Dear Russel T. Davies,

( Cut for spoilers to S.04, 'The End of Time, Part One'. )

The holidays are here again! If you'd like a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Solstice/Otherstide gift from my character, please post the name of your character here and it'll be delivered just in time for the holidays!

Don't forget to post this to your own journal to share the holiday cheer!

You Had Me At Hello:

As the typist/writer/mun, tell us about what exact moment made you fall in writery love with your character (if they are a canon char) and realize you had to write them.

I've been a fan of Doctor Who since 1996, when my mother's online friend (from the alt.prisoner forum, OH 1996 ILU) from the UK, told her she should check it out. He'd always been a huge fan of the classic series, and he was psyched that his favorite Doctor, Sylv McCoy, would be in it. She turned it on over dinner, we enjoyed it, and watching Saturday night midnight Doctor Who became a ritual for the two of us until I went to college. I even wrote a little Doctor Who fanfiction when I was a kid, my first full-length DW novel written when I was 11. I look back on it now (because, oh yes, it is still on my harddrive) and cringe, but fanfiction is what got me interested in becoming a writer.

When I started writing at theatrical_muse in 2005, I'd been interested in playing someone from the classic series. I hadn't yet seen the new series, convinced it would be crapping all over my childhood. I wrote for the Second Doctor for a while, but could never really find his voice. During that time, I discovered the new series was awesome and not suck at all, and decided I had to play someone from there, just to see if I could. Nine, I figured, because I had a wealth of classic Who knowledge I could put to use. But not Ten. Eww, no. He looked like a ferret and he wasn't Nine. (It wasn't until "Girl in the Fireplace" that I actually cared for Ten at all, actually.)

Then, after playing the Ninth Doctor (and totally loving it) at apharsites, I mentioned joining TM with him to write prompts. My friend, ibringlife said she'd prefer it if I picked up the Tenth Doctor. "Doomsday" had just aired and I had a new affection for the Tenth Doctor, so I decided, "Why not?" After all, if it didn't work out, I could always drop him after a few months, like I did with the Second Doctor. And, instead, he took off like a missile and was easy to write, fun, and interacted wonderfully with everyone who tagged him. He even interacts wonderfully with himself, so I've had some lovely Ten-chats-with-Ten threads in a few games.

And, it's been a few years, and I'm still loving it. &hearts

1) How much of the character's backstory did you know when you started to play them?

Not a great deal. There are the odd titbits in the series that I missed the first time round and there's quite a bit in a couple of the books (mostly the one that Ian Marter wrote), but I hadn't read them then. So he was pretty much a blank slate.

2) How specific or vague do you tend to make a character's background? Why?

It depends on the character and what I do with them. So for Harry I have quite a bit of background, a lot of which has come about from writing prompts and making things up on the fly. But I am generally vague on the dates because of the UNIT dating problem, and also because I keep forgetting just when the new DW episodes and SJA are set. I probably should do myself a timeline, then at least I'd know where I was.

3) What purpose do you feel backstory serves?

Sometimes it's useful because it tells you how they will act in a particular situation. Sometimes it's just nice to know.

4) What have you learned from your character's backstory?

Where do I start? I learnt a lot more about what's there in canon because it was putting that together and trying to make sense of it that helped me come up with some of the stuff in the first place. For example, Will's comment in the Sarah Jane Smith audios about his father's first wife dying and him remarrying and having another family makes it sound as if he and Harry are half-brothers, not step-brothers - and the same surname reinforces that. But I was determined to stick strictly to canon, so I had to come up with a way in which that's true, and ended up with the idea that Harry's mother died and when his father remarried Will was quite young, and so considered his step-father as his father.

5) Is it difficult to play with a character who has little/no backstory? Why or why not?

I don't think it is. Aside from the fact that there's nothing to stop you making it up as you go, as long as you can remember what you've made up and not contradict yourself (and I know that I have contradicted myself). A lot of things you play comes out of what they're like and what you can infer they'll do based on what you do know about them and what they've done in canon.

6) For canon characters: How do you fill in the gaps canon leaves in your character's backstory? How do you explain to those unfamiliar with your canon what a character's backstory is?

I think I already answered the first question above - I take what I already know and get it to make sense and fill in the gaps. For the second question, that's quite common considering that Harry's only in about six stories, so not a lot of people do know who he is. I've never been asked about any of his backstory, but if I did what I'd say would probably depend on the question and how familiar the person asking is with Doctor Who.

8) How much research / work have you put into your character's backstory so far? Are you finished, or is it an ongoing process?

Definitely ongoing. I've put in a lot of thought about bits of it, but not so much about others. Some day I'll get to them, or so I keep saying...