02.06.02: In an effort to make up for the recent lack of updates on this story, we thought we would open up a discussion to answer questions you might have for us. Thanks to all who participated -- it was a lot of fun for us, and we hope you get something out of it as well! : ) Q: Will we ever get another chapter? B: Yes. We swear to God there will be another chapter -- and not just ONE more chapter, but a number of additional chapters. In fact, parts of Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 have ALREADY been written, but then stalled. We have recently traded chapters, each of us taking what the other was working on, to see if that can break the log jam. N: Part of the delay, too, is from RL commitments -- recently I've had to write a slew of stories for work, and it's pretty much tapped me out. Don't know what Brandon's excuse is. ; ) Q: What happens next? And what happens after that? N: Well, what happens next is that they get embroiled into an even more complicated situation. After that, they attempt to get themselves out of it. : ) Q: Do you one of you write the chapters from Mulder's POV and the other from Scully's POV? Or does each writer work on every chapter? B: For the most part, Narida has been writing Mulder, and I have been writing Scully. There are a few odd places where we swapped POVs, but that division of labor probably accounts for 80% or 90% of the posted text. N: But make no mistake that we both do work on each chapter. Sometimes that means just punctuation beta -- sometimes it means the addition of a word or a couple of sentences ... or it can even mean significant passages. Q: Any idea how many chapters there will be in this story? N: Hmmm, last time I checked the outline I think we were at 14 or so ... which means we're about halfway done! Q: How does 98!Mulder explain himself to 93!Scully? What is the aftermath of the car accident? And will there be smut when 98!Mulder and 98!Scully get back together? B: Mulder's got himself a real problem, doesn't he? As for the aftermath of the car accident -- not good. Not good at all. And yes, the current outline, such as it is, does call for smut.
Eventually. ;) N: We definitely won't be giving up on the story until after that's done, at least. <g> Just kidding, we have no intention of dropping the story until it's finished. Q: Ch 6: 93!Mulder calls the Gunmen-Scully thinks he's talking to Langly-and tells them "what happened"; i.e., about 98!Scully. Why doesn't Langly tell him they've got 98!Mulder? Or at least ask to talk to 98!Scully and tell her? N: This will be explained in an upcoming chapter, but it's not that big a deal so I'll just tell you now. The Gunmen are wary of telling the younger Mulder anything because of the inherent dangers involved re: screwing up history any more than it already has. They want to consult with the Mulder from the future before they let any information slip to the younger Mulder. B: Narida is very easily confused when we start talking about time travel and
paradoxes. Just wanted to throw that in. ;) Q: Ch. 7: Why is 93!Scully in Baltimore at her mother's in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday? B: Good question. The answer is -- who knows? It may have something to do with Melissa having recently moved. Or maybe she took the afternoon off because she just found out about her interview with Blevins, and she wanted to go shopping for that amazingly gorgeous plaid suit we saw her wearing in the Pilot. </sarcasm> N: My personal conjecture is that it was never Scully's idea to move out in the first place. Her parents had to literally kick her out. But that doesn't stop her from visiting. Q: How will 98!Mulder and 98!Scully avoid changing their past after all these interactions with Melissa, the Gunmen, and their 93 selves? N: Yes, it does seem quite impossible, doesn't it? : ) Q: Ch. 6: Who rams 93!Mulder's car, and why? Does someone else know about the time travel? B: You certainly can't help but wonder if someone else might have figured out what's going on. A very good point. Q: When you post Chap 8 will you then be posting on a schedule? i.e. once every two weeks, or so? N: Hahahahahaha ... oh, how I WISH we could promise that. I'm afraid that we can only say that we'll do our best to keep posting on a regular, relatively quick basis. But the story isn't completely written yet, and we can't control what happens in RL, so we won't make any promises we can't keep. Q: How much stalking can you both bear? <g> B: As much as you can dish out, and then some! N: It's very motivational, though the guilt can be crippling at times. But