Creative problem
You need to know what is true in your world
Worlds change as you work on them.
A name changes.
A city moves north.
A character gains a sister.
An old war becomes a flood instead.
Each version may have been useful at the time.
The hard part is knowing which version still counts.
Canon means the version you are using now
Canon is the current truth of your world.
It tells you what is settled enough to build on.
A canon fact might be:
- the old tower stands on the northern road
- the bells ring before winter storms
- the tower was built by the first border family
- one character knows the real reason it was abandoned
Those facts give you clear information to return to.
Canon helps you keep creating clearly
Clear canon lowers the load on memory.
You can write, plan, draw, or play inside the world without rethinking every old decision.
It also protects good changes.
When you improve an idea, the new version can become the version the world now uses.
Example
Early note:
The old tower was built by soldiers.
Later idea:
The old tower was built by a family who watched the winter road.
You choose the second version as canon.
Now the family, the road, and the tower can grow together.
The older soldier version can stay as draft history, or become a rumour people tell inside the world.
Canon can change when the world grows
Canon gives you a clear current version.
It does not lock the world forever.
You can mark something as settled for now, then revise it when a better idea appears.
The useful question is simple:
What does the world currently treat as true?
Try this with one of your ideas
Choose one part of your world.
Write one sentence that says what is currently true about it.
Then ask:
- Is this settled enough to build on?
- Is there an older version I should keep as draft material?
- Does this fact affect another Card?
- What would break if I changed it later?
Small canon decisions are enough.
What to remember
Canon is not about locking a world forever.
It is about knowing the current truth, so you can keep creating without losing your place.