Fan Fiction of the Week: Before the Storm

Before the Storm is an incredible The Walking Dead fan fiction that centers around two characters trying to survive the outbreak in southern Georgia. In this edition of Fan Fiction of the Week, we learn all about this story from Dixon's Vixen.

Give us a brief summary of Before the Storm.

Before the Storm is a fanfic for The Walking Dead, and set to be before the outbreak that lead to walkers ultimately taking over the Earth. It follows my two original characters, Jaycee and Zack Schmidt, and shows what happened in their lives before and during the outbreak in Georgia.

What inspired you to write Before the Storm?

Mainly it was the first season of The Walking Dead. It's right when you're meeting all of the characters, getting a bit of a back story on most of them, and finding out what they went through when the outbreak began, and that's what I wanted to give these two characters. Their past gets touched on slightly in my story Cherokee Rose, which is where they originated from. I wanted to give a more in depth look at who they were before.

How long have you been working on this story?

Just since the 2nd of November. It was the story that I chose to write for NaNoWriMo '14.

What is your favorite thing about writing Before the Storm?

The fact that I can do whatever I want with it, while also loosely following the story line of The Walking Dead. Nobody really knows what happened before the outbreak because we never saw much of that, so it's nice to be able to share what I personally think happened.

What is the most challenging thing about writing it?

Probably trying to convey the character's emotions properly. Seeing as how I've never gone through anything like a zombie apocalypse, I have no idea how tense and stressful it probably would be for them, or what would really be happening in that kind of situation. Also, trying to think of how exactly the news teams would go about broadcasting everything during the beginning stages.

Have you ever experienced writer's block with this story? If so, how did you overcome it?

Since I haven't been writing on it for that long, I have yet to experience writer's block. But with any other story that it's happened with, I'll just listen to music and try not to think about it. A lot of the time, an idea will just come to me after that.

Do you write with an outline, or just wing it?

I always just wing it. I have a few major ideas in my head but I never know when I want them to happen until the time comes. I've never liked writing an outline for my stories because I find that, a lot of the time, they tend to go in a completely opposite direction than I had originally planned.

Do you have any pre/post writing rituals?

I always have to listen to music when I write, so right after opening a new document I open up iTunes and create a playlist to listen to, preferably songs that will go along with the theme in which I'm writing. There's nothing worse in my opinion than getting into the zone when writing a new chapter and a song that doesn't flow well with the emotions in the chapter comes along and throws me off. Also, if it's been a while since I've written anything, I'll skim read over the previous chapter just to refresh my memory.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

Thank you for deciding to take a chance on reading my work. Out of all the amazing stories you could have chose to read, you chose mine. You all are by far the best readers anybody could have and I'm very grateful for all of you!

Special thanks to silent hearts. and Audrey T. for editing!