Single Universe

[AchtungNight]

Most of my stories take place in the same universe. Those that don’t take place in a parallel dimension.

 

[StillStunned]

The problem for me was that, as Stephen King wrote, 'there are other worlds than these'.
And I found that I wanted to dabble in them all. Fantasy, alternate realities, other planets, in the past, in the future, in legend, in Pornville, in Wonderland. As tidy as writing about a single universe would be, with overlapping stories and characters, I just couldn't stick to it with so many other worlds to visit. So, my weak attempts created stories that had to be re-edited later to eliminate all the dead ends I'd created by not sticking to it.
If this is what you're into, I wish you success with it. But it's gonna take more discipline than I've got or wish to have.

Given how many worlds there are to write in, it never even occurred to me to set all my stories in a single universe. Even my sci-fi stories aren't in the same universe, never mind my fantasy, fairy tales, Gothic, magical realism, whatever.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't write stories exclusively in the same universe, but many of mine are satellites around my first story published here.

Readers enjoy the familiarity that comes from characters, themes, or other plot elements that they are familiar with reappearing in a new story. Seeking out this familiarity results in readers moving from one story to the next as if they were a series.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I've considered doing this, and plan to add little cross-over easter eggs into many of my stories, especially the ones that occur in a sort of more real-world type of setting (for instance I have three WIPs which each have several scenes that take place in the same bake shop) but there's no way I could do it with all of my stories, as many take place in disparate places, times, and realities. I have a WIP that takes place on a planet with a similar technology level to us here right now... I'm not even sure Earth exists at all in that universe, but either way, they certainly couldn't reach it. I have a WIP that involves the invention of a time portal, and another with a shrinking machine. The existence of either of which, or worse, both, in the universes of the more realistic stories would make them... well... not.

So I guess the conclusion I came to is that I'm not going to enforce those kinds of crossovers, but if there's a natural spot for one, I'll include it. I do imagine that most of my real-world stories happen in the same real world, but that, like the real real world, many of its inhabitants never end up crossing paths with each other, and that's okay.

 

[Ianus4]

I definitely think it's worth mentioning @DB86 's wonderful Middletown-universe, which, unfortunately, is now only available on another website.

 

[CalBishForNow]

Kinda.

I've got 38 stories so far, not counting a fanfic, and 32 of them are in or connected to two series. They're both basically set in the real world but with lots of hot sex. I've been vague about the setting and changed key details but a reader who lives in the area could probably guess it. There's no direct connection between the two series, but when I needed a new minor character for the second series, I thought it would be cool to use Ella, a minor character from the first series, and added/changed a few details to ensure that the continuity worked. I also have a WIP where Ella has a similar role, and for a while I thought about putting her in everything and making it clear how they're all interconnected. Maybe someday she'd get her day in the spotlight, or alternately I could throw in a little humorous irony where she complains about how boring her life is when everyone around her is having all this wild sex and she doesn't even know about most of it.

But that's it so far. I also have three stories set in the realish world with magical elements added (witches, vampires, etc.) and I'm less invested in crossing them over with the others. I have three stories set in the real world that are self-contained and I didn't bother including Ella in them or anyone else from the two big series. I have at least two WIPs (it's hard to say what's worth counting) that don't currently include Ella or anyone else from the two big series and I don't want to add her to them just because.

So maybe someday I'll cross Ella over with characters pulled from each of the other stories, or from each of the nonmagical stories, or maybe I'll just not get around to including her in more and more stories and the CalBish-verse will become more and more disconnected.

 

[StacyXLawrence]

I've got 38 stories so far, not counting a fanfic

That remark reminded me, I just published a fanfic last week, and I'd be hard pressed to claim that a "Friends" sitcom story takes place in the same world as the rest of my work... especially since one of the pieces I'm still working on actually references the first season of "Friends"!! I think fanfic can be excused as a completely different universe.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Some of my stories have references to other stories, but no full on crossovers.
In my story "You Only Love Twice" the FMC is working to get her companies swimwear line into a particular (real) store, but that is never resolved in the story. In one of my WIPs, the FMC buys a bikini from that store that matches the description of one from the other story. Will any of my readers catch that? I doubt it, but it's fun.
All but one of my works take place in the real world, so it makes sense that they could cross paths.

