Featured Story of the Week: Mercy
Mercy is an amazing The Walking Dead fan fiction written by vacant eyes. In this week's Featured Story, we take a closer look at this work.
Give us a brief summary of Mercy.
Mercy is set in the first season of the TV show The Walking Dead. It centers around Daryl Dixon and a lost love of his from childhood. For most of the chapters, it only centers around Mercy and her memories about Daryl and how their relationship when she was younger has shaped who she is now. As the story goes on, they cross paths again and the readers get a glimpse at how she shaped him as a person, too.
What inspired you to write Mercy?
I don’t want to give away any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the last season of The Walking Dead, but something very sad happens with Daryl’s character and that event shaped my beginning idea for Mercy. Music also played a big part in inspiring me to write Mercy. When I first started writing it, I was listening to the first Escape the Fate album a lot, which helped shape the tragedy of their love. Later on in the writing process, I was listening to a lot of Mumford & Sons, which helped to shape the emotional aspect of their relationship as friends and perhaps more.
How long have you been working on this story?
About seven months, but I had already written chunks of the story in late 2012 that I didn’t know were going to end up in Mercy. I have been wanting to write a Walking Dead story for a long time now, but could never get an idea I felt was original enough. So I just wrote snippets here and there, and some of those chunks ended up in the finished product.
What is your favorite thing about writing Mercy?
I absolutely love getting into Daryl’s head when I’m writing for Mercy. He and his brother have been my favorite characters since Merle first showed up in season one. I found myself intrigued by their family’s past and all the stories that are told about Daryl’s childhood – like getting lost in the forest and the chupacabra. I love elaborating on those stories and giving them depth by adding Mercy as a character that experienced all of those things with Daryl.
What is the most challenging thing about writing it?
Consistency. It doesn’t seem like it for the most part, but there’s a lot of detail put into their past relationship and the things they experienced together. There’s a lot of stories I had to build on, and the particulars of each story are challenging to keep track of sometimes. Especially their childhood. It’s also challenging to keep track of the members of Ian’s group. It’s gotten so complex that I have an entire notebook filled with liner notes about the backstories and the supporting characters.
Have you ever experienced writer's block with this story? If so, how did you overcome it?
I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, but there’s been a few times throughout the course of writing that it took me a lot of Oreo's, McDonald’s sweet tea, and Mumford & Sons on repeat to get through the process. For the most part, it comes really easy to me to write though.
Do you write with an outline, or just wing it?
Actually, neither. I still have a lot of snips and chunks that I wrote of Mercy in 2012 that weren’t for any particular story. I put one or two of those chunks in each chapter and then I just write transitional sentences to make them flow well together.
Do you have any pre/post writing rituals?
Before I can even start thinking about writing for this particular story, I have to have sweet tea. Usually it’s McDonald’s sweet tea, but my roommate’s mom makes this really bomb sweet tea that I like to drink before writing, too. Then I have to eat a couple of Oreo's and listen to Mumford & Sons for about ten or fifteen minutes before I can start writing. After I finish the chapter, I edit, spell check, make sure that everything lines up with the backstory and make sure names are correct before I post the chapter. Then I drink more sweet tea, eat more Oreo's, and read the chapter online.
Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?
It was brought to my attention a couple of chapters ago that Ian’s group has a bunch of names from characters that are on the show Teen Wolf. I never even realized that, but there’s no connection between Mercy and the characters in that particular TV show. I’d also like to thank anyone who’s read the story. It’s my first Daryl Dixon fanfic and it means a lot to me that anyone would like it enough to continue reading. It means a lot and puts a big smile on my face when I see all the nice comments, especially whenever I’ve written a particularly tragic scene.
Special thanks to chibs telford and stargaze. for editing!
