit of Thirty moving the whole story forward by a year so that it would fit the timeline of Forty. Forty needed to tie in with Glastonbury Festival 2007, as a key scene was going to happen to the backdrop of Bjork's set... only I never wrote that scene, so the whole edit/shifted timeline was unnecessary.

So, you're not alone!

Now I'm thinking about writing a story with Bjork in it. Like Bjork from back in the day when she was adorable!

 

[Britva415]

Story 1 (published) says that A is meeting B, who is visiting Amsterdam.
Story 2 (WIP) requires that B meet A after moving to Amsterdam.

That does clear it up, thanks.

 

[Writer61]

That does clear it up, thanks.

NP. Wish I had written it that simply at the first attempt.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Blame it on the unreliable narrator. Nothing in the real world fits together nicely, so why should it in the unreal worlds we create?

NP. Wish I had written it that simply at the first attempt.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It is going to have to be something like that, a fudge for why he has to book a hotel rather than wherever he is living.

If it's just "book a hotel" that you need to justify: he had to move suddenly and he's staying there while he finds a long-term place. Or he's found a long-term place but it needs renovations/repairs before he can move in.

 

[Britva415]

Blame it on the unreliable narrator

I like this idea. Could the narrator of story A just have gotten it wrong? Was the woman herself the narrator? How might she have misunderstood his presence in Amsterdam the first time?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It is going to have to be something like that, a fudge for why he has to book a hotel rather than wherever he is living.


I feel your pain . On several occasions, I have spent many months in cities/countries away from home.

Plumbing problem in his building, rodent infestation, they are fumigating it.

Went to a concert, booked a hotel within walking distance rather than mess with getting home after.

 

[MrHereWriting]

Story 1 (published) says that A is meeting B, who is visiting Amsterdam.
Story 2 (WIP) requires that B meet A after moving to Amsterdam.

Well, change the plot of story B to match the timeline of story A.

That piece of information should have been a part of the foundation of story B before you ever started writing it.

The simplest answers are the best answers. People love to overcomplicate things.

They also don't like to go back and fix their mistakes, admit they were wrong, work harder in the present so things are easier in the future and correct a whole lot of other things that would make their life smoother.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Come up with another plot. Readers have the luxury of deciding how much they care about continuity, but authors don't.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Story 1 (published) says that A is meeting B, who is visiting Amsterdam.
Story 2 (WIP) requires that B meet A after moving to Amsterdam.

Would it make sense for Story 2 that he is in the process of moving? That is, he's visiting looking for where he will ultimately settle down more permanently? So you don't live there yet because you haven't settled or are visiting to scope out the place before moving? Getting a lay of the territory? How crucial is it to Story 2 that he's settled in?

Or could it be in Story 2 that he doesn't expect to be staying when he meets A? But then ends up staying there and therefore now lives there even though at the time of meeting A, wouldn't have said that he did? I know plenty of people who thought a relocation for work was temporary and wouldn't really say they lived in a place so much as they were there visiting for work.

Or, how crucial is it to Story 1 that he said he doesn't live there? Is it a one off comment or is there a big to do made about it? If it's just "because he's at a hotel" and now you want him to have recently moved instead of not living there at all, a quick edit to Story 1 could easily change him saying he doesn't live there to saying that he hasn't moved into his new place yet because work is being done, waiting for his stuff to arrive, or just, he doesn't need to give a reason in Story 1. He just doesn't live in the permanent place yet, so, hotel. Does that ruin story 1?

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Story 1 (published) says that A is meeting B, who is visiting Amsterdam.
Story 2 (WIP) requires that B meet A after moving to Amsterdam.

Easier solution. What's Series 1/Story 1?