 

[StacyXLawrence]

Some of my stories have references to other stories, but no full on crossovers.
In my story "You Only Love Twice" the FMC is working to get her companies swimwear line into a particular (real) store, but that is never resolved in the story. In one of my WIPs, the FMC buys a bikini from that store that matches the description of one from the other story. Will any of my readers catch that? I doubt it, but it's fun.

That's kind of close to what I'm talking about. The mother of the wife in the "Third Wheel" series doesn't appear in that series, she's only mentioned there, and appears in another one. The sister of the roommate in "Twin Some" doesn't appear in "Twin Some," she's only mentioned, and appears in another one. Maybe those are slightly closer references than a bikini (I honesty love the subtlety of that - and it's just as much for you as it is for your readers to catch, I'm sure)!

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

None of mine were ever connected as such. I seem to recall planning some kind of crossover that never worked out.

My 'world' if you want to call it that was one I have never even approached in life .... unnamed upscale suburbia where money was never an issue and play was the only thing on anyone's mind.

 

[deathlynx]

Not really. I do have two distinct universes where crossovers are not only possible but planned (though it hasn't happened yet). Those are theme worlds, however (Superhero and Urban Fantasy) and my traditional modern world stories don't really have any connection.

 

[HelenL]

A number of authors do something like this. FrancesScott, HelenL, and THBGato come to mind immediately: all have interconnected characters, not a single series but a shared community, and I'm doing that too.

I've been unfaithful to my universe with various fantasies, @THBGato with a far-future sci-fi masterpiece that feels dangerously real. @FrancesScott with various stories outside the CP universe. Both @FrancesScott and I have cheated with St. Valentine.

We're all sluts.

The point being - I don't think I'd want to try keeping all stories in one setting. I like the common background, and the way stories intertwine and suggest themselves, but I wouldn't put keeping the story faithful to the universe ahead of telling the story, and it would be limiting to try to fit everything together.

 

[BeechLeaf]

Oh I quite agree there's no need to stick to it. And the four example authors (you three and me) are mainly realistic, preferring the everyday world. That doesn't preclude having the odd idea that won't fit in.

Those who travel in space and time and in other universes might be reluctant to connect disparate worlds up. But there is the precedent of C.S. Lewis's Wood Between the Worlds, a detail I always rather liked: a link between worlds that is not itself in any of them, and (as far as I recall) does not affect any of them in any way. That could even be used as a link between everyday realism and excursions into the other.

(Philip Pullman's Subtle Knife is another way of doing it, but I thought that was badly done, misusing the Many Worlds Hypothesis.)

 

[LetsMisBehave]

The danger of doing this is making the reader feel that they have to read all of your stories to get what is going on. I try to do this with Easter eggs for those who have read the others, which aren't too obvious to upset newcomers but amuse long-term readers.
I am moving to having plausible deniability on both sides. After 50+ stories, it is hard to keep perfect continuity. I am toying with my 1980 stories tying in with my 1974 stories and thus my 1939 stories

 

[HelenL]

The danger of doing this is making the reader feel that they have to read all of your stories to get what is going on. I try to do this with Easter eggs for those who have read the others, which aren't too obvious to upset newcomers but amuse long-term readers.

I feel like that's a real problem. In the early days I'd recommend reading other stories before the current one (I always have a "recommended reading order") but recently I've tried very hard to make each story completely stand-alone with the incentive that if you've read earlier stories you'll recognize a few people and situations. I don't think it's ideal. Someone sees a new story, looks at the 50+ predecessors and nopes out.

I am moving to having plausible deniability on both sides. After 50+ stories, it is hard to keep perfect continuity. I am toying with my 1980 stories tying in with my 1974 stories and thus my 1939 stories

Spreadsheets! Lots of spreadsheets!

 

[StacyXLawrence]

I feel like that's a real problem. In the early days I'd recommend reading other stories before the current one (I always have a "recommended reading order") but recently I've tried very hard to make each story completely stand-alone with the incentive that if you've read earlier stories you'll recognize a few people and situations. I don't think it's ideal. Someone sees a new story, looks at the 50+ predecessors and nopes out.

I think it's reasonable to expect readers to want to read preceding stories within a series. But the whole "one world" thing is as much a game for me as it is a minor treat for the reader, so I would never make the ability to understand one story dependent on reading another story from a different series.

