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Plot bunnies
I like writing long fic. Epic suits me as a writer. Somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 words is about right, depending on how complex the plot may be. My Stargate SG-1 epic AU Phoenix ended up around 120,000; that's the longest single story I've ever written.
But writing a long fic takes time. Posting a WIP is hazardous; lack of comments on a WIP is discouraging, and there's the danger of running out of steam at some point and leaving the story unfinished. Lack of comments doesn't bother me so much on a completed story, but when it's a work currently in progress it feeds my insecurities. It shouldn't, but it does. On the other hand, waiting until I have a finished story to post means not posting anything for a long time. Working on my two big bang fics meant The Exiles is the only fic I've posted this year.
Anyhow. That's not quite the point. I have two SPN bunnies haunting me right now. In the past week I've written the beginning of both, but I can't possibly work on both simultaneously. And both stories have the potential to exceed Phoenix in complexity...and therefore in length. Man...I shouldn't even be starting one long fic with my uni course going on and other commitments.
But I figure it won't hurt to talk about the ideas, and maybe posting this will help me figure out what to do.
Bunny #1 is all about Ruby. I want to start with her human life, picking up from the tiny hints canon has given. That's what I was writing last night in Cafe Nero: two pages of notes that would be just part one of a lengthy story. It would go on through her becoming a demon - though that part I haven't figured out yet - and go on eventually to the canon events. I have a feeling it would end up AU when I get to season four, but I don't know. So far this is just an idea.
Pros: it would be multi-genre, which I enjoy. Definitely some femslash in there, obviously some het, lots of twisty plot.
Cons: There are a lot of gaps in my ideas. Things I'd have to figure out for the story to work. Also, if I tell it chronologically, I don't think many people would read it: it would be too much like original fic. The alternative is to tell the history as flashbacks, but that means I'd need to plan in a lot of detail, which doesn't always work for me.
Bunny #2 is a merger of two ideas I've been mulling for a long time. It would be a continuation of The Exiles, so mostly about John and Kate, but I would tie it in with season one of SPN: in other words, what the hell was John up to in that year? I started to write a story like this a long time ago, with an OFC involved; it was never finished but I think I can adapt the plan to substitute Kate and a few other canon characters. This version would start somewhere between The Exiles (which is set in 2004) and November 2006, then pick up from the SPN pilot onward.
Pros: John. Big pro right there as I love writing John. And I've already got a coherent plan, unlike bunny #1.
Cons: This would be really, really long. And though I might end up posting it in parts, it would be very difficult to do that until I got near the end...which might take a long, long time. Right now, I have momentum, because I've just finished The Exiles but that won't last. My sequel momentum never does.
I have maybe five pages of Bunny #2 written but that's actual narrative. The 2 pages of Bunny #1 are notes, so are actually more story. Bunny #1 would need a lot of research, but it's mostly refreshing my memory on stuff I already know.
I'm totally on the fence. But I've got to pick one and run with it, or I'll end up finishing neither!
But writing a long fic takes time. Posting a WIP is hazardous; lack of comments on a WIP is discouraging, and there's the danger of running out of steam at some point and leaving the story unfinished. Lack of comments doesn't bother me so much on a completed story, but when it's a work currently in progress it feeds my insecurities. It shouldn't, but it does. On the other hand, waiting until I have a finished story to post means not posting anything for a long time. Working on my two big bang fics meant The Exiles is the only fic I've posted this year.
Anyhow. That's not quite the point. I have two SPN bunnies haunting me right now. In the past week I've written the beginning of both, but I can't possibly work on both simultaneously. And both stories have the potential to exceed Phoenix in complexity...and therefore in length. Man...I shouldn't even be starting one long fic with my uni course going on and other commitments.
But I figure it won't hurt to talk about the ideas, and maybe posting this will help me figure out what to do.
Bunny #1 is all about Ruby. I want to start with her human life, picking up from the tiny hints canon has given. That's what I was writing last night in Cafe Nero: two pages of notes that would be just part one of a lengthy story. It would go on through her becoming a demon - though that part I haven't figured out yet - and go on eventually to the canon events. I have a feeling it would end up AU when I get to season four, but I don't know. So far this is just an idea.
Pros: it would be multi-genre, which I enjoy. Definitely some femslash in there, obviously some het, lots of twisty plot.
Cons: There are a lot of gaps in my ideas. Things I'd have to figure out for the story to work. Also, if I tell it chronologically, I don't think many people would read it: it would be too much like original fic. The alternative is to tell the history as flashbacks, but that means I'd need to plan in a lot of detail, which doesn't always work for me.
Bunny #2 is a merger of two ideas I've been mulling for a long time. It would be a continuation of The Exiles, so mostly about John and Kate, but I would tie it in with season one of SPN: in other words, what the hell was John up to in that year? I started to write a story like this a long time ago, with an OFC involved; it was never finished but I think I can adapt the plan to substitute Kate and a few other canon characters. This version would start somewhere between The Exiles (which is set in 2004) and November 2006, then pick up from the SPN pilot onward.
Pros: John. Big pro right there as I love writing John. And I've already got a coherent plan, unlike bunny #1.
Cons: This would be really, really long. And though I might end up posting it in parts, it would be very difficult to do that until I got near the end...which might take a long, long time. Right now, I have momentum, because I've just finished The Exiles but that won't last. My sequel momentum never does.
I have maybe five pages of Bunny #2 written but that's actual narrative. The 2 pages of Bunny #1 are notes, so are actually more story. Bunny #1 would need a lot of research, but it's mostly refreshing my memory on stuff I already know.
I'm totally on the fence. But I've got to pick one and run with it, or I'll end up finishing neither!
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(I can't lie - I would love to read more of your Kate.)
no subject
Mm. I enjoy writing her :-)