What is a continuity pass?
- A revision pass focused only on consistency, not prose quality.
- Checks facts, timeline, character names, and internal logic.
- Catches errors like a character's eye color or age changing.
- Best run against a story bible or style sheet.
- Done late, after structure is settled but before final proofing.
A continuity pass is a dedicated revision pass that checks only one thing: internal consistency. You read the manuscript looking for facts, timeline, names, and logic that contradict each other — a character whose eye color changes, an event dated to two different days, a rule the world breaks. You ignore prose and pacing and hunt only for contradictions.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Continuity errors are invisible during normal editing because the brain reads for meaning, not contradiction. Readers, though, notice — a changed name or an impossible timeline breaks trust. A separate pass that ignores prose and looks only for inconsistencies catches what line edits miss, especially in long books, series, and co-authored work.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A check of character names, ages, and physical details.
- A timeline reconciliation — days, dates, seasons, ages.
- World or fact rules held consistent throughout.
- Object and location tracking across scenes.
- A story bible or style sheet to check against.
- A focus on contradiction only, ignoring prose quality.
Chapter iii·Example
Before submission, a fantasy author runs a continuity pass against her story bible. She finds a minor character named Tomas in chapter 3 and Thomas in chapter 19, a two-day journey that takes a week later, and a sword described as both steel and bronze. None surfaced during line edits.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom keeps your story bible beside the manuscript, so a continuity pass has one place to check against.
See the Edit studio