Continuity problems pull readers out of the story because they make the manuscript feel less intentional. They also become more expensive to fix after copyediting or production prep.
Glossary term
Manuscript continuity
Manuscript continuity is the internal consistency of a draft across time, character facts, locations, references, structure, and world rules.
Definition
What manuscript continuity means
Manuscript continuity is the work of keeping story facts consistent across chapters and revisions. It includes sequence, elapsed time, character details, names, titles, locations, props, promises, point of view, and invented world rules.
A character is injured badly in chapter 12, but runs a long distance the next morning without recovery time or explanation.
Wise Wombat breaks manuscript continuity into focused checks so authors can review evidence-backed findings instead of broad, generic critique.
Related
Related continuity terms
These terms often appear together during manuscript revision.
Timeline contradiction
A timeline contradiction is a conflict in event order, dates, ages, elapsed time, travel time, or recovery time.
Character drift
Character drift is an accidental change in a character's stable facts, knowledge, motivation, emotion, presence, or voice.
Setup and payoff
Setup and payoff is the relationship between a story promise, clue, threat, question, or object and its later resolution.