Selah // Something Witty

Object Permanence (I found a world so new.)

Date: 01.20.16 -- Day 7
Music: "Since I Left You" / The Avalanches

At any given time I'm working on about a dozen stories with constant fluid changes. There are usually a couple dozen more on the back-burners to be rotated back into the forefront at any given time. About a dozen or more remaining that will probably not be picked up again but still take up space in my head, like sitting on shelves in the restoration room of a forgotten museum, hoping one day I might take interest in them again. Most of these stories have their own universes, folklore rules, and parameters. I like to pretend that the Multiverse Theory is accurate and I just have a panoramic view of some of them.

There's one story in particular that I've been working on for the past couple of autumns, usually just in time for NaNoWriMo. It started as kind of a lark when two years ago I became heavily invested in a science-fiction show on Syfy called Haven, based off a Stephen King short story "The Colorado Kid". I had been a casual viewer a few years prior, but there was something about it during that second-to-last season that really caught my attention. The setting, the world-building, the characters, the implications - all of it was kind of magical and seemed different than the average superpower show. However, as much as I love Haven, there were gaps in the story that I wanted to explore. The day-to-day legacy of generations of people affected by the Troubles. So, I dove into my first fanfiction story.

This entry isn't specifically about fanfiction, which I'll probably talk about later on in another entry. This entry is more about the things I love about stories. The story I concocted focuses on the Marshall family, one of the original families that helped found the small seaside town of Haven. It takes place shortly before the TV series begins, bringing together three sisters who have been torn about by the Troubles but come together to try and fix their family.

It is intriguing balancing three different protagonists who are so different yet family. Agnes is the eldest; a leather jacket wearing, can fix anything with an engine, grill cheese addicted, extremely loyal mother of two who is looking for a new start after a dreadful divorce. Marigold is the middle Marshall; a workaholic who can nerd with the best of them and can make killer pastries tries to remake her life as a baker when she can no longer practice medicine. And Sydney, the youngest, a musical prodigy who hates the limelight adjusts to having her older sisters back home while discovering a new part of herself attending public high school for the first time. They're fun and chaotic and trying to find their groove with each other while navigating this heavy family secret with the potential to kill.

The funny thing about the whole experience is the fact that I get this urge to start plotting and writing for it around October, work through some things for NaNo in November, edit in December. It's become a part of my yearly routine. I don't know why, but it's kind of nice. I like diving into that world. There's so much potential, even with the disastrous end. So much unexplored. Going back to the project is like putting on my favorite sweater - nice and warm and tingly. (The ending of the show kind of infuriated me because the last season did some really horrible things with characterization. If anyone has seen it and has opinions, I'd love to hear them because I'm still upset, lol.)

Do you ever have that feeling with writing a story? Do you ever faithfully go back to a project?