Plot, Plot, Plot

[coalitiongirl]

 So we now have our writers and you've looked through all the technical details, and now it's time to talk plot! We've got seven days to suggest and discuss any ideas you have in the comments, and here are two things to keep in mind:

• Each chapter should ideally be a story in itself. We're each getting one opportunity to write and so we want a plot that allows for each writer to play within the 'verse without being caught up in transitional chapters or the like!
• At the same time, we also want to have one coherent ongoing plot that allows for development so it doesn't read like a series of short stories.

So this can work in several ways.

• We could rewrite a season. We have exactly as many writers as there are episodes, and we could each tackle one. (I'm wary of this option simply because there's the OUATVS and because I don't know about the rest of you, but I find episode rewrites kind of dull, especially when we have many stronger writers than the OUAT ones?)
• We can settle on a theme with stronger individual chapter plots and a weaker overall plot. I suggested tropes before- it could be something like "some kind of magical trickster has come to town and keeps casting wacky spells," and then we go from there. (I've seen people do that way back when SQW did magical mishaps.) In that, the story would be very much about individual chapters and character/relationship development, but it's tricky because the latter sometimes gets lost in the process.
• We can settle on one standard plot that we like and write to it- this is generally easy and straightforward, though you do need a more intricately organized outline from the start so you don't run out of plot along the way. 

Please drop your suggestions in the comments and discuss them! Reply to each other and talk about what you want to write and what you think might work for a story like this. This post closes on May 2, and we'll poll for your favorite option of the ones suggested from May 3-5.

Oh, and I don't think we'll do a totally alternate universe this time around because many people aren't used to writing out of the 'verse. Anything that takes place within the OUAT universe, even if it's a complete deviation from canon, is fair game.

Comments

[devje]

For me, this option makes more sense because I cannot see any way that 20-odd people can maintain a coherent plot, especially given the massive variations in writing styles and tone among us.

I know it's been done before—both in SQ by single authors and in other fandoms in similar round robin posts—but portal jumping through alt universes or timeline jumping within the canon universe gives everyone a chance to write the characters they want to include without setting up a world which means others end up having to work with characters in whom they have no interest. Or, there's the Groundhog Day scenario where it's the same day over and over until they get it right. Or, a mix of the two, where they flip around the canon timeline fixing all the huge loose ends and unexplored plot threads (like S2) and righting various wrongs (God, I loved Quantum Leap).

I'm gonna shut up now because plot is so not my forté.

[coalitiongirl]

No wait keep talking. I think this is something to work with, maybe? I mean, I feel like a lot of these will take more setup than each writer can afford with only one chapter (particularly canon timeline stuff, because that's the kind of thing where everyone needs to pack a punch but it's hard with only a little bit of space), but maybe some kind of alternate timelines thing?

I feel a little silly linking to my own work, but I did something like what I'm thinking of in very brief flashes in this chapter, the idea of hundreds of possibilities within the 'verse and each one promising a whole story within it.

The trick would become to create an overarching thread to tie them all together- are Regina and Emma moving out of their own bodies through these 'verses? Are they doing it together or apart or sometimes together and sometimes apart? Maybe they begin this journey as enemies and slowly fall in love along the way? idkkkkk. Anyone?

[snarkingturtle]

Sometimes apart could be a logistical issue, just in terms of making sure that people who want to write interactions between them don't end up with a chapter where they're supposed to be separated. So my vote would be to keep them together.

In terms of a way to tie them all together...maybe they need to collect something from each 'verse, and it's only once they've Collected All the Things that they can go back home? Or if they're timeline jumping it could be realizations they need to have, but that runs the risk of a) being a little too It's a Wonderful Life, and b) turning into a regurgitation of canon in a boring way. We wouldn't want scenes that are basically just what happened on screen with an aha moment tacked onto the end.

They could also have some kind of big bad chasing them through time/the different 'verses, so there's a common enemy tying all of the parts together. It wouldn't even need to feature prominently in each chapter, but just some kind of reminder that it's all connected.

I don't know this is maybe stupid it is maybe too late for me to be having ideas.