Love in the Fleet: Advice for Writing In Character Relationships

[StarBase 118 Staff]

Romance has always been a present plot point in Star Trek. Whether it’s Kirk’s famous lust, Riker & Troi’s slow burn, Jadzia & Worf’s relationship, or a subtle flirtation between Garek & Bashir, Trek fans are invested in the love lives of their favorite characters. Thus, it’s quite logical that here at SB118, writing an in character romance can be a big part of a character’s development. With so many new members joining, and even for veteran writers who haven’t explored that side of their character yet, we hope to shed some light on the experience.

In this interview, we’ve gathered a few of the more successful relationship writers in the Fleet and asked them some questions. It will mostly focus on best practices for writing in character romance and tips from their own writing process. Don’t worry though, we’ll try to get a bit of gossip to share with you as well. By the end of this interview,  perhaps you’ll have a better understanding of what goes into writing a safe, healthy and engaging relationship inside of SB118. After all, “Love is the universal language” according to Captain James T. Kirk.

To start us off, I’ve asked arguably the most well known couple in the Fleet to join us from Amity Outpost and share their story. Welcome Lt. Commander Robin Hopper & Lt. Commander Nathan Richards.

Harford: Start off by telling us a little bit about your story. How did Robin & Nathan meet IC, and more importantly, how did the two of you get to know each other OOC?

Hopper: Yeesh, I didn’t know we were going to have to remember things… I think a big part of it was convenient timing. During the mission that Travis (Nathan Richards) joined Amity Outpost as an Ensign, I was getting ready to introduce a new Player Character, Lieutenant Robin Hopper – the station’s new Chief Science Officer. I’d been developing her behind the scenes for a while, and one of the many reasons I’d decided to change PCs was an interest in writing different kinds of stories I didn’t feel worked for my first PC, Kivik. Exploring in-character romance was one of those avenues… I’m sure I broke the ice first. 

Richards: By dangling a very enticing storyline in front of me.

Hopper: What can I say, I’m very persuasive! I do try to make a habit of being gregarious with new members, especially on my crew – and, as it turned out Travis and I seemed to have a pretty natural rapport, and a lot in common. So, knowing I wanted to explore that sort of story, he seemed like a natural person to approach about it.

Richards: Nathan had a bit of a “Physical Therapy” project after he lost his arm that he got approval from Rivi to undertake. He had found a shuttle tucked away in the bottom of Amity Outpost that he decided he needed to restore. Once most of the boring stuff was fixed, he needed help programming the ship’s systems. After a less than successful attempt from another scientist to help him, Keegan’s then PC Kivik asked Robin to help him with the programming. I’m not sure if it was an attempt at hazing from Kivik for the new Chief Science Officer, or a deliberate attempt to torture Nathan–

Hopper: Bit of Column A, bit of Column B. Nathan had it coming, that’s for sure.

Richards: –but it worked. They got to know each other while working on the shuttle, and I think everyone knows the story from there.

Hopper: And if you don’t, I can share a lot of sim links with you.

Harford: What challenges have you faced while writing two characters who are so closely connected? What benefits do you see from having developed this kind of writing relationship?

Hopper: I think the biggest challenge, in my eyes anyways, is dedicating the proper time to it. Early on, we agreed we wanted to have their relationship play out over a long period of time, and that it wouldn’t all be smooth sailing – but that meant spending a lot of time with them as we saw them first take interest in each other, try to maintain a professional friendship, and then eventually giving in to their deeper feelings. From start to finish, that took over a year, and it was important that we kept up with them so that the progression would feel natural and earned. That meant we tried to write at least a Joint Post for every shore leave covering their mutual storyline – which is not an inconsiderable amount of writing time!

Richards: Yeah, spending the time with them to make sure we get the relationship right and feel earned was definitely the biggest challenge. And I will be honest, there was a moment when a character joined right after they finally got together that I, as the writer, never actually entertained the idea of going a different route, but Nathan did have a bit of internal back and forth about it for some character development.

Hopper: And as for a benefit, I mean, for me that’s just the deep well of earnest stories and emotions they have to pull from. I think it adds a lot of weight to have that foundation, where any time the story starts leaning this way or that, or if some sort of complication is introduced, we both feel properly invested – and I’d like to think that readers feel invested in them too!

Richards: It creates great stories, and a great read really. For myself at least. Getting to write this relationship has been an exciting opportunity and has given both of us some great chances to develop my character in ways I honestly hadn’t even thought of.

