O HAI. Well, today, I’d like to discuss with you about a severely ignored part of writing. And that is, trying not to screw up the continuity.
Why this? Seriously? Does it have to be an article on the Casual Webcartoonist? Can’t you just, I dunno, keep a folder of it or something?
Yes and no. You see, the unconstricted world of webcomics is wonderful and shiny with hummingbirds and pie, but that very same freedom carries a cartload of problems on its own. In my case, I have been making a serial for, let’s see… 11 years. Thanks to the archive availability of the web, I can keep on recalling facts from Day One if I want to (not that I should). The possibility is there. And even if I don’t, I do have to keep Day One in mind.
Why? Because you, and me, and everybody else -well, geeks anyway- knows what is like to be an obssessive fan of anything. When you’re a fan, you know the characters and read, if you skip it then you catch up later. When you’re a hardcore fan you read it religiously not only once but several times. And the ultra-rabid fan knows not only the canon continuity but also the non-canon. (Often this leads to trouble as people start mistaking one for the other. True story!)
Now, what does it mean? It means that if you FAIL, there’s going to be some people who will notice it. And the beauty of the webcomic is that in that case you could, hypotetically speaking, revise the events. Probably not the original ones -unless it’s easier- but the new ones. Of course you can do it, but it’s gonna be embarrassing, and also double work and a pain in the ass too. 
So what’s to be done? Well, yeah, you COULD keep a folder of it. Now try to keep a folder of 11 years of on-and-off daily webcomic facts. Eeeh? No. Didn’t think so.
Since the folder of the whole thing is a bad idea, here are some strategies for your forgetful woes.
a) Be the most rabid fan EVAR.
That’s right, this implies rereading your archives from time to time. It should be fun, right? Well if it doesn’t, then this might also help identify a problem with the writing in general. The best comics out there have a high re-readability ratio. Read one storyline at a time, don’t try to cram a whole decade down the hatch in a single sitting. You want to pay attention to the facts.
If a certain storyline in the past is relevant to your current storyline, yeah, better read that one too, and perhaps the previous one and the one that comes after it.
It is entirely embarrassing when your fans know your stuff better than you do ¬.¬
b) Detect unfamiliar elements that might have a history you don’t remember.
Once you’re ready to tackle a new storyline, sit down with your faithful notebook.
You know in sitcoms and soap operas, they do a brief recap of previous events before the episode starts? Well, this is a good practice for you too. Write down:
“Previously on Serial Webcomic!”
“Psychopathic Blonde Guy was stalking Redhead Girl, but Redhead Girl told her Brother, and Brother put on some clown makeup, and Psychopathic Blonde Guy ran away terrified. But now Psychopathic Blonde Guy is targeting Brother etc etc etc”
This is also good to have a general feeling of what you have just done, especially if you want to judge if a change of pace or mood is convenient, if you want to take some other characters in the spotline, and all that.
Once you have this, you can start working. The simple fact that you made the recap will keep you from making the mistake of forgetting Redhead Girl is no longer worried about the stalker because the Brother supposedly solved that.
Write the whole thing down. Then you sit and check for holes.
Now for your next situation you want Blonde Psychopathic Guy to break into Brother’s car and wait for him there with a long, hard knife. But wait! Is this car a familiar or unfamiliar element? If you have this car in a lot of storylines then you maybe have the facts about it ready and available. But if you only mention it ocassionally, then you have to give it a double thought. Wait, does this guy even own a car? Where did you see it? Check the storyline. If it’s a convertible, then whoops! Bad plan. Maybe the guy can’t even drive. Maybe the car was destroyed or it’s malfunctioning in another storyline. In any case, you have to focus on the unfamiliar element: Brother’s Car, and actively look for potential continuity holes.
If the car is available, then you move onto the next element, and so and so.
c) Keep a folder… of the recent, relevant changes.
If a familiar element, like a character, goes through an important change, write it down so you remember it. Example: I have to continually remind myself April has short hair now. There are times where I still draw her with long hair first, but fix it in the ink stage. However if you’re in a hurry sometimes you forget to check these sort of things. You can also keep a folder for your current storyline where you can keep track of: clothing, wounds/scars, costumes, hairstyle and accesorizing. Add anything that might be relevant, i.e. “Mike is wearing his robot hand in this storyline”, “Chester is missing” and such.
d) Proof-reading. You can run the script through your friends or faithful readers and see if they can spot something that is amiss. It’s very easy to be so close to the forest you can only see the trees. Don’t be embarrassed!
If you guys have any other strategy to keep track of your continuity, I’d love to hear about it. Share it in the comments!