a meme, and an update...

[rockinhamburger]

I honestly have no idea who reads my journal anymore, and because my posts are so irregular I'm not really sure there'll be any interest in the following, but I do think it sounds like fun, so!

The Commentary Meme: I will write a DVD commentary for any of the fics I've written that you want to ask about. I'll tell you what the writing process was like, about alternate possibilities for the storylines and characters, things that happen in the background -- the stuff that didn't make it into the story, and anything else you might be curious about. Hit me up!

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(Also, for those who might be wondering although the squeamish should probably skip this, my dad had his left foot amputated last week. This is not as tragic as it might seem, though. Apparently my dad's been considering it for over a year and trying to get accustomed to the idea. By the time the subject came up with his doctors on Thursday, he was unwavering in his agreement to do it. The surgery went well, and his doctors say he can be slotted in for rehab and fitted for a prosthesis in the next six to eight weeks as he heals up. He's obviously in some pain, but they're trying to control it with pain and nerve meds [that ghost limb thing people talk about? Totally true; my dad feels itchy where his toes should be, which is super creepy]. Things are still a little all over over the place for the moment, but I can see the horizon in the distance.)

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Ugh, time to brave a snowstorm in order to hand in an assignment. Really wish class had been cancelled.

But Darren Criss' appearance on Ellen has cheered me. Check it out, he sings a song he wrote for her. It is adorable, and he looks amazing, and it's just fantastic!


♥ to all of you!

Comments

[iamashamed.livejournal.com]

I still read bb.

and sorry to hear about your dad, hon.

[rockinhamburger.livejournal.com]

Thank you, bb! ♥

[ggjunkie33.livejournal.com]

I still read! I just don't always have time to comment, lol. Stupid school. (This quarter is kind of killing me, though luckily it seems to have slowed down a bit for now. We'll see if it sticks)

Anyways, if you don't mind, I'd love to hear about the writing process & such for Beside You? I love that one of yours especially <3

Hope your Dad is doing well (and you too, of course)!

[rockinhamburger.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry, bb! I never have time to catch up on my flist and read stuff properly, let alone comment!

Oooh, Beside You. My baby.

It started with a prompt over at the ai_kinkmeme. The prompt asked for a high school AU where Adam's the star quarterback of the school and Kris is the quiet music kid; they get paired for a project, of course, and they become fast friends. I loved the idea, and then I heard about the Kradam Bigbang, and another I had for it kind of fizzled out, so I took on the high school AU prompt and started writing.

I remember it started out in the past tense. I got about 5000 words in before I realized I was stopping myself from writing in present tense, so I went back and reworked it.

In the initial planning stages, I had the idea that Adam and Kris' sudden friendship sparked rumours about them. That scene where Adam confronts his football teammates on their offensive locker room talk was going to be about accusations of Adam being gay. Sick and tired of keeping it inside, Adam was originally going to come out. The story was going to be much more about his sexual identity crisis, and the fallout of coming out. Then I watched this video on YouTube about media representations of coming out, specially how it tends to be a plot device and almost always dramatic and accompanied by negative repercussions. A few days after a saw the video, I was out for a walk -- walks are really good for my writing process -- and the video came back to me, and I realized I didn't want the story to be about Adam's sexuality, at least not exclusively. I decided a better story would be Adam's struggle with his father's plans for his future and the fact that he couldn't get them to jibe with his own. I decided I was more interested in exploring his decision to pursue a music career. I decided his sexuality would be a subplot; his feelings for Kris and his status as star quarterback would be the main drive of his inner conflict instead.

After that, the story just sort of wrote itself. I wrote the penultimate Adam/Kris showdown (when they've finished their project and they have that moment of miscommunication) by hand, in a Chinese restaurant while eating general tao chicken. I still have that rough draft somewhere; the sheets are filled with cross-outs and carrots to add words and sentences, and the margins are full of scrawled sentences.

I was going to write an Epilogue. It was going to take place a few years down the road, with Adam and Kris living together in LA. I scrapped it, though, because I ultimately felt the story was about their journey toward each other and Adam's gained clarity of vision.

I have a few deleted scenes on my hard drive. A prom ficlet, and a scene from Adam's first year in LA, where his new roommate (Danny, lol) finds out Adam has a boyfriends and goes into full-blown gay panic until Adam talks him down with logic.

I have a surprising amount to say about this story, apparently! I hope that's enlightening enough? Feel free to ask more questions if you want :)

Thanks for the well wishes regarding my dad. He's doing a lot better, thankfully.

How've you been?

[valentina-says.livejournal.com]

I'm actually glad your dad went through with it — I have no doubt he'll be a pro at walking with his prosthesis in no time. I'm still sending happy thoughts your way, though, because I love you. <3