Virus Alert: This is a Dark Ride [Not a story segment]

[WilloWisp]

Remember the carefree, halcyon days of season one, when college was the only thing on our minds? Oh, how things have changed as time progressed (and regressed). We've come so far, and now we find ourselves here.

Some of the episodes ahead (including this next one) are disturbing. Some of the characters you will encounter are ill-tempered, anti-social, or even completely deranged. The Virus Alert world is not immune to the forces of malice and madness. Indeed, they are at the root of the events already in motion in episode 1.00.

I have a point, I just know it.

The next episode has been written... and it gives me the heebie jeebies. I don't like getting inside that character's mind. Unfortunately, I will have to do so at least three more times before this series is over. Fortunately, he's mellower in some of those.

I've been considering doing a FAQ for the series, in which I could dance around the major ambiguities offering accurate, but only barely informative answers to tantalize readers. Sadly, this requires people to ask questions, which hasn't really happened. You're not just skipping to the "good bits" are you? Bully for you if you are, but those are really the parts I put the least effort into.

[WilloWisp]

Feedback! The ego quencher! It's got what authors crave!

*whaps Willo in the back of the head* Shut up about scaredness and WRITE MOAR!

I suspect you would be downright shocked to find out how much of the upcoming story has already been written in at least first draft form - the transition from that to what you read is mostly just embellishing descriptions and dialog, and cursory proofreading (something which I should probably be a bit more diligent about - I've noticed some pretty embarrassing typos and grammatical errors in previous episodes).

There are still a lot of unanswered questions, such as why is there a college filled absolutely with nothing but incredibly sexy android sleeper girls (and where can I sign on for admission )

You'll have a pretty good idea of why that might be in 4.00.

...who is the old man in the house full of bots...

I think you mean "bunker" full of bots.

I actually tried to be pretty blatant here. I'm starting to feel repetitive saying "curly, reddish-brown" hair so many times, and figuring out different ways to describe abdominal wounds. There's an obvious answer. There's another answer that's far from obvious, though.

...what is so important about the mysterious maintenance manual...

4.00 addresses this directly.

...and there are names in the story that still need to be addressed.

There are others that haven't been mentioned yet. Each named human will receive at least some explanation, either directly in a story, or in the supplementary material. Yes, there's supplementary material. I don't think anyone's found any of it yet.

(still haven't cracked that key btw)

I'm pretty sure you're using it on the wrong door. Re-examine the intro to 3.50, and consider the source. Source code.

You're not always seeing everything that goes on. I could highlight some examples, but that might be too revealing.

Just don't fall into the writer's trap of burn out and blockage. If you get stuck somewhere ask someone on this board you trust to proof or look over what you have.

When the intricate, multi-layered plot first took shape in my mind, I resolved to take the J. Michael Strazynski approach: Build the damn thing first, then tell the story. The delay I experienced on Pickup Line was purely due to me trying to add something for effect that wasn't really part of that design. Writer's block is not going to be a factor from here on out.

Sexy writer's block, I'm less certain about, but I haven't exhausted all my tricks yet - and some things are certainly well-liked enough to be reused.

As I said above: The vast majority of this story has already been written. The password-protected timeline is over 40KB. It represents a summary of what I had written back in November, and briefly covers every episode which was planned at the time. Since then, I've only added one episode to the lineup (mid season 6), and it's really just intended to provide some relevant background for events already described.

In film/television terms: Everything has been storyboarded. The script editor may make some tweaks here and there, but the story is written, and the scenes have been blocked out, start to finish. Or, rather, arbitrarily back and forth between and including the start and finish.

Other than that the series is grand thus far, and reads easily. Most well-written fiction tends to have layered writing. A reader can just skip to the naughty stuff if they like or choose to read more deeply into events that are happening in the story in anticipation of what might be going on. I think you've done a fine job of it. Keep up the good work!

If people read the stories, I'm happy. If people go back to earlier stories and re-read them, I'm delighted. If later stories make them want to go back to earlier stories to see events from a new perspective due to new information, I'm ecstatic.

Hey, look, I spelled "ecstatic" right this time!