I'm thinking that I need to go make a change in an already-published chapter, and I'm wondering if readers would find that offputting. Specifically, I'm talking about my story "It's Good to Be the King." One of the characters is a self-described "Warrior Queen," and I have a chapter wherein she reveals that she was born the daughter of a peasant farmer, and is not actually royalty. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake - the character should be a genuine Queen by birthright, or at least of a noble family. So, I'm thinking of changing that detail. No one else has added any chapters to the story, so I'm not going to mess anyone else's thread up. And of course, it's my story and I can do what I wanna; but I also feel like once it's out there (especially in a format which encourages outside submissions) that it no longer belongs to just me. On the other hand, the very nature of CHYOA means that virtually every story is a work-in-progress, even ones which have been on the site for years. What's the general consensus on this? Should authors tread lightly when going back and editing existing chapters, and avoid changing significant character and plot details; or, should I not worry at all about such things?
I don't do it often but I definitely go back and touch things up from time to time. Never anything big though. Sometimes there will be little details I forgot to add or put in small moments of foreshadowing or fix potential plot holes. Generally it is just to fill it out and make it better all around. I try to think about both current and future readers. I don't change anything significant so that my current readers aren't thrown for a loop, but I will polish things up so that the chapters are as good as possible for readers in the future. So yeah, I tread lightly but tread I do.
Tricky. I suppose you could ask in the comments section and feel how's the water, if you think that someone could get upset. This would ease my conscience greatly.
For me, it would depend on how much the information was spread after the chapter, how important it was. I'd probably leave an author's note at the latest chapters of every branch (or add an "important information chapter" if there are too many branches after the change) and tell about the change (and maybe the reasons) to avoid confusion.
Other than fixing typos and grammar errors, I do occasionally go back and make changes, especially if there are continuity mistakes. I don't think I've ever made a big character changing rewrite -- although for Paradise Island I asked Friedman to wipe the entire story clean so I could start afresh because I realize I wrote myself into a corner way too early.
Personally I would feel free to re-edit after the fact if it's my chapter in my story. I'd be more careful if others have followed with the chapter with their own contributions, but you're clear that no one has added any chapters. It's all yours, fire away!
I made the change. I'm still a little fuzzy on what exactly I want to do with that thread, but the wheels are turning...
