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Aug. 13th, 2016 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI’ve realized that 75% of my AU fics suffer from fundamental backstory problems that can kind of be summed up by this cartoon. There’s always a gap where something has to have happened to get the canon to twist the way I want it to, but I don’t have any idea what happened or how to make it fit properly. Generally, I just ignore it and start writing, but eventually, I have to address it if I’m going to show the story to anyone because anyone who knows the canon will point right at that hole and want to know what goes there.
The Rurouni Kenshin AU, for example, actually has two big holes in the backstory that I haven’t figured out how to fill in the last ten years. I’m not sure either is of the sort that I can get past by sleight of hand. I can occasionally do that, but I try not to, and it works better for a very short piece than it does for something longer. Longer works need firmer foundations and give readers a lot more time to realize if I’ve resorted to Potemkin village world building.
The Rurouni Kenshin AU, for example, actually has two big holes in the backstory that I haven’t figured out how to fill in the last ten years. I’m not sure either is of the sort that I can get past by sleight of hand. I can occasionally do that, but I try not to, and it works better for a very short piece than it does for something longer. Longer works need firmer foundations and give readers a lot more time to realize if I’ve resorted to Potemkin village world building.
