 Short Stories: April 04, 2012 Issue [#4973] |
  Short Stories
This week: Shared Universes Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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Expanding on my thoughts from last month, with works that are related or connected, I thought I'd spend a little time this week on shared universes. We've been playing a lot of Arkham Horror in my house recently-- a board game that's based on the mythos of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and this in turn got me thinking about how interpretations of universes can take on a life far beyond the original author or creator's design.
I wouldn't describe myself as much of a "fan-fiction" kind of person. Granted, I do think a lot of us, as writers, might get our starts in writing things that are, or certainly look like, fan-fiction. It's kind of a dirty word and it carries a lot of, well, baggage. There's plenty that meets the "just wanted to put my personal fantasy or wish fulfillment out there" marker, and plenty more where the character actions are so incongruous that the author might as well have just made up their own characters. And that is really just the tip of that particular iceberg.
That being said, I think the potential in shared universes is huge. There are a lot of benefits to having a wealth of material that's written in a single setting. I think the best implementations of a shared universe often don't even feature major characters of that particular story or family of stories. Often, it's more about a setting or a place that I might be intrigued.
The interesting thing about these shared universes is that they often do tend to be genre related, but not always. Certainly, it helps; while our universe is rich and full of potential, there's untold and unknowable potency in universes alien to our own, or parallel but with quirks and details not found in our world. But what about historical fiction? Certainly that's almost a universe unto itself.
One packed to the brim with romance, intrigue, betrayal, and cold beauty at that.
Until next time,
Take care and Write on!
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Feedback from last month's editorial: "The Scenic Route"
Lothmorwel  writes:
I have a variety of short 'snippets' (only about a page and a half of writing) that vaguely intersperse with my main story. Some are bits that I have planned to happen and can't wait to get there before writing them. Others are over-the-top ridiculous scenes that will never happen but help me to clear my mind and focus on the actual story. Thank you for this newsletter and making me realise that my random writings are helping, rather than simply wasting time when I should be writing the main story!!
Of course! I write in more or less exactly the same way, actually. I often find I *must* write some scenes out of order and figure out where they belong later.
Doug Rainbow writes:
I'm working on a project in which a PhD candidate researching F. Scott Fitzgerald happens to discover an unpublished FSF manuscript of short stories. There are plenty of opportuities to write stand-alones that contribute to a larger theme.
That's a great example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, Doug.  Sounds like an intriguing story, too!
bertiebrite hoping for peace writes:
I have had a great deal of feedback that my short stories have left my readers wanting to know more. I have about four short stories that can be viewed as lead ins to novels. It's funny, when I wrote them I didn't see it, but my readers did; asking for more. This is a timely article, I'll bet there's plenty of us here that will read this and say, "oh yeah, me too."
Yeah, I think it's a common experience for us as writers. I'd say it might be worth fleshing out one of your stories, then-- never know what you might find!
jayna writes:
Why are all the writings for this edition private and not able to be critiqued?
Hm... it's possible they've been set to "Registered Authors and Higher Only." It's easy enough to become a Registered Author-- post an item to your portfolio!
whimsicalme submits
with the following notes:
Hi Jay,
I wrote this story as a stand alone story, but it has crossed my mind to continue it from the perspective of other characters in it whose lives are equally affected.
Would appreciate your opinion.
Thank you,
Elinya
Brooke  writes:
Great NL. I can totally agree with your editorial this week. I just recently was cleaning out a folder with some half-written stories (one smaller and one longer and much older) and found two that contained the same characters. So I did the noble thing, I combined them The strange thing is, I think it's really going to help the stronger story and give it more depth. I really wouldn't have guessed that would have happened. Thanks for an interesting read - appreciate you!
Thanks much, Brooke! I'm glad that worked for you-- it's always good to get the strongest story you can make. 
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