Rambling About S,R and MB
Finally (finally!) managed to outline chapter by chapter what I would like to do with the rest of S,R. Before my outline only consisted of six major plot points, so this is good. If I've already wandered off outline in the first chapter since completing it...well, that's between me and my fickle brain.
As it stands Severus, Redux is supposed to end up at thirty-one chapters, so it'll probably be closer to thirty-five to forty. So long as it's an odd number, right Jenidralph? That Getting Past Broken only has six chapters instead of seven still kills me, but writing more for that particular story would only detract. C'est la vie.
Now that the outline is completed and I'm making progress on this again (more or less), my thoughts have turned to What Happens After. It's still not set in stone that there will be a sequel to S,R--it depends on a number of different things that I will have to be honest with myself about:
A) Will my readers even care about what happens after, or will the very tentatively planned Midnight Blue just be another disappointing sequel because the writer didn't know to stop while she was ahead? A large part of what I am entertaining as a plot will be centered around the background and character of an OC: Damian Vector. It will still very definitely be a SS/HG story, but a lot more of the story will be devoted to him as a character, and I'm just not sure people will care about a character that isn't canon. That's typically not a selling point when we're talking fan fiction. I'd have to be careful about it, and be better at establishing him as someone to care about in Severus, Redux for it to happen.
B) Will I be able to take a very beaten plot and manage to make it fresh and interesting? It's a challenge that I'd like to try, but I'm not certain I really can. If I can't, I'm not certain I want to put forth the time and effort it will take to write it. On top of that, I'm stuck on a very early plot point. It's honestly a little problem that I doubt would trip up any other writer, but to me it could change the course of the plot quite a bit. Since the plot needs to be fresh and interesting, a lot is riding on what I decide to do with the situation.
C) Am I up for writing another long story in this alternate universe? It's been a nice world to play with, but I'm sure most fan-fic writers can relate to not wanting to revisit an alternate universe they've spent two plus years and thirty chapters and change in. There is no question of Midnight Blue being a long story. The idea coalescing is just not something that can be wrapped up in an epilogue--even a long one.
Just in case, I've been writing Severus, Redux with the possibility of Midnight Blue in mind. It can't happen at all if the first story isn't seeded with the questions that the sequel will address, after all. Little things and not-so-little things for me to consider and angle and play with. If Midnight Blue never happens...well...real life is full of loose ends, and sometimes we just don't get to know what happens to people and places we've misplaced in time.
Anyway. My thoughts on that. Note to self: unicorn blood and Lord V's fractured soul--how does it jive with the Forever Man?
I've also started a personal ten commandments of writing list. Someday I'll flesh those out more fully and post it (whether you care or not). It's mostly based on my pet peeves, I'm afraid. Here's a hint: Head Hopping and Flashbacks are the Devil. You can skip that day too, if you like. ;-)
As it stands Severus, Redux is supposed to end up at thirty-one chapters, so it'll probably be closer to thirty-five to forty. So long as it's an odd number, right Jenidralph? That Getting Past Broken only has six chapters instead of seven still kills me, but writing more for that particular story would only detract. C'est la vie.
Now that the outline is completed and I'm making progress on this again (more or less), my thoughts have turned to What Happens After. It's still not set in stone that there will be a sequel to S,R--it depends on a number of different things that I will have to be honest with myself about:
A) Will my readers even care about what happens after, or will the very tentatively planned Midnight Blue just be another disappointing sequel because the writer didn't know to stop while she was ahead? A large part of what I am entertaining as a plot will be centered around the background and character of an OC: Damian Vector. It will still very definitely be a SS/HG story, but a lot more of the story will be devoted to him as a character, and I'm just not sure people will care about a character that isn't canon. That's typically not a selling point when we're talking fan fiction. I'd have to be careful about it, and be better at establishing him as someone to care about in Severus, Redux for it to happen.
B) Will I be able to take a very beaten plot and manage to make it fresh and interesting? It's a challenge that I'd like to try, but I'm not certain I really can. If I can't, I'm not certain I want to put forth the time and effort it will take to write it. On top of that, I'm stuck on a very early plot point. It's honestly a little problem that I doubt would trip up any other writer, but to me it could change the course of the plot quite a bit. Since the plot needs to be fresh and interesting, a lot is riding on what I decide to do with the situation.
C) Am I up for writing another long story in this alternate universe? It's been a nice world to play with, but I'm sure most fan-fic writers can relate to not wanting to revisit an alternate universe they've spent two plus years and thirty chapters and change in. There is no question of Midnight Blue being a long story. The idea coalescing is just not something that can be wrapped up in an epilogue--even a long one.
Just in case, I've been writing Severus, Redux with the possibility of Midnight Blue in mind. It can't happen at all if the first story isn't seeded with the questions that the sequel will address, after all. Little things and not-so-little things for me to consider and angle and play with. If Midnight Blue never happens...well...real life is full of loose ends, and sometimes we just don't get to know what happens to people and places we've misplaced in time.
Anyway. My thoughts on that. Note to self: unicorn blood and Lord V's fractured soul--how does it jive with the Forever Man?
I've also started a personal ten commandments of writing list. Someday I'll flesh those out more fully and post it (whether you care or not). It's mostly based on my pet peeves, I'm afraid. Here's a hint: Head Hopping and Flashbacks are the Devil. You can skip that day too, if you like. ;-)