VirileMail/meta

Use this page for comments on the process of developing VirileMail as collaborative fiction in a wiki environment.

Use Talk:VirileMail for discussion of the story itself.

Spoiler warning! Plot and ending details Follow!

• Other pages for planning the story are plans in 2008, list of characters and the timeline.
• VirileMail:meta/archive 1 - older discussions, 2005-2008

Plot complete

I think that the basic plot of the novel is now complete (see Table of Contents, Chapters 1-14). Note: the story was started April 12, 2005 by someone at 152.123.2.230. --JWSchmidt 05:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Alternative endings

• VirileMail/END-1 - Joe and Chloe go to Mars
• VirileMail/END-2 - Joe and Chloe stay on Earth
• VirileMail/END-3 - Janek "gets the last word"

If you want to contribute another alternative ending to the story, be sure to read VirileMail:meta/timeline.

Additional editing tasks

• character development. So far, just the basics of the plot have been included. It is time to make the characters more three dimensional and interesting. We never see Chloe before she is under nanobot control: is that good or bad? Briana should be introduced earlier, her relationship with Anthony needs to be explained and something needs to be said about how she became a "rebel".
  • I had the idea that Chloe has a "problem" with exercise and eating (too much exercise, not enough eating). This could be introduced before the "eggplant" arrives or it could just be something Joe thinks about in Chapter 3.
• redundancy. In the early chapters, it is important that Joe be shown "stuck in ruts" and "spinning his wheels". With the nanobots twisting his mind, Joe is trying to figure out if he is going crazy. Two days in a row he might make the same discovery several times, having forgotten what happened the day before. However, this should not become too distracting for the reader....the story should keep moving and not get too bogged down....even when Joe is bogged down!
  • Note (2009): there is now a significantly shorter version that exists as a script.
• world details. Some details about the fictional world of the story need to be filled in. For example, I'd like to make a map of the Mars colony and provide some details about how they grow food and get energy.
  --JWSchmidt 05:17, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Trilogy?

What happened during the 7,000,000 years leading up to this story? What happens next? Plans for expanding the story to a trilogy are at VirileMail/2008#Sequel and Prequel.

Continue to Chapter 1

Chapters: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 •

Other pages: Characters • Glossary • the novel all on one page • main talk page for the story

For authors (warning: plot details!): Meta • Timeline • VirileMail/2008 • audio version