Harford: Tell us about your process? How do you work together to weave Robin & Nathan’s story? How do you write together? How much OOC communication and trust does it take?

Richards: I feel like in many ways, getting to know each other OOC has helped tremendously in being able to write it. In getting more comfortable talking to each other, we’ve been able to learn each other’s characters on a deeper level and be able to write it all like a real, believable relationship.

Hopper: It’s a real blend of planning and improvisation (and, yes, sometimes deliberately trying to surprise one another). But that initial communication, figuring out what our shared interests were, how much time and effort we wanted to put into this relationship, and having a vague sense of where things were going to go between them – as well as what our boundaries were, what stories we weren’t interested in telling, and how we’d handle potential speedbumps – was very crucial to establishing that trust… and I think you need that trust to be able to throw surprises at one another in a way that feels fair and comfortable, instead of one-sided.

Harford: How do you maintain focus on individual character development in addition to developing your story together as an IC couple? How important is it to you both that your characters are perceived as individuals who are growing in their own right? What sort of boundaries have you established to help keep things on track?

Richards: Keeping the individuality of our characters has been just as important as writing their relationship. While we try to have at least one scene (sometimes a JP) to show their relationship and growth, for the most part we still keep a focus on what they want or their general responsibilities around the station. We don’t want to bog down everyone with sims of just their relationship and nothing else, and we want to continue to develop them as individual characters and not create a combined social media account, if you know what I mean.

Hopper: Yeah, and I think in a way, maintaining their identities as individuals is also crucial to keep the relationship from getting stale. You know, they both have their separate priorities and desires and that means there’s always an element of uncertainty in their relationship. We’ve also been exploring this in our current mission, in which we see the Amity Crew (or their descendants) forty years in a dark future timeline… This has been a cool opportunity to imagine some of the major life events that would have solidified or challenged their relationship over the years, and how they could eventually even be pulled apart by circumstances or family drama.

Richards: Circumstances and family drama that we are actually currently exploring! Having a future timeline to play with has given us a solid opportunity to think about and mess with possible future storylines for our characters in a setting that really doesn’t hold a lot of weight over our current timeline.

Hopper: I’m also happy that something we’ve aimed to do is keep their relationship generally supportive of their IC goals (and our OOC goals). They want what’s best for each other, even if that means doing something hard to stay together, like transferring or leaving Starfleet. I don’t see either of those things happening any time soon, but I’m glad to know if they did we’d both approach it as just another point of interest along the roadmap of their relationship.

Harford: Have the two of you ever discussed how you would handle it if one of you needed to retire from the fleet or retire your current character? How would that impact the other?

Hopper: Yes. We actually discussed a number of possible scenarios along these lines pretty early on, when we agreed that they were going to eventually get together.

Richards: In the early days of getting these two together, we sat down and actually had the conversation in regards to LOAs or retirement. We decided that if one of us needed to step away for the long term, we would hand off our character to the other as a PNPC to continue the relationship. We’ve put so much into this so far, that we absolutely do not want to see it suddenly end because one of us can’t continue.

Hopper: We’ve also both agreed that the road ahead isn’t set in stone, IC. You know, we agreed that we were going to get them to a certain point – where they were in a serious relationship – and beyond that we decided to let the momentum of the story, and the missions they go on, carry them where it will. So, where their story goes from here is as much an ongoing mystery to us as it is to anyone else. But, again, I think having that foundation of understanding and trust goes a long way to making that feel exciting rather than kind of terrifying.

Harford: What advice would you like to give members of the fleet who may be considering developing an IC romance for their character?

Richards: The biggest piece of advice I can give is to just do what you feel comfortable with. A slow burn relationship might not work as well for everyone as it has for us or a few others within the fleet. 

Hopper: I think we’ve maybe inadvertently touched on a lot of it already in our other answers here. Building on what Travis just said, I really do think it’s critical to be aware of what you’re comfortable with, and what your scene/relationship partner is comfortable with. You know, these are ultimately just characters, but real people are writing them and it’s important to keep in mind each other’s real feelings and comfort levels in all this as well – and that requires communication and, especially if there’s anything going on long-term, some planning to avoid straying into territory that could lead to someone getting hurt.

Richards: Communication is key, as we all know.

