Spoilers: planned future events in a serialized story that have not been released yet. Every creator handles spoilers in different ways. Some have no qualms about sharing spoilers and details about future events while others keep things closer to the chest. There is no right way to handle spoilers; our hosts are here to discuss the many options for webcomic creators!

What is the difference between foreshadowing and spoiling?

Foreshadowing is meant to drop hints throughout the story in a purposeful way. They don’t reveal anything in its entirety, rather they are hints that the reader can follow to the ultimate event. They aren’t specifically defined and can be interpreted differently for each reader. Spoilers are when you flat out tell people what is happening, leaving no room for surprise, build up or any interpretation. Foreshadowing tends to be built in to the plot and the story, while a spoiler does not require any context necessarily and can be shared outside fo the story. Often, foreshadowing leads to a sort of “Ah-Ha” moment for the reader because they have pieced together the hints that were dropped while a spoiler is the ah-ha moment withou the ah-ha.

Do you as a creator try to avoid spoilers? Why or why not?

There are many different degrees of spoilers, from smaller spoilers that don’t spoilers the end plot to the spoilers that reveal every twist and turn of the story. As a creator, choosing the right spoiler can help promote your comic and give your readers something to look forward. Webcomics can be a very slow moving story format, and revealing smaller things can help motivate readers. An example is showing a character in a situation without sharing yet how they get there,

Another thing to consider is will the reader’s experience be ruined by learning something. If a small hint or answer to a question will add to the reader’s experience will help ensure your story is hitting the points you need.

It’s easy to think that saving spoilers will draw people to your comic, but as a comic creator the majority of the work you create is comic related and sharing it is often some type of spoiler. Instead of hiding everything, revealing small things can often intrigue readers more than just keeping everything hidden.

A reoccurring thought from the hosts is to evaluate what you’re sharing before you share it. Make sure whatever you’re revealing does not take value away from the story or the reader experience.

What do you do when someone correctly guesses an upcoming plot point?

If a reader can guess where your story is going, it’s often a sign of good writing. Knowing that a reader can pick up the clues and the foreshadowing you dropped throughout the story can be very rewarding as a creator. Of course there are a few genres where this might not be the case, but if you’re dropping a lot of clues and no one can follow where they are leading, you may need to reevaluate your approach.

Readers can often feel rewarded when they know they guessed correctly. Whether you acknowledge it immediately or save it until the plot point is reached publicly, you can pat the reader on the back and allow them to enjoy their success. Again, with such a long form pace, letting people know they got something right can give them a moment of reward.

Some creators feel they need to rewrite a story if it is guessed correctly. That is definitely not necessary, unless you really want to, but it seems a lot of stock is put in twists in stories. Having twists is useful and good, but too many can cause whiplash and detract from the readability of the story. On top of that, if people are finding twists at every turn, they will look for them in everything, which can draw focus away from what you’re actually wanting readers to be drawn to.

However you decide to handle this situation, make sure it doesn’t detract from your story and lay waste to the groundwork you had initially laid. What you’re creating should be largely created so you enjoy creative. If you modify your story or your plot, make sure it’s for you and not just because someone guessed the ending. Most stories are derivative of existing content in some way, but people still devour the content, because even if the destination is the same, the journey is always unique.

How do you promote your comic if the primary appeal is a major spoiler?

If your comic requires so complete secrecy, you can promote things like the theme or the character types you have. Embrace abstract aspects of your story and share those. Share the feelings and tones that the story conveys rather than the specific plot point. You can share out of context hints that don’t reveal the whole caboodle but will intrigue people to know that something like that is coming.

A useful option available to comic creators specifically, is that often the dialogue and writing can be separated from the art. And posting one without the other can often remove the context and keep it from becoming too much of a spoiler while still hinting and allowing you to share something that is coming.

Another choice is to embrace the spoilers. If you know a plot point can bring in a lot of readers and want to share it to draw them in, share it. Just be sure to take a beat and think about it before you reveal something you wish you hadn’t. And you can always take full advantage of using those draws after they are naturally released.

How do you choose when to reveal those plot points?

The obvious answer is letting them come naturally with the plot. Decide what aspect of your story deserves a lot of build up and secrecy and allow it to bubble and boils so when it is revealed so you can give the readers an authentic and awesome surprise. On the flip side, not everything in your story needs a huge build up, so don’t feel like you need to do that with every aspect of your plot.

Talking about your story with others and sharing full details, whether with beta readers or a critique group, can help you gauge which points are more important and worthy of the buildup and secretive approach and you can tailor your plot around that. And don’t be afraid to take your important points and format your advertising around that.

Spacing out plot points and offering clues and important pieces of the story can offer your readers payoff for reading your comic. If readers can tell something is coming, but it never arrives because you’re waiting to build it up further, your readers may lose interest because they don’t feel any reward or payoff for their experience. And if you wait too long to reveal something, the reader may not see it as important as it is because the timing was off. The impact of a reveal does not correlate with how long people waited for it. More important is the build up, however long it came.

Another idea is to focus more on the consequences of a plot point rather than the plot point itself. Often a characters response to the conflict can offer some interesting outlets and story lines that can be more enjoyable than the actual conflict that occurred.

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Episode Release Date: November 10, 2021

Episode Credits:

Kristen Lee (@feathernotes) - she/they, ghostjunksickness.com lunarblight.com

Ally Rom Colthoff (@varethane) - she/they, chirault.sevensmith.net wychwoodcomic.com

Miranda Reoch (@mirandacakesart) - she/her, mirandacakes.art intotheswellcomic.com

Claire Niebergall (Clam) (@phantomarine) - she/her, phantomarine.com

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The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.