I think most of my [very few] B7 stories take place in the same universe, but I don't think they've collided enough for anyone to notice whether that's true or not. In my mind, I have two separate Grego Jarrieres, the Immortal who's probably been around at least since the time of Macbeth, and the bloke with the home planet and family background he doesn't like talking about for security reasons; mostly I'm thinking about the second one, but superficially they're close enough that it might not be obvious unless their backstories came up.
I don't really have a preference about what writers do; I think I was slightly surprised when I realised they could take completely different lines in different stories, but there's no reason why they shouldn't. I ticked "continuity" simply because it can be interesting to see a coherent world being developed over several stories, but it can also be interesting to see different possibilities playing out.
I really wasn't sure how to answer the first question. I certainly don't try to fit everything into one uniform timeline, but I can't say that I fit them all or most of them into multiple timelines, but I can't say that I don't either. Some stories are one-off and they were always meant to be independent of all the others. On the other hand, I do have multiple timelines going, and I don't just mean I have multiple fandoms... On the other hand, I don't usually have multiple timelines for the same scenario. I do intend all my "Cally and the Doctor" stories to be the same timeline, and all my "Methos and the Doctor" stories to be the same timeline (once I write more than one of them!) It sort of feels like too much work to figure out multiple independent timelines for the same scenario, when I'd rather explore one timeline in greater depth. On the other hand, if I did by some chance get an idea for a story which contradicted a given timeline, then I guess I'd just not label it as part of Series X. Timelines multiplying all over
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When I was still writing Spuffy, I did have a couple of series set in the same universe, but by no means were all of them set there. I'm currently signed up with the smut_69 community, and I've written some of the stories as a series and some as one-offs.
Go with whatever works for you. Just make sure you label stories that are part of a series and link them for your readers.
And I think that Willow/Snape is a brilliant pairing. :)
Thanks for your input; these responses mean a lot to me, as I really wanted to get a feel for what's going on across the spectrum.
I can't take credit for the Willow/Snape idea; I ran across some stories in an archive--I think it may have been Twisting the Hellmouth--and wanted to try my hand at making it work. It's a good pairing for me--I'm really not much for shipping, but just thinking about these two together makes me smile. :)
I didn't answer the last question because I don't see it as a problem; some writers prefer to write continuing series, and some prefer to write stand-alone stories. (shrug)
Yes, I hear what you're saying, thanks. I may have chosen the wrong words--I don't see it as a problem either when I'm reading, but found myself suddenly wondering whether it was a problem for other readers. It was one of those moments, you know the ones, when you're momentarily stunned by a thought you've never had before.
Well, I've written something like five or six different mutually exclusive bits of backstory for Stark for my fanfic100 stories, for whatever that's worth. :)
It does help to have concrete examples, because what people say they do is, paradoxically, often different from what they actually do. And, I've noticed on the early responders to this poll, also different from what they say they expect others to do. I take it, then, that you haven't had any complaints about it from your readers--that's also good to know. Thanks for the input.
I don't know if I have all that many readers over there. I don't get a lot of comments. But certainly nobody's complained, and I'd be very surprised if they did. (I have also put author's notes on several of 'em, particularly when I've had two completely different bits of backstory in a row, explaining that what I'm doing is exploring different possibilities. In my case, it's more apologizing for what seems to me like a certain kind of repetition, but if you're concerned about being being thrown because your ficlets aren't consistent, you might do something like that, yourself.)
Personally, I agree with some of the stuff you've said in comments below. I really don't understand people who feel that everything they write ought to be consistent. (I think, in practice, very few people make absolutely everything they write completely consistent, but I do get the vibes that some people feel there's something vaguely wrong about writing the ones that aren't.) It seems terribly limiting to me. In fact, it seems to me to negate some of
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I don't really have a preference about what writers do; I think I was slightly surprised when I realised they could take completely different lines in different stories, but there's no reason why they shouldn't. I ticked "continuity" simply because it can be interesting to see a coherent world being developed over several stories, but it can also be interesting to see different possibilities playing out.
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On the other hand, I don't usually have multiple timelines for the same scenario. I do intend all my "Cally and the Doctor" stories to be the same timeline, and all my "Methos and the Doctor" stories to be the same timeline (once I write more than one of them!) It sort of feels like too much work to figure out multiple independent timelines for the same scenario, when I'd rather explore one timeline in greater depth. On the other hand, if I did by some chance get an idea for a story which contradicted a given timeline, then I guess I'd just not label it as part of Series X. Timelines multiplying all over ( ... )
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Go with whatever works for you. Just make sure you label stories that are part of a series and link them for your readers.
And I think that Willow/Snape is a brilliant pairing. :)
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I can't take credit for the Willow/Snape idea; I ran across some stories in an archive--I think it may have been Twisting the Hellmouth--and wanted to try my hand at making it work. It's a good pairing for me--I'm really not much for shipping, but just thinking about these two together makes me smile. :)
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Personally, I agree with some of the stuff you've said in comments below. I really don't understand people who feel that everything they write ought to be consistent. (I think, in practice, very few people make absolutely everything they write completely consistent, but I do get the vibes that some people feel there's something vaguely wrong about writing the ones that aren't.) It seems terribly limiting to me. In fact, it seems to me to negate some of ( ... )
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