Hopper: The other thing is that an IC romance doesn’t mean you need to include another player / player character. I think there’s a lot of cool benefits to that, such as the dynamism that comes from writing with someone else who’s actions you can’t control, but you can also save yourself a lot of the potential headaches by writing on your own (or perhaps involving someone else’s PNPC). There are a lot of approaches, you just need to decide what works best for you!

Harford: Although it might still be under wraps IC, it’s no secret that a Hopper & Richards wedding is on the horizon. Congratulations! What can you share about the development that brought your characters to that point? Tell us about the wedding planning. How is that going IC and OOC? Can you give us a tiny morsel of an inside scoop, maybe the wedding colors or the honeymoon destination?

Hopper: Oh, this was so fun. During Frontier Day, we had a unique opportunity to throw Nathan and Robin, now a well-established and publicly-dating couple, into legitimate harms’ way. By that point we had reached the agreed upon point and started treading into unplanned territory. At the same time, I was beginning to make plans behind the scenes to eventually move into the role of First Officer on Amity, and so I really wanted to sew a little confusion, going so far as to introduce an NPC vessel (the Cambridge), along with an offer to transfer Robin to be it’s new First Officer… and to have her seriously considering going. I really wanted it to feel like anything could happen, and that their relationship was not a sure thing anymore.

Richards: That was, until I blew that whole thing out of the water by simming the Cambridge being destroyed during Frontier Day. I, of course, was clued in on the plan to create the confusion and suspense around the Cambridge, and when the opportunity arose to put an end to the confusion I absolutely went for it. But I wasn’t included in all of the planning though…

Hopper: The proposal was a surprise to Travis. At least, I think/hope it was. I’ll admit I did ask him a little in advance if he was okay with me throwing him “a curveball” – and for all I know, he might have guessed what I had in store. But it felt right for the characters, who had just gone through this deeply traumatic and foundation-shaking incident to want to grab on to what they had and hold on tight. Robin’s always been characterized as sort of flighty, and ready to move on to the next best thing, so I found myself a bit surprised actually how strongly my gut was telling me this was the moment to have her completely shift gears.

Richards: The “curveball” was definitely a surprise. When Keegan came to me and asked, I was honestly thinking that because of the trauma of Frontier Day and everything that came up with that, it was going to be the end of Nathan and Robin. But it turned out to be the exact opposite. 

Hopper: Anyways, we’re still working out a number of details, but what we can say for sure is that they’ll be getting married sometime in 2402/2025… And the wedding colours are blue and gold, of course!  Actually, I don’t mind sharing that I’ve commissioned a piece of artwork specifically to mark the event, since it feels so special. SB118’s own Alieth, who is incredibly talented, made us a beautiful illustration that I can’t wait to share when the time arrives.

Richards: I’ve been quietly sitting to the side, nodding and agreeing on decisions like a true fiance. I’ve never been one to really think about the logistics of a wedding and am happy to let the enthusiastic bride-to-be make all of the decisions. 

Hopper: Oh, you’re “letting” me make these decisions, are you?

Richards: You are the creative mastermind behind this wedding after all.

Hopper: I think it’s fair to say we’re both excited and a bit nervous and are trying to figure things out without really knowing what we’re doing with this particular un-planned life event… Oh! And I’ve been working on a playlist for their wedding for ages, haha. Long since before they were even officially together, IC. What can I say, I just think they’re cute together and, as much as I think we both enjoy tormenting them a bit, we also both want good things for them.

Harford: Thank you both so much for sharing and for opening up about your process. I can confidently speak on behalf of the fleet when I say, we love Robin & Nathan together and we wish you all the best… as long as there is still some drama along the way!

Our next couple has a rather unique situation. Their characters are not stationed together which adds an extra bit of challenge to maintaining a solid IC relationship. The two writers are prolific, each maintaining two active characters, and have both been with the Fleet a considerable amount of time. Welcome and thank you for joining us, Lieutenant Vitor Tito from Ops and Commander Alora DeVeau. 

Harford: First off, Amanda, you’re not writing for Alora in the relationship with Vitor. Tell us who it is you write for and what it’s like using a PNPC in such an involved storyline. 

Ayala: Those who know me know that I have about a million and one NPCS (okay, not that many, but I have a lot), because while I focus most of my ‘on screen time’ with Alora on the Eagle and Peri on the Butler, there are other stories out there too, and people who can fill in the gaps as needed.  Taisa Ayala is a medical officer who I created before Tito moved over to Ops.  When he came over, the two hit it off and it turned into something more. 

