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This is a scene for possible use in the sixth part of the Mrs. Hawking story, the one where they take on Jack the Ripper. This scene is designed to strongly advance the Mary-Arthur relationship, and demonstrate that Arthur is a special sort of man.
The timeline of the Mrs. Hawking series presents some design challenges. I decided when I original wrote the first Mrs. Hawking that it took place in 1880-- based on the (what turned out to be erroneous) belief that was when the Sherlock Holmes stories began. It was a fairly arbitrary decision at the time, but then I made design choices around it, such as making use of the timing of the Second Battle of Kandahar and the Indian Rebellion.
This is mostly fine, except the latest major historical milestone I want to make use of is the Ripper murders, which take place in 1888, eight years later. That means that the six Mrs. Hawking stories that are currently written and/or planned must happen over the span of that period. Because I'd like none of them to have that long a gap in between, they may have to have as much as a year and a half span in between.
That's not the end of the world. Downton Abbey, for example, has fairly long spans between EPISODES, let alone between seasons, and they make it work. But that's still a pretty long time to suggest that no significant events or changes in status and relationships happen. I'll have to be careful how I manage it, because it has some definite consequences on the story.
One of those consequences is the development of the relationship between Mary and Arthur. I want them to have a romance, but because of the demands of that timeline, it must develop very slowly. That's unusual for this storytelling form, and particularly strange for the Victorian setting-- I don't think two lower-class people tend to have such a long courtship.
But I just need to make that work for me. I need to have reasons why it works that way, that are interesting, believable, and make sense for the characters. I actually like the idea that they get to know each other very slowly, and it takes time for a relationship to blossom. If I do that well, it could be really emotionally compelling.
( Day #6 - Lead, and I'll Follow )
The timeline of the Mrs. Hawking series presents some design challenges. I decided when I original wrote the first Mrs. Hawking that it took place in 1880-- based on the (what turned out to be erroneous) belief that was when the Sherlock Holmes stories began. It was a fairly arbitrary decision at the time, but then I made design choices around it, such as making use of the timing of the Second Battle of Kandahar and the Indian Rebellion.
This is mostly fine, except the latest major historical milestone I want to make use of is the Ripper murders, which take place in 1888, eight years later. That means that the six Mrs. Hawking stories that are currently written and/or planned must happen over the span of that period. Because I'd like none of them to have that long a gap in between, they may have to have as much as a year and a half span in between.
That's not the end of the world. Downton Abbey, for example, has fairly long spans between EPISODES, let alone between seasons, and they make it work. But that's still a pretty long time to suggest that no significant events or changes in status and relationships happen. I'll have to be careful how I manage it, because it has some definite consequences on the story.
One of those consequences is the development of the relationship between Mary and Arthur. I want them to have a romance, but because of the demands of that timeline, it must develop very slowly. That's unusual for this storytelling form, and particularly strange for the Victorian setting-- I don't think two lower-class people tend to have such a long courtship.
But I just need to make that work for me. I need to have reasons why it works that way, that are interesting, believable, and make sense for the characters. I actually like the idea that they get to know each other very slowly, and it takes time for a relationship to blossom. If I do that well, it could be really emotionally compelling.
( Day #6 - Lead, and I'll Follow )
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