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Date Posted: 23:11:55 05/11/03 Sun
Author: Tracy
Subject: Inside, as this is a kind of long explanation
In reply to: Marc 's message, "Question on Writing" on 19:15:13 05/11/03 Sun

I write chapter by chapter, but I know where I'm going and in general how I'm going to get there for the entire story.

When I first wrote CFTF, I had most of the first chapter written when the idea occuried to me that it would make a great series based on that song (I had the title CFTF, but hadn't thought of using lines from the song as the titles of the chapters yet). I then picked out the lines that would give title to the individual chapters and wrote out a general idea of what would happen in each chapter. Everything that you read in CFTF was as I original envisioned it. Minor things got added as I went along (nothing subtracted as I recall), with the only major addition being the incorporation of Sergei after the beginning of the sixth season. Other than that, all the major occurances in the story (how they got together, the pregnancy, being at the farm when they found out with Harm's family, the shooting, the wedding and the birth, even the babies' names) were as I originally envisioned them when I started writing the story after watching the 5th season finale. There were two main points which I debated with myself on before deciding which way it was going to go - and both were from chapter IV - who the shooting victim was going to be and who would be stalking the victim at the hospital. I had toyed with Palmer being in disguise at JAG HQ and being the shooter before I settled on a defendent being the shooter and having Hodge (who is little used in fan fiction, as opposed to Palmer) stalk Mac at the hospital.

With DOALS, I had made a joking comments based on an interview DJE did before the season six finale. He said there would be a surprising wedding (which turned out to be nothing more than them going through the entire wedding rehearsal in Adrift I) and I make a joking comment about 'what if the surprise wedding was Harm and Mac's'. Someone suggested I should write the story. I originally said I had too much else going on, but the idea would not let go of me. I finally sat down and mapped out a six chapter story and wrote out the major events of each chapter. As I begin to write each chapter, I sit down and write out a more detailed outline of what specifically will happen (very detailed, such as 'Harriet and Chloe get together at Mac's apartment to convince her that marrying Mic is not what she should do by looking at a photo album of Harm and Mac') and try to break it down into parts. On this last part, breaking it down into parts didn't work quite so well because as I started writing, the parts were way too long as I had broken them down (14 pages each on average). For instance, what I've written so far was originally supposed to be parts 1-4, not 1-8.

So far on DOALS, I have neither added nor subtracted anything from my original outline, although there will be some additions coming up. Sturgis will be incorporated into the story, keeping with his introduction at the beginning of season seven (that will be at the beginning of chapter four, Lean On Me). Also, due to the timeline of this story, I have to deal with September 11, so that will be added, with the attacks probably happening at the very end of chapter four. Also, I will put in Mac's TAD to the Guadalcanal, but in this story, it will happen post-September 11 (actually, that works out, because I was planning on Harm and Mac being apart for a time in chapter five, but hadn't settled on how exactly that would happen) - look for that in chapter five, Can't We Try.

Just FYI - by the time the story is finished, it will cover a year in the lives of Harm and Mac (ending with their first wedding anniversary).

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