Honestly, writing an NPC is very much like writing a PC for me.  When I write, I think about how the character would respond, what makes them unique, and I put my mind in the mode for that specific character.  So while they are technically PNPCs and thus aren’t played as often, my brain doesn’t really differentiate. 

The two of you have a bit of a unique situation being stationed on different ships. I understand that all of your love story is written through JPs. Tell us what that is like. Share your process with us.

Tito: First let me thank you for having us. Well, it’s like any normal long distance relationship. Since we aren’t on the same ship we use JPs to have Tito and Taisa meet when they are on shore leave. At this point we split between them meeting in person somewhere and speaking over a “long distance call” as I like to say. Tito already visited Taisa back in Denali, they had an “adventurous” date in Rome and we are currently working on another adventure this time in Risa. JPs are actually easier for me, we take our time, plan what we want to do and write accordingly. And there’s always the magic word “Backsimm” and the OOC note saying when that happens, if we take a little longer to finish.

Ayala: I do love JPs (another thing that people who know me know about me), and so writing in this way is just as natural for me as writing sims over the list.  The only difference is, I have to prioritise those list sims so that means the JPs sort of get pushed aside until I have enough brain left for them.  This kind of comes and goes in waves depending how much insanity is happening in my life at the time.  

Kinda like Tito, I like being able to take our time.  It’s laid back, there’s no stress, especially since I have a great writing partner and friend who’s supportive and understands when I can’t necessarily respond every single day.  As for what it’s like, it’s kinda like how it was with my husband (then boyfriend) when we were doing a long distance relationship.  Most of our interaction was through text based messages (back in the ancient times when we had ew-too talkers and Mushes and Muxes…who remembers those?  Anyone?) and we would spend hours either doing that or on the phone.  

When I moved to the same state as my husband, we still couldn’t see each other every day because we were still 4+ hours away, so we had to schedule times together.  I see this play out with Tito and Ayala, specifically creating opportunities to spend time together in person because they don’t really have any other choice.  

Have either of you written IC relationships with other writers? How is it different writing with each other versus your other previous (or current) writing partners?

Tito: Yes, I wrote romances alone and with others. We are all different, and actually I also have a potential romance for Sil in the “works” although it’s still very early and they are only friends (and crewmates, sorry but that’s an inside joke on the Artemis). I have had wonderful “partners in writing” and I can’t thank Jamie and Jo enough, and specifically Amanda here for putting up with me. Each have different styles and Amanda, like Jamie and Jo, is a very dear friend, which I think helps a lot as we both communicate and easily set down what we are looking for when writing the relationship. 

Amanda is without question one of the most talented writers in the fleet. She was also one of the first to welcome me when I returned, even if back then we never wrote or knew each other.

She was one of the reasons I transferred Tito to Ops, so I could write with her, and I admit I miss writing and reading her stories more regularly. It’s been a great experience and one that helped develop Tito further. I couldn’t have developed him this further if it wasn’t for her help.

Ayala: Don’t listen to him about me.  He’s lying.  

As for romances, Alora had one romance with a former PC.  The player has since gone LOA, but at the time, the two characters clicked really well and it just naturally evolved.  Eventually, they grew apart and broke up, but that’s how real relationships work sometimes.  In the end, I did give Alora an ‘off screen’ relationship with the man who became her husband.  Unfortunately, he died in the line of duty (twice, but that’s another story for another time) and now she’s raising her daughter Shyla.  I did also have a brief IC relationship between my Cardassian Ambassador, Lukin Zorkal, and a writer’s PC, but that also didn’t work out.  Currently, I also have my other PC, Katsim Peri, on the Butler who’s in a relationship as well, and as far as I know, Greaves’ writer hasn’t gotten tired of me yet!

As for the difference, it’s just a different style.  I can’t really pinpoint a specific way it’s different, just that each person had a different voice in how they wrote their character.  Just like every writer, every character is unique, and you just sort of lean into that when you write with them.  

The two of you both write two characters, and in Amanda’s case nearly twenty PNPCs. How does that impact the writing of your characters’ IC relationship?

Tito: Well, I keep trying to write Tito differently from Sil. According to what I have been told, it’s working. So in this case I had to make a different approach as Sil is a known flirter and Tito had a much darker backstory in that regard. Amanda has been helpful in the way the relationship moved on, and in a way helping to keep the two personalities of my characters apart. Although there are admittedly some traits that I still pour a little in our JPs (after all I am writing both of them) I hope I have been successful in making Tito grow and develop at his own pace.

