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 organise 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 may choose the second version as the truth you want to use.
Inside Canon Garden, that choice still needs the review and Apply to canon path before it becomes accepted canon.
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?
In the app, accepted canon is explicit
Canon Garden separates three things:
- Draft: still being worked on.
- Ready for canon: reviewed and ready for your decision.
- Canon applied: accepted as the current protected version.
This keeps a useful idea from becoming accepted canon by accident.
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.
In Canon Garden, accepted canon comes after review and an explicit Apply to canon decision.