A prop that appears in the wrong hands can break scene logic, mystery logic, or emotional payoff.
Glossary term
Prop custody
Prop custody is the continuity of important objects as they are held, lost, damaged, transferred, used, hidden, or recovered.
Definition
What prop custody means
Prop custody tracks where key objects are and who controls them. This matters for evidence, weapons, letters, phones, keys, medicine, rings, money, heirlooms, and other plot-bearing items.
A character locks a key inside a desk, but uses the same key in the next chapter without retrieving it.
Wise Wombat checks important objects through possession, handoff, loss, damage, use, and unexplained reappearance.
Related
Related continuity terms
These terms often appear together during manuscript revision.
Setup and payoff
Setup and payoff is the relationship between a story promise, clue, threat, question, or object and its later resolution.
Unresolved reference
An unresolved reference is a named clue, promise, object, threat, secret, or callback that appears important but does not return or resolve.
Location continuity
Location continuity is the consistency of rooms, geography, entrances, exits, distances, travel paths, and object placement.