IC Sil is part of Tito’s life, they call each other “brothers from different parents”, although he is yet to meet Taisa, that is something that certainly will happen in the future. 

Ayala: Twenty?  Hold up…that doesn’t sound right.  It’s actually probably more than that because there are a few that don’t have wiki pages yet….

Anyway, I digress.  With Taisa, she’s an NPC, so unfortunately for my writing partner, she doesn’t have as much of a focus as my PCs do, so that means she gets pushed back a little bit and he (in his great kindness) has to be patient.  

Another thing with an NPC, like Tito, I try to give each character their unique voice.  In a way, I guess I’m kind of a method actor. I try to get into the role, so to speak, and really think in the way the character thinks.  I don’t think it really impacts the relationship, but I do need to make sure that the person in my head is Taisa and not someone else when I’m writing with him.  It can also be harder to get into Taisa’s head, because she’s not my PC.  I slide into Alora and Peri pretty instantly – especially Alora – but sometimes, my NPCs take a little more effort.

What sort of relationship do the two of you have OOC? How important is that connection to your writing process? What sort of boundaries have you established to help keep your writing relationship on track?

Tito: As I said Amanda is one of my dearest friends in the fleet. We had written together and she is an amazing writer and person. If I didn’t feel comfortable with her I would never have asked her to get on board with this. I think it’s that trust and confidence that has helped shape our writing. Amanda is extremely imaginative, she usually has the best ideas (I am more into the “stupid/crazy” stuff like running into water fountains and riding Vespas) and we always set up a sort of plan on what we will write next. I think the boundaries come naturally as we write, and Amanda knows if there is something that I write that would make her uncomfortable she can call me and I can cut it in an instant.

On my side I never really felt that because Amanda is such an amazing and awesome writer that she had never stepped on any kind of boundaries.

Ayala: Communication is absolutely imperative, but so is respect.  If someone isn’t respectful of you, then it’s not going to work.  If someone decides that they want something different and doesn’t communicate that, then it definitely isn’t going to work.  Let’s take the example of Alora and her first relationship.  Eventually, the writer realised that the character wanted something different and while he very much cared for Alora, he didn’t see how their relationship could work beyond friendship.  So, she had a conversation with me out of character.  I’m not about to ask someone to write something they aren’t comfortable with, so we wrote a sim together where they broke up.  The other writer felt comfortable with coming to me with that change, and I felt comfortable enough with them to write it out.  We remained friends even after the IC relationship ended – and that’s because of a very important thing.  The romance was IC and IC only. Bad feelings were IC and IC only. And we respected one another.

Frankly, Tito is really easy to write with because I trust him.  It takes trust to make any relationship work, and that includes an out of character writing relationship, especially when two characters are in a romance.  I can’t stress communication and respect enough, because I have seen how badly it can go when someone is not only unwilling to communicate, but unwilling to be respectful out of character.  Make sure you talk to one another and are open with each other.  If there are things that might trigger something, please let your partner know – don’t hide it.  It’s only fun if both of us are enjoying it.  

What advice would you like to give members of the fleet who may be considering developing an IC romance for their character?

Tito: First see if it makes sense. Don’t start something just because it’s “fun”. If you want that, make it a one night stand. I am not saying to not start a romance, but personally I think that a good romance needs to be well set up. And sometimes it might not work out, for instance there’s a certain “romance” that I love around the fleet that isn’t exactly a romance, but it had a great backstory and it made sense to me as a writer. Also I love the writing of the characters because the romance is part of their story but it isn’t the whole story. That’s what I strive to do in my relationships.

Second, do it with someone you trust, that you like to write with and ask if they are on board. And if they don’t agree, respect that, you can have your character hurt a bit but move on, because that shows good character growth. If they are on board then that brings up the next piece of advice.

Communicate. Talk, share ideas, speak up with what you want and don’t and how to make it happen. And listen. It’s certainly a “four hand” writing job and you really need to be at the same pace. And that is easier to do with someone you respect and already have a good friendship with.

Ayala: I have to agree with Tito.  Don’t do it because it’s fun (I mean, romance can be fun, can’t deny that), but do it because that’s how the story winds up going. If two characters hit it off, don’t force any romance, just enjoy it and see where it goes.  If it ends up in a romantic relationship, great!  If not?  Great!  Both situations offer plenty of opportunities for character growth.  

