I wrote myself into a corner, how do I fix it?

[ClearDragon]

So first of all, all of my stories take place in the same universe.

And now I just noticed that I made a major plot contradiction between two stories.

So in my dream inspired short story, my characters are exploring an abandoned library when they find a journal that tells why the library (and the whole city actually) where abandoned.
But then in another story that takes place three years later, different characters are discussing how the long lost religious book was found in the abandoned library.
Thing is, I accidentally have two completely different books that are stated to be the same book. I have them described totally differently and they even have completely different contents and titles.

Also I forgot about the fact that the religious book was stated to be lost for a very long time and no copies exist, but because I wasn't paying attention I have a character who read it before it was found!

Lastly both stories are already published online...

So um how do I fix this?

 

[pmmg]

Well. In the real world stuff like this can happen. A book lost to millions is actually the one some few have read and keep in their backpack. They just didnt know.

And just cause there are believed to be no copies is not the same as there are no copies.

 

[ClearDragon]

Well. In the real world stuff like this can happen. A book lost to millions is actually the one some few have read and keep in their backpack. They just didnt know.

And just cause there are believed to be no copies is not the same as there are no copies.

Ah, good point. Hmm, I'm considering to change it in a way that it really is two books.

 

[pmmg]

Could one be like an apocrypha for the other?

 

[ClearDragon]

Could one be like an apocrypha for the other?

Maybe, yeah. that could work.

 

[ThinkerX]

It is a library. Make it two books - one being the journal and the other the religious text.

 

[ClearDragon]

It is a library. Make it two books - one being the journal and the other the religious text.

Yeah, I'll do that and make it simple.

 

[Devor]

You can decide if this is relevant or not…. But old lost texts are found in libraries all the time. Old libraries have tons of books that are never opened, never looked at, walked by and ignored, in languages nobody reads, misfiled, and so on… nobody has any idea they’re special to a niche scholar. Lost text discovered in a library is a headline that appears every few years, discovered when they try to digitize their catalogues. So the idea that a library might have the last copy, then find out they had another, maybe one that was translated from a different language and looks different, isn’t that crazy.

 

[ClearDragon]

Thanks for all the advice people. Goodnight.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

This is what's called a 'continuity error,' and like the others said it happens all the time. My team has a massive timeline to keep sorted out, and every book that's released, every story, every flash, once we hit publish they become canon. So, of course we find continuity errors all the time. You've gotten some really good advice - we have good thinks here on Scribes - and I'm just going to pass on how we kill continuity errors at every stage of writing and publication: Copious notes. This beast is our Relative Ages Chart. It's how we know how old everyone is at any point in the timeline. We also have a OneNote dedicated to the series that's larger than really should be allowed. Tracking plans and how those plans change is key to preventing most errors - not all, some will only be found during editing. Good luck and godspeed!

 

[pmmg]

Something I might do to have fun with this, is have one of the books be a less than ideal copy of the other. As a way of adding something falsely believed but has wide appeal.

Such that one can provide a more indepthful understanding of events than the other due to its completeness.

As an example, if it were a spell book, one book might teach the use of fire magic, but the stronger spells might be flawed or unavailable. The original work might have them in a working fashion.


Another way, might be one book is a King James version kind of thing and the other is an older Greek copy. Which would be interesting if the Greek one was thought to be more official, but no one could read it, and yet they fought to obtain it anyway.