What's one small thing you put in your series that would have drastically changed the plot if you didn't?

JokesterComics 2024-08-30 09:13:10 UTC #1

I have this character Fluffy, who was pretty much immediatly improvised, because I realized my first chapter wasn't going anywhere so I added him. Yeah, so pretty much most of my written story revolves around something he does now. Like, my whole new story arc probably wouldn't have happened if he didn't get lost going on a walk that one time, so we wouldn't have met almost all the characters I'm about to introduce.

eteraart 2024-08-30 15:13:42 UTC #2

Mephisto was never and was never intended to be the main character. A couple of scenes in the prose needed a narration with his attitude and outlook on the world to drive the plots well - but he turned out to be much more interesting than I thought. So he literally got his own comic.

eteraart 2024-08-30 15:15:08 UTC #3

That’s such a fun example of how improvisation can shape a story! It’s amazing how a single character, like Fluffy, can create a ripple effect and lead to new story arcs and character introductions. It really highlights the organic nature of storytelling—sometimes the best ideas come from spontaneous moments! I can’t wait to see how Fluffy's adventures continue to influence the plot. What a great way to keep the narrative dynamic and engaging!

euphridia 2024-08-30 15:23:13 UTC #4

I'm writing an isekai involving a fantasy book/world, and one of the first reviews I received at ten chapters complained the publishing company (which was acting like truck-kun) was most likely going to be discarded from the rest of the story.

I was going to have it come back around at the end to make a full circle, but I sort of took the way the comment was written personally and pulled a "well, I'll show you." Thus, I took a minor character from 'some HR lady' to basically a goddess in charge of coordinating and communicating with new hire transmigrators and their employer. She's roughly modeled after the idea of Mercury (Hermes), serving as a mediator between mortals and Gods.

Clare Mercure

eteraart 2024-08-30 15:35:33 UTC #5

I love how you turned that critique into a creative opportunity! It’s amazing how feedback can sometimes spark even greater ideas. Now, your minor character has gone from "some HR lady" to a full-on goddess—talk about a career upgrade! It sounds like she’s not just a mediator between mortals and gods but also a perfect reminder that sometimes, even the smallest roles can have the biggest impact.

So, if anyone ever questions the significance of seemingly minor details in a story, just point them to your new goddess of HR. If she can handle interdimensional paperwork, she can handle anything!

2DLenzy 2024-08-30 15:45:25 UTC #6

There's a few, tbh.

-Humans were not supposed to exist beyond the first episode, then I decided to have them as potential obstacles to the MCs (chickens) < this is actually a huge change, cause their interactions with the chicken characters begin to matter later on.
-Alec Tryon was supposed to be an old farmer, not CEO, which ramps up the drama from a business point of view and makes him a sort of overall villain depending on your views of chickens as animals/food.
-Introducing Bucky into the coop. He's still bit of a side character, but my plans for him change greatly later on down the line, which changes the plot drastically.

I also improvised a story arc featuring three owls, and I intend to have them reappear throughout the series to drive the plot or character choices.

AmysGames 2024-08-30 16:37:39 UTC #7

I had a dream once about my comic, featuring a character that didn't exist at the time. She didn't quite fit into the existing lore, but I liked the concept, so I made a small adjustment so I could include her.

Because I did that, the ending of the comic is now completely different.

navf86 2024-08-30 16:46:17 UTC #8

My original concept was fairly straightforward, and way too simple as I didn't want to complicate things. Then I decided to revamp the entire project with a fresh vision of the project's goal, target audience, and production/perception.

This led me to integrating geopolitical and socioeconomic contexts into the primary storyline, which turned the worldbuilding into a more outside-in type. This in turn impacted the nature/growth of the characters.

NickRowler 2024-08-30 18:32:46 UTC #9

Frostpeak West was an idea floating around my head for years. Tho a major change that ended up changing a lot of dynamics was....

Making Ace the foster father of Claus. Originally Zombra was his foster dad. This was done because I wanted Bertie to be living with his brother, Zap. However, because of Bertie's personality, I had to remove Zombra's other son, who was a little 5 year old boy named Jet.

I am a bit sad about this because they two existed together since I first created them. But from a story telling perceptive, Jet's role was sort of pointless.

kyupol 2024-08-30 19:24:06 UTC #10

If I didn't give them superpowers and just made them human, it would have drastically shortened MAG-ISA...

For AngHell... if I reveal it, might as well be a spoiler. There's one small plot detail I put in... that has major implications

Rai_Muffin 2024-08-30 21:26:24 UTC #11

She's technically a small thing,
but I'd have to do a lot of rewriting if Kukui was taken out of the story.

supriyashukla2398 2024-08-31 14:31:20 UTC #12

Thanaya, she is the daughter of my main character. she was never meant to exist in my novel, but now she changed my whole story.

Calculus_Homework 2024-08-31 14:35:25 UTC #13

What a great discussion topic. It's amazing how stories work out that way sometimes. xD
Last year, while I was finishing the script for my comic, I had a thought about the antagonist and brought it up to my partner. Then it was this conversation that essentially built the antagonist into someone entirely different, while still having the story make sense, tying loose strings, and even ended up being a better antagonist than I had originally written them to be. It was crazy. LOL saved the story, imo.

TheProlific 2024-08-31 14:48:17 UTC #14

Originally wanted to focus on just the main character and his love interest. But ended up giving him a best friend from his hometown and then throwing in a fourth member to the team. It's definitely changed a lot.

Stormborne: Trials of the Forge on Tapas: https://tapas.io/episode/3273615