Apocalypse Blog Shorts
I have been pondering the idea of doing short stories in the Apocalypse Blog world for a while now. I’m definitely not ready to let go of that world and its characters yet – there are stories yet to tell, and I’m a storyteller.
But what, when, and who? These are questions that I’m throwing open to you, my happy readers.
The Starwalker planning is going well – there’s actually more spinning out there than I had anticipated, and I’m almost ready to sit down with a pinboard and a crapload of notecards. But I’ll save that stuff for another post. What all that means is that I’ve had a chance to start thinking about AB shorts and what I can do.
On the train ride home today, I scribbled down some ideas that have been percolating for a couple of days. Plans there for about four shorts – I’m not sure yet if they’ll come out as proper short stories, or just snippets that will make a story when read together (three of the ones I made notes on today are about Jersey, AB’s punch-happy little crossdresser).
WHAT – I see these as primarily character-centric stories. The things that happened when Faith wasn’t around. Retrospectives, telling the stories that happened before we met the characters. Also, current events are up for grabs (and future ones, possibly, depending on how much of a headache it gives me).
I’d like to explore different facets of the broken-down world. Maybe go into some of the background that the Seekers will never know about.
What subject would you like to see a short about?
WHEN – I have been thinking about a schedule. Knowing the way that I work, I am far more likely to do these shorts if I have a fixed schedule to post them by. So, once a month, I think. Let’s aim for the end of the month, in case I manage to get one done in the next couple of weeks and can get it sorted before February. No promises, but you never know your luck.
I hadn’t actually planned on doing 12 shorts, but after today’s little idea-splurging, I don’t think I’ll have a problem turning out that many. The main issue will be time.
Okay, no question on this one – most of it depends on everything else I’m doing.
WHO – This is a slightly trickier issue. I have a few characters that I know I can write about, and have some plans for. They are:
- Jersey and the Wolverines
- Masterson and his family
- Bree and the Pride.
I also have an idea for at least one new character, and am pondering a couple of the dead ones.
Who would YOU like to see a short about?
Suggestions welcome! Anyone whose idea gets picked up gets a cookie!
In the meantime, I’ll keep spinning out my plans and see what comes of it all.
Rissa Watkins says:
Oooh, oohh, I know, I know… Faith’s dad.
Or maybe the time at the University when Faith was gone.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Mel says:
Ooo, Faith’s dad. I hadn’t thought about him. Definite possibility!
Hmm. University. Could do something on Dr Kostoya, I suppose. We didn’t get much about him.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Svenja says:
Hmm. Cody would be an interesting one as well, if he’s still kicking about. Maybe not a story ABOUT him, per se, but it’d be kinda cool to see him pop up, maybe in someone else’s story.
I’d definitely love to read more about Jersey. š
Also, this is off-topic, but in another post you mentioned that you were having issues with the Starwalker blog, graphics-wise. Just wanted to let you know that if you need help with that, I know my way around Photoshop pretty well and have done a few website layouts (including my own story blog, lifs-story.livejournal.com if you wanna look), so I could probably figure something out. š
January 14th, 2010 at 2:24 am
wngl says:
I love the idea of telling other stories from Faith’s world. Events and characters in which those we already know are peripheral or incidental would be fun, but I’d like to second Rissa’s idea to see a story or two about Faith’s dad.
January 14th, 2010 at 4:06 am
Mel says:
Svenja – hmmm, Cody. I purposely never had his post-boom fate revealed in the Blog – he’s a person of Faith’s Before and doesn’t really ‘exist’ in the After.
However, that doesn’t mean I’ll never say what happened to him, I guess. He might crop up in the piece on Bree, if only in more solid backstoryness. (Yes, that is now a word – shush.)
wngl – Another vote for Dad! Righto. Now I have a mental image of him sitting at home on Christmas Eve, waiting for Faith to get home from work. Oh, the heartbreak. I think I can do something with that.
January 14th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Brian says:
How about some backstory about Matt and his time until he met up with Faith again?
January 20th, 2010 at 8:53 am
Mel says:
Definitely possible, Brian! Some of it was hinted at (or at least, the horribly unpleasant parts were), but it might be worth expanding it out into a story. It depends if I can get into the mood to be that mean to a character I adore. š Thanks for the suggestion!
January 20th, 2010 at 6:02 pm