 

[HelenL]

I think it's reasonable to expect readers to want to read preceding stories within a series. But the whole "one world" thing is as much a game for me as it is a minor treat for the reader, so I would never make the ability to understand one story dependent on reading another story from a different series.

Yeah, absolutely. It's always a "you might get a kick out of this future glimpse of X" or maybe "Y may have additional backstory that's irrelevant here." But confronted with a new story and a reading order it might be hard to be motivated to try. I'd almost prefer to drop the reading order, but then spoilers would abound.

 

[AllenWoody]

It sounds like a fun way to challenge yourself and add some depth to your works.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I think it's reasonable to expect readers to want to read preceding stories within a series. But the whole "one world" thing is as much a game for me as it is a minor treat for the reader, so I would never make the ability to understand one story dependent on reading another story from a different series.

I agree. I just did this sort of thing today. In one of my published works, the main characters seeing a therapist is part of the central driving plot. In a WIP I'm working on, one of the characters mentions she's been seeing a therapist, then, in the followup lines, refers to what "Meredith probably assumed I was talking about." It's clear from context of the WIP alone that Meredith is the therapist, and if you haven't read the other story, that's all you get, but if you HAVE read it, then you may think "oh, is that the same Meredith?" Meredith doesn't otherwise appear, nor get mentioned beyond those brief few lines.

 

[FrancesScott]

Both @FrancesScott and I have cheated with St. Valentine.

I kept true to my Community Pool scenario with one Valentine’s story, and played away from home with another.

Does that make me a semi-slut?

More seriously, it is nice to have an ever-growing cast of characters to draw from. My next story will feature no fewer than eight of my established cast, with no new people introduced. It’s a sequel, but also has links to three other Community Pool stories.

The readers seem to like old favorites reappearing.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

I agree. I just did this sort of thing today. In one of my published works, the main characters seeing a therapist is part of the central driving plot. In a WIP I'm working on, one of the characters mentions she's been seeing a therapist, then, in the followup lines, refers to what "Meredith probably assumed I was talking about." It's clear from context of the WIP alone that Meredith is the therapist, and if you haven't read the other story, that's all you get, but if you HAVE read it, then you may think "oh, is that the same Meredith?" Meredith doesn't otherwise appear, nor get mentioned beyond those brief few lines.

That's what I'm trying with easter eggs, but not forcing them. For similar reasons, I enjoy writing about the same event from at least two different perspectives. Your mileage may vary as to whether this is best done in the same story or by two different stories.

 

[StacyXLawrence]

That's what I'm trying with easter eggs, but not forcing them. For similar reasons, I enjoy writing about the same event from at least two different perspectives. Your mileage may vary as to whether this is best done in the same story or by two different stories.

I really enjoyed the "same event from different perspectives" thing in the first couple of books of Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" - by the third or fourth I was rolling my eyes. You can only go to that well so many times, and I don't trust myself to do it better than a seasoned professional like him.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I really enjoyed the "same event from different perspectives" thing in the first couple of books of Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" - by the third or fourth I was rolling my eyes. You can only go to that well so many times, and I don't trust myself to do it better than a seasoned professional like him.

I've found it works best when the characters have very different perspectives. If the building is on fire and you tell the story from the perspective of a fireman, and a person trapped in the building it can be interesting.
If you have two people three rows apart watching the same concert...not so much.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

I've found it works best when the characters have very different perspectives. If the building is on fire and you tell the story from the perspective of a fireman, and a person trapped in the building it can be interesting.
If you have two people three rows apart watching the same concert...not so much.

That's right. Writing a story where the man wants to have his sexual cake and eat it while the woman wants matrimony, and there is a third player trying to ensure one solution happens, is more interesting than both people enjoying it for their own reasons.
I also come from the era when the woman saying, "Wham. bam, thank you, man," can be seen as a fair enough reaction, without calling her a whore being seen as a fair enough retaliation.
Perhaps it is all about behaving as a decent human being to those who drop their guards to you?

 

[Writer61]

For similar reasons, I enjoy writing about the same event from at least two different perspectives. Your mileage may vary as to whether this is best done in the same story or by two different stories.

I have two pairs of stories written from both MCs' perspectives. It was hard work making sure there were no continuity errors, and I wouldn't do it again unless there was a really strong reason.