Double Dutchess

Challenge #8

Talk about your creative process.


This is actually something that I've been wondering if I need to improve on, especially when it comes to writing series. Specifically, how much of a series I should have planned out before I start posting it, although admittedly there have been a few times where I've intended something as a one-shot and then realised that actually I can't really leave the story where it is.

Also, this is a process specifically to Dark more than any of my other fandoms, but I realised I should probably make sure I have a full understanding of the original timeline before I try to change it. A moment of sheer frustration at Ulrich getting stuck in 1953 and being unable to rescue Mikkel from 1986 led me to write a scene where Ulrich did get to 1986, and it became clear I couldn't just leave it there. But at that point in season 1, I didn't have the whole context of how that whole family tree/timeline worked, or the reasons why the character Claudia just would not let the timeline deviate that way. So I now find myself with an ending I know has to happen, but that I was trying to avoid and that's just blocking me finishing the final chapter. Anyone remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books as kids? I'm seriously thinking about those now as I'm tempted to write the one ending where Claudia fixes the timeline her way or trying to work out if there's any way of incorporating the alternate universe characters into the timeline so the minimum of people actually get erased from existence and Ulrich and Mikkel get their happy ending.

Something I have often done is been determined to get a fic finished before the next episode of a show aired and canon could contradict it. This tends to be easier with one shots than series, although I've only ever had one dickhead trying to "correct" me over not incorporating context that hadn't aired at the time that chapter was posted. But since that was a known troll, they could shove their corrections where the sun didn't shine. If that does come up, I don't rewrite.

Sometimes it involves going back and watching old episodes, or even just checking facts on fandom wikis, to make sure I have my details correct. (Even if I sometimes wonder why I bother - for example, I was trying to find out whether Fringe's Peter Bishop's specific date of birth was ever confirmed, to see if it was feasible for a time travelling Daniel from Lost to have met Walter before Peter was born to give him the name. In the process, I managed to establish that Walter's father's date of death in 1944 doesn't make sense for Walter's birth in 1946, so decided that if the writers weren't going to worry about that, I'd roll with my idea whatever!)

As far as requests go, if I'm not doing it as part of an exchange, I'll only consider if we've interacted. Just my way of making sure I don't end up granting a request for aforementioned known troll, whose MO was to ask for requests then spam anyone who didn't take their (very specific) requests with insults.

But anyway, what I'm wondering if I need to do is try and do more planning in advance of any story likely to become a series before I start posting it. I have one now I'm trying to work out (School Spirits, a rewrite of season 2 where Mr Martin possesses someone other than who he actually does possess in canon) so I'm going to start with that.