Fic Talk > Featured Story of the Month

FS for January: Something Beautiful by Pengi

(1/7) > >>

mare:
With 2011 comes a new working of the featured story. This time, I'm picking an author and they will choose which story they would like to discuss. That means that to be picked, you have to be active on the forum, otherwise I will have no contact with you.
 
We start the year off with Pengi and a story that many of you fell in love with this summer. It was all everyone was talking about on Twitter and the fanfic related message boards. Her story Something Beautiful touched everyone that read it and it ended up winning a Felix for Best Drama and Best Team/Couple
 
Pengi also was runner up as Best author. Congrats to her!!
 
Hannah will be here this entire month to answer your questions and comment on various chapters etc...
 
Hope you enjoy the story:
 
Something Beautiful
 
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10154
 
There are 63 chapters to Something Beautiful so if you are reading it or re-reading let's say this first week we should tackle
 
Chapters 1 - 15.
 
If you'd like to comment on the first 15 chapters or have questions for Hannah about those first 15 chapters, post them this week!

I will be back later with a few questions for Hannah.

Happy New Year!! and enjoy!!

:)
 

mare:
So what are some of your thoughts about the first fifteen chapters of this story?

Hannah: My focus during the first 15 chapters was to set up the story and get the readers attached to the characters in specific ways. I wanted the readers to know Nick and Brian had a secret and that Amanda wanted to know what it was.

The hardest part of the beginning was trying to weave the reactions and conversations about the secret into the story without giving away what the secret was just yet. That had to come directly from Brian himself in a later chapter or it would've lost it's punch. It was really tempting a couple times to reveal it a different way, so I struggled with staying focused on keeping it a secret until that magic time when Brian could reveal it himself.

When I started this story, I knew everything about the storyline except the stops they were going to make on their trip. I thought those up as I went along to each stop. I guess Nick didn't want to tell ME all the stops, either, he kept them a secret until it was time to get the characters there! LOL

When you wrote Amanda, did you intend oon her being a villian or did you always have other intentions for her?

Hannah: Amanda was ALWAYS going to turn out the way she did. She wasn't intended to be a villain at any point - even when she technically WAS being the villain. Amanda's identity as a reporter was only her motivation for being with the Boys until a certain point. Like anyone who really watches and gets to know these Boys, Amanda quickly fell for them and lost vision for her story. Amanda's position was a hard one to be in when you really break her apart and analyze her (which the more you get to know her the more you'll see her rock-and-a-hard-place position).

She fell for Brian first. The whole thing in the last couple chapters here with Piper and the eagle were key elements that made her feel for Brian faster than she felt for Nick. The relationship with Nick was developing from the very start of the story, she's always felt something for him but she didn't realize it until - well, she hasn't yet as of now. Of course now she's only just realizing it with Brian.

I think the reason she realized it faster with Brian was because Brian was more aware of her struggling - though he didn't know what the struggle was. Nick's perception of it was clouded by his concern for Brian, so he was less aware of something bothering Amanda than he normally would've been. Brian also had that personality in this story that drew people to him emotionally. He drew Amanda - the "real" Amanda - out of the persona of Pop Stuff Online reporter to being just Amanda.

But I knew from Day One where Amanda's character stood and what she was going to do with herself throughout the story.

What gave you the inspiration for this story?

Hannah: The story was a long time developing in my mind. It initially was inspired by a journal entry I wrote in January of 2008, when my mom was in the hospital just before she died of Leukemia.

I was very close to her and I was so scared of losing her, I was trying to predict my reactions or to plan a way to escape it. My plan was to drive to visit my friend in Texas. I'd decided if my mom died I was going to get in my car and drive and drive and drive. Driving always made me feel better.
When she actually died, I didn't follow through with my plan, and - well, I wished I had. So instead of doing it, I wrote about it. I wrote stories about driving to escape that. And slowly over the course of time the stories developed and morphed their way into being a road trip like the one Nick planned for the purpose that the Boys had for going, and I'd been playing with the idea of a paparazzi in disguise being a love interest in a fan fic story for a LONG time... and voila. The plot was born.

Why did you chose Brian and Nick as the main guys?

I chose Nick and Brian because they've always been my favorites. But also because they're close in real life. In my perception -and IDK if this is real or not, but from what I've seen in interviews and concerts and meet and greets and everything- the Boys kind of pair off naturally. Nick and Brian, AJ and Howie. Kevin was kind of the dad overlording the whole thing.
But Nick and Brian go together - they always have, that's why they're Frick and Frack, right? So when it came time to write this story, I knew Brian had to be the main character just because of the storyline itself. It wouldn't have worked as well with any other combination of the Boys...
Eventually I may write a similar story about other combinations of the Boys, but this story was an exploration of a relationship, and Brian and Nick's relationship has always been endeared by fans.

Plus imagine being Amanda in this situation? Holy HEATWAVE Batman! Surrounded by sexysexy boys! OMG!!  Just saying.

RokofAges75:
Aww, I LOVE "Something Beautiful," Hannah, and it was interesting to read your answers to Mare's questions.  I'm so sorry about your mom.  I'm sure she would be proud if she knew the impact she had on inspiring you to write this story, even though it's a sad one.

Rose:
Awwww this story Hannah, was the first in a long time to make me cry. And that says something. I adored this story, and while the inspiration was sad, the product of it was beautiful. :)

Pengi:
Awe, thanks you guys. It means a lot that you enjoyed the story (even the tears, Rose!! LOL). It's my favorite story that I've written on AC, that's why I chose it as my featured story.

I'm planning on adapting it to be an original fiction.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page