I also agree with his second point.  I absolutely trust Tito.  He’s one of the sweetest people I know and has been a great friend to me over the last few years.  He’s been a steady source of kindness and encouragement, and I’m glad that Taisa fell for Tito, because now I have a really great excuse to write with him – something I wouldn’t do if I didn’t have trust in him. 

And yep, I definitely agree with the third point.  I could add more, but I pretty much gave a long rant on that earlier, so I’ll just ask the readers to refer to that. 

One thing I would like to add, though, is don’t always try to write adventure and excitement!  Except for the relationship I created for Alora and her husband, the other relationships my characters have had (including the one my other PC, Peri, is in) simply happened in the course of normal, every day interactions.  And that’s where most relationships dwell, in normal, every day interactions.  Oh sure, we’re going to have big moments, maybe even huge moments, but writing about the mundane from time to time is a good thing too.  Don’t feel like every moment of everything you write has to be dramatic.  Trust me, drama will happen.  

Finally, tell us where your characters are at now in their relationship? They took a pretty big trip together recently and I believe a big question might have been asked. How did that go? What are the next steps for Tito & Ayala?

Tito: They are getting to know each other even more, and are setting up plans, and eventually foundations not only for their relationship but also for a home. Although that will have to be worked on because they are a little apart from one another. Almost a Quadrant away…

But it will be a building and hopefully enduring relationship, so marriage will take… ::Turning to Amanda:: What? A couple of years to plan, maybe?

Ayala: I would say so. It’s not that Taisa isn’t interested in the prospect of marriage, but as much as she loves Tito, she’s been married once before.  While it was with someone completely different from him, and who treated her pretty horribly, and even though she got out of it, it’s still her own source of trauma that she’s going to have to work through.  She trusts Tito, but some things are harder to get over than others.  She wants to take her time, because she doesn’t want another marriage to end badly so…sorry Tito, you’re just going to have to wait.  

Harford: Wow! What a great perspective. It’s interesting to reflect on how things might be a little different writing an IC romance with someone’s PNPC rather than their main character. We can’t wait to see the next chapter of Tito & Ayala’s story in your Joint Posts.

Finally, I decided to interview a writer who has developed an IC relationship between two of his own characters. Lt. Commander Aine Sherlock is here to share some of his cautionary tales and how he overcame them to still have a rich story for his character’s personal life.

Thanks for joining this unique article. Tell us about the experiences that led you away from writing an IC relationship with another writer.

Sherlock: Oh boy, we’re diving right in! Honestly, it was the last time I’d given it a try. IC, it was great. I really enjoyed the storyline, it put my character out of her comfort zone. However, OOC, the writer took a bad sim (in that it just wasn’t a great sim narrative wise) as I suddenly had no interest in writing with them. There were some assumptions thrown about that just wasn’t the case. Though we talked it out, the damage was done and without the trust it just wasn’t worth it to try to continue. So after that and a couple other experiences that just didn’t go well due to IC things, I just decided if I want my character to have a romantic relationship storyline, I’ll write it myself.

Once you decided to take Aine’s love life into your own hands, what were your first steps? What kind of guidance can you offer someone who has decided to travel down a similar path for their character?

Sherlock: I didn’t want to just do it to do it. There had to be a believable story. The simplest thing was “The Ex.” Familiarity is a comfort, something a lot of people who’ve been in and out of relationships can often relate to. I’d already set the two characters up for a redemption/friendship arc to fill out the backstory of their Academy time. So it was just one more step.

The best advice I can give is to consider what the purpose is. Where do you want this to go? If it’s just to have the character in a relationship, don’t. Have a real story planned out. That includes thinking about how things will change the character, but don’t do it if you’re just stuck with the character’s development and feel the need to change things up. One other thing to consider is the future. You’re likely going to have to limit your character if someone comes along and you probably don’t want to flip back and forth with the relationship just to try to develop something with another PC.

What do you see as the pros and cons of writing without another player to bounce off of? How have you kept the process interesting?

Sherlock:The single biggest pro, you’re the one deciding where it goes. When I wrote with others I had a simple deal: play it out in character. You can write your two characters convincingly if you try, while staying true to them.

The biggest con is that you’re writing by yourself. Which will lead to the next answer in a second. In some ways this can seem self-serving, which isn’t great. But again, staying true to the characters is the most important part. Definitely don’t write “the perfect” relationship.