then, the guilt is part of the motivation. <ponders this paradox> Q: How much longer till the older M&S meet up again? N: Oh, not =too= much longer. Q: Will the younger M&S meet each other in the course of this novel? B: Probably. Q: Is writing as a team more difficult than writing on one's own? How do you decide who writes which part? (I mean, we know that Narida does the Mulder voice, and Brandon the Scully, but how do you divide the chapters)? N: Well, the assumption that I'm forever going to be writing Mulder's part and Brandon is forever going to be writing Scully's part is erroneous, and becomes so with the next two chapters, since we're switching, as I've warned previously that we would/could do. ; ) Writing as a team is both easier and harder than writing on our own -- at least from my point of view. It's nice because it's always a lot faster to edit someone's work than it is to write everything from scratch, so in that way, we produce material more quickly (ironic, I know, but you know what I mean). When we each write a chapter, that equals two chapters to the story. If I were writing on my own, if I write one chapter, it equals one chapter to the story. The hard part, though, is that we have different writing styles, and sometimes, different ideas of where we want to take the story/characters or HOW we want it to progress. The way we "solve" the writing style problem is that we thoroughly go through each other's chapter, adding things here and there, and changing other things. By the end, I couldn't tell you what I wrote in a chapter and what Brandon added, and vice versa. That works nicely, and makes for a real joint effort. But I think the main thing about co-writing is that you have to be able to accept compromise. I think we've both been (surprisingly) good about that. <g> As for how we "divide" the chapters, there's no formalized way we do that. If I have a particular yearning to write something, I'll say, "Brandon, I really feel like writing this," and he'll say, "Okay." Sometimes, he's said that he feels comfortable inside a character's head for an upcoming chapter, and I'll say, "Go for it." We've also disagreed on certain approaches to a chapter before, and then we say, "Okay, just let me write it -- if I still can't convince you when it's done or you just don't like it, we'll go a different way, okay?" There have also been times when we've gotten STUCK -- and at those points, we switch chapters in the middle to see if the new POV can jumpstart our creative juices. And so on and so forth. It's worked beautifully so far. B: Yeah. What she said. ;) Q: Are you planning another novel after TOOJ? B: We have no current plans for another collaboration with each other. Not because we aren't enjoying it -- we are, and we're good friends. But at the moment, I have two or three other things on my plate, and Narida isn't sure she will be writing more X-files fanfic. Of course, nothing is impossible. N: Right, we don't have any plans beyond TOOJ.
Q: How is TOOJ going to end? N: The way it should. : ) B: With a bang. Figuratively, at least. ;) Q: Will they remain platonic in this story? B: You really don't know us very well, do you? ;) Q: Do you still watch the show? N: Yup, I still watch it. Not as religiously or as obsessively as I used to, but that might be a good thing. <g> I miss Mulder very much, but I like Doggett and Reyes. B: Ditto. It took a while to get used to, but I'm really digging the new characters. I was sad when it was announced that this is the final year, because I feel like Doggett & Reyes are only just now starting to come into their own. Q: Will you watch the series finale? B: Is the Pope Polish? Hell yes! N: Definitely. I'm still hoping they'll pull a George Clooney and bring Mulder back for the final ep. But even if they don't, that just means I can look forward to a reunion in the next movie. : ) Bonus round! Q: Narida, since you're such a bitch, are you planning to murder Brandon to steal all the glory for how awesome TOOJ is for yourself? N: WHO TOLD YOU??? B: You had to ask that question, didn't you? Now she'll have to kill you .... Q: What does TOOJ stand for, anyway? I've been reading Time Out Of Joint since you started posting, and I just can't figure it out. N: I have no idea. It just sounded funny and I liked it. Q: Who are the authors? B: It can now be revealed that "Brandon D. Ray and Narida Law" are actually Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. But you knew that already, didn't you? Q: Are the Mulders and Scullys of past and present going to have a big sex orgy when they meet up? N: WHO TOLD YOU???
