Other Worlds: on Writing and Reading AUs
AUs. Alternate universes. They offer a universe of possibilities for the writer and the reader.
But what makes an alternate universe? By most definitions, it involves the familiar characters of the show, either in a different location or time or a different version of their own location and time. The Oceanic Six stranded not on an island but on a distant planet in a galaxy far away? The Freighties attending your high school? Those would definitely be AUs. A look at what would happen if Jack had died in the pilot episode or if one of the island's many casualties had survived after all? Those are also alternate universes, because they differ from the one established.
So let's talk about AUs.
1. How do you define an alternate universe? Are the elements that must always be changed or must always stay the same? What sets an effective AU apart from all the rest?
2. If you write AUs, what about them appeals to you? What drives you write an AU? How do you choose the universe?
3. What about as a reader? Why do you like (or dislike) reading AUs?
4. Are there any AU taboos? Do you ever wonder if something you've thought up is too far out there?
5. How closely does canon affect your view of an alternate universe? Do you research the other factors in your AUs (setting, time period, etc.)?
6. Choose your own question: what did I not think to bring up that you'd like to talk about regarding AUs?
But what makes an alternate universe? By most definitions, it involves the familiar characters of the show, either in a different location or time or a different version of their own location and time. The Oceanic Six stranded not on an island but on a distant planet in a galaxy far away? The Freighties attending your high school? Those would definitely be AUs. A look at what would happen if Jack had died in the pilot episode or if one of the island's many casualties had survived after all? Those are also alternate universes, because they differ from the one established.
So let's talk about AUs.
1. How do you define an alternate universe? Are the elements that must always be changed or must always stay the same? What sets an effective AU apart from all the rest?
2. If you write AUs, what about them appeals to you? What drives you write an AU? How do you choose the universe?
3. What about as a reader? Why do you like (or dislike) reading AUs?
4. Are there any AU taboos? Do you ever wonder if something you've thought up is too far out there?
5. How closely does canon affect your view of an alternate universe? Do you research the other factors in your AUs (setting, time period, etc.)?
6. Choose your own question: what did I not think to bring up that you'd like to talk about regarding AUs?