Keeping it interesting by not writing about it all the time. Give little vignettes. Don’t clog up the list with solo-sim after solo-sim. A little mention in the narrative of other sims is all you really need. Save the sims for big things and don’t overdo it. Most of the time, on shore leave, people shouldn’t really be reading about the pairing unless something important to their overall story arc is happening.

One of the benefits of having a writing partner is to have someone who helps develop your craft. Do you ever lean on other writers in the fleet to help further your writing, help you plan or proofread, or challenge you? How do you incorporate this into your writing process?

Sherlock: On occasion, yes. Mostly if there’s an idea I wanted to run with I’ll run it by someone to see if it sticks. The best example being the pregnancy. Which contrary to some people’s belief had been planned almost a year in advance. This was done in bring some change to the character, not because I was bored, but there were some things with her that I wanted to see develop and this was the most convincing way to go about it.

From your experience, what is the best advice you can give to someone who has decided to pursue a close writing relationship with another player? What sort of boundaries and expectations should people take with them when they enter into that kind of relationship?

Sherlock: First, like a real relationship, there needs to be communication. Second, planning. But there’s a serious caveat to planning. Don’t agree to things that could pigeon-hole your character into responding to a situation in a way they wouldn’t if it wasn’t the relationship. Third, don’t be afraid to end it. Just like real people, relationships aren’t perfect. And they can go bad.

As for boundaries, as much as we can get emotionally attached to our characters (and other people’s), keep the IC and OOC separate. Don’t let the fiction you write bleed into and affect your personal life. If you have a partner in real life, for example, that you tell about your adventures in 118, but you don’t tell them about an IC relationship, you may be going about things the wrong way.

Finally, tell us about Aine’s relationship with Mel. How did their story come about? How do you keep the two characters separate and how much of your own life experiences guide their journey?

Sherlock: Their story started as backstory at the Academy. There’s some writing somewhere that will likely never be seen that fleshes it out. There’s some references on the wiki too. But basically he graduated before her and decided to focus on his career. Post-graduation there’s some sims that show them meeting and it not going good, but eventually they settle things and are at least friends again (enter that old familiarity trope). To be honest, it wasn’t supposed to get that far but a certain writer really liked the story so I decided to go further.

Keeping them separate is actually really easy. He’s a PNPC that can be used, but I intentionally don’t use him often. IC, they work in different departments. With more recent events he moved to being a reserve officer, little more reason to not use him so much. Character writing-wise, they are two totally different people. She’s headstrong and professional (on-duty). He’s calm and goes with the flow, and not afraid to break her on-duty rules, but also knows he can get away with it.

As for how much of my life informed their story, quite a bit of experience actually. But my story stops much where theirs was supposed to. That backstory and follow-on was based on something I went through when I was much younger, though not the same. I wanted her story to be one of personal strength and overcoming that particular adversity on her own.

Okay, we all love a bit of gossip. So tell us, how are Mel and Aine dealing with the prospect of becoming parents? What are their plans for building a family on a Starship? If I remember correctly, Mel made a pretty big sacrifice to make their new life work. How’d he come to that decision and how did Aine react?

Sherlock: For them it’s become a journey of rigting their wrong. Doing what they should have done all along. They’re happy and ready (or so one of them thinks…) and they’re taking it in stride. Though at first Aine was terrified. But words of wisdom from her Captain really set her at ease. And the fact he was sticking around despite her fear of him not being there. Not only did he transfer to the Chin’toka, but he’s now just a Reserve Officer, so he’s put his career on hold because he knows that Starfleet is more important to her, it’s never really been the end game for him. I’d say her reaction to his decision was relieving. The fear of doing this alone was gone, which gave her confidence that she’d still be able to continue forward with her career. Her biggest fear is that her Captain is going to use it as an excuse to go on an away mission. As for how they’re going to do this, raising a family on a starship, they’re just going to go with his method of going with the flow…for now.

Harford: Thanks so much for joining us today and giving us some insight into writing romance for your character with one of your own characters. It seems like it’s a really good option for people who maybe want more control over their story.

I’d like to give a big thanks to the five writers who gave us their stories and perspectives on writing romance for their characters. Also, thanks to you, the reader, for hanging in this far on a very lengthy interview. I hope this has shed some light on the process, potential and pitfalls of writing a love story for your character and from all of us at the Newsies, Happy Valentine’s Day!

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