Confession Time: You are not the only writer out there who dreams about what your fans will say and think of your work. You’re also not the only one who wonders what sort of insane theories they’ll come up with. That’s just a fact. Human nature makes us wonder what other people will think of our effort.
If you follow any of the fandoms associated with your favorite shows, you probably know that the theories others can come up with are well-thought out. A lot of them might even use some of the tiniest parts of source material to support those theories.
That can be both a good and a bad thing. As a writer it’s hard to keep every tiny piece in line while writing. So, today I have an exercise for you that will help you keep some of those tinier moments under control as well as developing the hidden backstory.
As an exercise: Write out five to ten theories for your WIP. Go as far out as you like! Who is secretly whose parent? Why does this character have this ability but not another? Does Character A know Character B’s secret, and if so why don’t they reveal that they know?
Then come up with the supporting evidence for each theory. This might be a line of dialogue or how a character reacts. It’s possible that some of your theories might explain why a character isn’t in a particular scene.
Optionally: You can also write out some false theories and find their evidence.
The Written Vixen 