S. W. Raine

If you saw my latest Screenwriting Adventures Reel, you already got the very short version of how Expedition Unknown somehow led me to a whole new way of exploring my steampunk universe, but… I’ve wanted to experiment with vertical series for a while now. Unfortunately, I had one teeny-tiny problem: I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to make.

I first stumbled across microdramas and vertical series when I started learning screenwriting earlier this year. They’re already HUGE in China, and they’re slowly making their way into the US. Right now, the format here feels a little like the Wild West. Everyone’s still figuring out what it can become, which makes this the perfect time to experiment.

Of course, I wanted in. Except many of the popular microdramas I learned about focused on things like billionaires, werewolves, and romance.

And, uh… if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you’ll know I write action and adventure. I write airships and alchemy and people making questionable decisions while occasionally being shot at. I couldn’t figure out what a vertical series looked like when I made one, so the idea sat there for a while.

And Then I Watched Expedition Unknown

I love Expedition Unknown. I love the history, the mysteries, the treasure hunting, the traveling to places I’ve never been, and following a question just to see where it leads. While I watch, I often imagine what it would be like to visit those places with Josh Gates.

Recently, while watching an episode from the newest season, my imagination wandered a little further than usual. I started wondering how I’d manage if I had a show like that of my own. What would my version even look like?

And then my writer brain did that dangerous thing it likes to do where it goes OMG. WHAT IF…?

What if I did something like Expedition Unknown… but made it steampunk?

I Already Have Treasure Hunters

My first thought was my Techno Mage Universe. If I was going to experiment with a steampunk adventure series, why not set it inside the world I’ve already spent years creating?

And then another connection clicked into place. I’ve also been developing Choose Your Own Adventure-style short stories set in the Techno Mage Universe, and those stories follow a group of treasure hunters from an Adventurer’s Guild.

For a little while, I considered using that same crew for the vertical series, but there was one problem. For now, this is going to be a VERY small production. As in… I’m the production.

I don’t have a budget to hire actors, which means I’m going to have to step in front of the camera myself. And as much as I love the characters I’ve already created, I don’t want to play one of them and risk under-acting or misrepresenting who they’re supposed to be.

Instead, I started wondering if I could simply be someone else. What if there was another crew from the Adventurer’s Guild? A rival crew whose adventures were happening somewhere else in the same world?

And just like that, my universe got a little bigger.

Filming a Steampunk Adventure With No Budget

Because I’m the only actor and I don’t have the budget for even a small production crew, elaborate sets, or regular trips around Michigan to find locations that can convincingly stand in for my steampunk world, I have to figure out how to make the idea work with what I already have.

Which means I’m going to have to get creative.

Right now, I’m playing with the idea that my character has been given a brand-new steampunk device capable of recording audio and moving images, and her job on the team is to document everything. That gives me a reason for her to be recording herself while also making the limitations of the production part of the story itself.

I haven’t even named her yet. My newsletter subscribers are currently helping me choose from four possibilities, and I’m still figuring out what her first adventures will actually look like.

I do know I want to bring some of the interactivity from CYOA stories with me. Maybe viewers occasionally get to decide whether she should question someone for more information or explore somewhere else for clues. Not necessarily every episode, but enough that sometimes the people watching aren’t simply following the adventure—they get to help choose where it goes.

And as the series grows, maybe her world can grow too. If I’m eventually able to put more resources into it, I could introduce new locations, actual other characters, and bigger adventures. Perhaps my character could even work her way up from the person recording the team’s discoveries to a full-fledged adventurer herself.

Although I already know she’ll admire the adventurer team from my CYOA short stories. They’re already connected through the Adventurer’s Guild, but I love the idea of dropping little Easter eggs between the two—a name mentioned here, a rumor about the other crew’s latest adventure there. Little things that mean more if you’ve followed both stories.

My Universe Wasn’t Supposed to Do This

When I first created the Techno Mage Universe, I never imagined any of this. It was a world for my novels.

Even connecting it to interactive CYOA stories is new. I’ve been dreaming about eventually building a creative brand that tells stories across multiple mediums, but somehow I still pictured the worlds themselves staying mostly in their respective lanes.

Now I could have novels following one set of characters, interactive short stories following another crew, and a vertical series following yet another—all wandering around the same universe. And because they share that universe, they can leave ripples behind for each other.

Maybe my vertical-series character hears about something the CYOA crew discovered. Or one crew develops a reputation that reaches another. Maybe something that happens in one medium becomes a tiny piece of history somewhere else.

Someone could discover this universe through a book, an interactive adventure, or a tiny steampunk series on their phone, and I LOVE that.

Apparently, I Have Josh Gates to Blame

This isn’t even the first time Expedition Unknown has wandered into one of my stories. Josh Gates already unknowingly helped me with The Gatekeeper’s Portal after an episode about the Dyatlov Pass sent me down a research rabbit hole that eventually helped inspire a scene in the book.

And now he’s done it again. Basically, Josh Gates has become an accidental accomplice in my storytelling. 😂

Right now, I’m figuring out possible episodes and asking myself how little I can realistically work with while still making the series interesting. It’s going to have to start small. VERY small. But that’s part of what makes me excited about it.

I knew I wanted to experiment with vertical storytelling, but I couldn’t imagine how the kind of stories I love to tell could fit into it. Then I watched one of my favorite shows and asked myself two words: What if? And suddenly, there’s a whole new adventurer wandering around my universe.

I can’t wait to find out where she goes.

Now I’m curious: If you could turn one of your favorite shows into a steampunk adventure, which one would you choose? Tell me in the comments!

Raine