How Do I Start to Write a Post-Episode Story?

Meta
Title:	How Do I Start to Write a Post-Episode Story?
Creator:	EPurSeMouve
Date(s):	February 8, 2001
Medium:	online
Fandom:	The X-Files
Topic:
External Links:	How Do I Start to Write a Post-Episode Story?
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

How Do I Start to Write a Post-Episode Story? is an essay by EPurSeMouve.

It was posted to the X-Files website Working Stiffs in February 2001.

Introduction

Ninety percent of successful fanfic, I have found, comes from thinking differently. The very memorable stories, for me, are always the ones that approach an issue or idea in a new way, twisting cliches and assumptions around in order to make me regard the show in a new way. I'm always looking out for the freshest, most unique stories I can find, hoping to read something new and exciting every time I hit 'reload' at Ephemeral.

This is also why I always look forward to Sunday nights and new episodes, as I'm always excited by the prospect of a new story unfolding before me. And afterwards, there's usually a good half-hour or so when I can think of nothing else but what just aired, whether the episode was "Memento Mori" or "Fight Club."

During that time, I often think about post-episode stories.

Mainly, I try to guess what someone else is already slamming down onto paper - that gushy romantic scene that never made it on screen, that long musing upon the moral and social implications of the episode's events. It's fun to guess and be right. But it's also fun to guess and be wrong.

As readers and writers of fanfic, we are all heavily invested in this series. Closely examining one episode out of the mix, and judging for yourself how it affects the rest of the series, is an interesting way to come up with an idea for a story. This article should, at the least, help you to think through what kind of story you want to tell.

Some Topics Discussed

• fanfic as fix-it, as therapeutic
• The X-Files and its often unsatisfying storytelling
• writing fanfic to fillin the gaps, to write a "real ending," to tell a story from another perspective, to fill in gaps
• recs for these post-ep stories: Mish's "Mature Indiscretions" - CazQ's "The Road North" - David Hearne's "Hartwell" - Meredith's "Lucky Man" - one of the essay author's original characters, Bobbie Collins - Susanne Barringer's "Shadow Dancing" - Alanna's "Forecast of Rain" - Marguerite's "Limpier"

Excerpts

Correcting Mistakes

Let's all face it - The X-Files, as a show, is not infallible. In fact, 1013 occasionally will spit in the face of continuity and characterization. However, an interesting approach to writing a post-ep is to fix a mistake made by a careless episode.

Remember Mulder's infamous "Well, I'm no psychologist..." blunder during "Terms of Endearment"? It was undoubtedly the slip of a careless writer, but you could find some way to explain it within the body of a "Terms of Endearment" post-ep. Maybe Mulder could muse over his feelings of impotence due to being kicked off The X-Files, and how he doesn't even think of himself as a psychologist anymore. Or maybe there could be a scene where Mulder explains to a deputy how an undergraduate degree in psychology (even one from Oxford) doesn't make you a certified psychologist.

Also, there have been a few quiet continuity misses - such as the wedding ring David Duchovny wore in "Travelers" and "Unusual Suspects," the two episodes set before the beginning of The X-Files. Many writers have speculated on why that wedding ring was there - Mish's "Mature Indiscretions" being an excellent example.

In forming your solutions, be creative - find some way to tie the episode into the entire series. Make a mistake have a greater impact upon the show as you see it. For what is fanfic for, but to make sense of this crazy show within our own minds?

A REAL Ending

Sometimes, we all feel dissatisfied with the ending of an episode. We want Mulder to finish the closing line of "Never Again." We want to see Scully confront Diana before the end of "The Beginning." And for the love of little green men, who wants to wait until fall to figure out how Mulder got out of that boxcar?

Such frustration is unhealthy, pointless, and just plain silly. So thank goodness for fanfic.

Ever since I started writing fanfic, four years ago, I have always made a point of opening up a fresh word processing document after every season finale and jotting down any scene that comes to mind. Some of these have developed into stories that were decent enough to post. Some of these haven't. However, writing the ending you wanted to see is a great exercise that gets you thinking about the episode and its implications for the series. It's fun to put into words what 1013 didn't get on screen, and if you've got something decent, send it off to a friendly band of betas and see what they think.

Remember, it's therapeutic. All in the name of sound mental health.

The more we read and write, the more developed the world of the show becomes in our own minds. It becomes easier to see our heroes and villains as fleshed-out characters, to whom tragic and magic things happen, with all sorts of repercussions. Every episode aired offers you a chance to explore these repercussions, and how they affect the characters we know so well, if only in your own head, but hopefully on the page also.

I have in no way covered all the different directions post-eps can take - there are many other categories and genres that I've probably managed to omit. Remember that creativity is your friend - that if you can achieve something uncategorizable, you have not necessarily done a Bad Thing.

In this essay, I use the word "maybe" a good deal. This is because for me, "maybe" represents possibilities - different avenues not set in stone by the show. When you choose to write a post-ep, you're taking a trip down one of those avenues, adding your own thoughts and ideas as an enhancement of the episode in question. In the long run, this is what good fan fiction is all about - taking someone's story, and looking at it a whole other way.