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As I mentioned last night, throughout 2019 I wrote a cycle of 15 1000-word (or slightly less) ficlets as character and relationship studies for my larger novel project about WWI-era Canadians. I finished the last three ficlets yesterday, squeaking under the wire for the challenge that spawned this idea, so I thought I’d cross-post a little masterpost to various platforms, with links and reflections.
The ficlet cycle is structured around three F/F relationship arcs, each with four ficlets each in alternating POV, then a plus-one:
Rebecca Landry (Thompson)/Katherine Llewellyn (Murray) arc. Rebecca is my POV character for the war-front plotline of the larger novel, when she will be in her 50s and recently widowed, but these ficlets are largely set in her girlhood, before her marriage. It was extremely helpful to spend some time with baby Rebecca, since by 1916/1917 she will remember these events very differently, and they will have come mean very different things to a version of her with 30 more years life experience.
Emma Walsh Thompson/Maisie Thompson Adams arc. Emma is my POV character for the home-front plotline of the larger novel, which didn’t exist in my original outline and which I created this year explicitly because I fell so hard in love with Emma, Maisie, and their adulterous frenemies-as-lovers dynamic. (For those tracking the surnames: Maisie is Rebecca’s daughter; Emma is married to Rebecca’s elder son.) If it had resulted in nothing else, this challenge would have been MORE than worth it for the time it gave me with Emma and Maisie, and how much the Emma arc enriched the project as a whole.
Hazel Cameron/Louise Macdonald (b/w Hazel Cameron & Yves Ouellet) arc. Neither Hazel nor Louise are POV characters in the novel, but Hazel is a major character who becomes a friend and centering influence for Rebecca during her time at the front; knowing Hazel and observing Hazel’s BFF-ship with Yves and abortive passion for Louise helps recontextualize various things in Rebecca’s own life. It was super helpful to spend some time in both Hazel’s and Louise’s heads, and in particular (though this was a little tangential to the femslashficlets challenge) to start to explore the dynamic between Hazel and Yves.
( Further reflections under the cut: )
The ficlet cycle is structured around three F/F relationship arcs, each with four ficlets each in alternating POV, then a plus-one:
Rebecca Landry (Thompson)/Katherine Llewellyn (Murray) arc. Rebecca is my POV character for the war-front plotline of the larger novel, when she will be in her 50s and recently widowed, but these ficlets are largely set in her girlhood, before her marriage. It was extremely helpful to spend some time with baby Rebecca, since by 1916/1917 she will remember these events very differently, and they will have come mean very different things to a version of her with 30 more years life experience.
- Cusp (1875, Rebecca POV)
- Hue (1877, Katherine POV)
- Fête (1878, Rebecca POV)
- Pearls (1882, Katherine POV)
- +1: Shelter (1924, Katherine POV, Katherine/her artist co-teacher Matty)
Emma Walsh Thompson/Maisie Thompson Adams arc. Emma is my POV character for the home-front plotline of the larger novel, which didn’t exist in my original outline and which I created this year explicitly because I fell so hard in love with Emma, Maisie, and their adulterous frenemies-as-lovers dynamic. (For those tracking the surnames: Maisie is Rebecca’s daughter; Emma is married to Rebecca’s elder son.) If it had resulted in nothing else, this challenge would have been MORE than worth it for the time it gave me with Emma and Maisie, and how much the Emma arc enriched the project as a whole.
- And sympathy (October 1915, Emma POV)
- Attire (November 1915, Maisie POV)
- Bind (February 1916, Emma POV)
- Lorn (June 1916, Maisie POV)
- +1: Soiree (May 1907, Emma POV, Emma/her pre-War live-in girlfriend Annie)
Hazel Cameron/Louise Macdonald (b/w Hazel Cameron & Yves Ouellet) arc. Neither Hazel nor Louise are POV characters in the novel, but Hazel is a major character who becomes a friend and centering influence for Rebecca during her time at the front; knowing Hazel and observing Hazel’s BFF-ship with Yves and abortive passion for Louise helps recontextualize various things in Rebecca’s own life. It was super helpful to spend some time in both Hazel’s and Louise’s heads, and in particular (though this was a little tangential to the femslashficlets challenge) to start to explore the dynamic between Hazel and Yves.
- Foolishness (March 1917, Louise POV)
- Barynya (May 1917, Hazel POV)
- Flight (June 1917, Louise POV)
- Return (September 1917, Hazel POV)
- +1: Lost (September 1912, Hazel POV, Hazel/her pre-War political organizing comrade Geneviève)
( Further reflections under the cut: )
