We had some friends over for a late lunch this past weekend and, as tends to happen when we get together, the conversation ranged across all kinds of topics – politics, fiction, history, the works.
Oddly enough, at some point, The Da Vinci Code came up, and I said that I’d read all but one of the books Dan Brown listed as references or further reading or whatever he’d called it on his website. (In writing this post, I went back to his website and, of course, it has been updated in the intervening years, and I no longer find that list.)
But more than that, I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail (as it was titled in the US) and the other books on the list while I was in college, fifteen years or so before DVC came out. I’d even toyed with the idea that it would make a great novel somehow.
Unfortunately, I never found a story in that idea. Partly, I could never see how it mattered in present-day life if Jesus married and had children. Oh, the authors of HBHG made a lot of noise about how that would undermine the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church, but I still never saw what the big deal was. From my perspective, the Church hasn’t been a big part of everyday life in modern times.
So I put that idea aside (along with so many others) and moved on to other things. The conversation last weekend brought it back to mind, and with it a discussion with another friend some years ago.
Over several years, Alteva (alteva101 on fanfiction.net) and I talked a lot about writing, the process, and so on. No, I mean a lot – a book’s worth of a lot. One of the things we discussed was what makes a story “an Alteva story” or “a Zathara story”? In other words, how is it that different writers take the same basic idea and make it into completely different stories?
For me, looking at the HBHG idea, I needed high stakes to interest me in actually writing a story (as opposed to reading a ton of books and thinking, oh, that’s kind of cool), and I couldn’t see any in the modern era.
Which is not to say it couldn’t make a fantastic historical thriller, if similar evidence came to light during the heyday of the Roman Catholic Church’s authority in Europe – any time prior to 1521, say. If I were more interested in doing that research (I prefer other periods of history), I could completely make a story out of that.
Actually, set the story during the reign of Henry VIII, whose Defense of the Seven Sacraments was published in 1521, and perhaps have the annulment of one or the other of his marriages hinge on the outcome. If, for example, the Church is rocked by the scandal of a descendant of Jesus showing up to claim leadership of the Church, what happens to Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1509-1533)? Or Anne Boleyn (1533-1536)?
Okay, I need to stop now, because that’s turning into a story I’d enjoy writing, and I already have (*counts*) one fanfiction WIP, three more fanfictions planned, and a metric ton of original story ideas. I really, really don’t need to add to the list.
Back on point (GRIN). Which is that different aspects of Story appeal to different writers.
Alteva and I co-wrote one story (“Gods’ Gift” on fanfiction.net), and based on our success with that story, decided to try collaborating on an original story.
That … didn’t work. We were both excited by the idea we came up with, but we wanted to explore different aspects of that idea in the story, and those explorations didn’t run along paths that would easily intersect or intertwine. In effect we’d be working on parallel stories, and that didn’t appeal to us at all.
In sum, what makes a story “an Alteva story” or “a Zathara story” or “a you story” is personal preference. Where those preferences don’t coincide, collaboration is a very bad idea.
Okay, that’s blindingly obvious to me, but sometimes what’s obvious to one person isn’t obvious to others, and sometimes, just seeing the same ideas presented in a different fashion is helpful. I hope this falls into one or the other of those categories for you.
WRITING UPDATE: I wrote pretty regularly and consistently throughout 2020. It seems odd, now that we have a vaccine at the end of the tunnel (several vaccines, actually), that consistency isn’t continuing. I’m not counting this weekend, as the hubby ended up with a nasty infection – thankfully not contagious and easily treated, but having a sick/depressed hubby sharing the house all day every day is … well, not entirely catching, but certainly not conducive to joyful creativity.
That said, I finished a scene of “Child of Iron” and started a second. It’s still progress, even if slower than I’d like.
