Fic Talk > Featured Story of the Month
Featured story of the month for August 2007 - By My Side by Julie
mare:
okay so my first Oprah question to you, What made you decide to write this sequel and tell us about your inspiration behind Clare.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: mare on August 03, 2007, 05:13:29 PM ---okay so my first Oprah question to you, What made you decide to write this sequel and tell us about your inspiration behind Clare.
--- End quote ---
Yay Oprah questions! :D
I hadn't planned on writing a sequel to Broken because at first, I didn't think it needed one. I had a beginning, middle, and end, told in three parts, just the way I had planned, and I felt like the story I wanted to tell was told.
But really, only one part of the story was told. Broken's focus was on Nick's battle with cancer, and the relationship with Claire that came out of it was just a subplot, even though it became more important as the story went on. It was important for me to not have them get together until the very end because I didn't want it to be "a romance." That wasn't the point.
But then, once they DID get together, I realized there was still plenty more story to tell. These two characters have just started a relationship born out of shared misery, basically LOL - but beyond that, what else do they have in common? Is that really enough to keep these two different people with very different lives together? That was the general premise of By My Side, to focus on their relationship in the aftermath of the stuff that happened in Broken. Of course, I was wary of the idea of writing a story that ONLY focuses on the romance, so I threw in some subplots, and there's built-in drama and angst already, and that's how the whole idea came about.
As for Claire... I liked the idea of Nick finding a confidant and companion in someone who had been/was going through the same thing he was. Someone who would understand him on a deeper level than even the guys would because she could relate. And of course, because I'm a hopeless romantic at heart, it had to be a girl, but I wanted them to have a good solid friendship before it developed into anything more than that. So my goal was to create a female character who is kind of a guy's girl - the kind of girl guys want to be friends with. Outgoing, good sense of humor, casual, not overly girly, not afraid to get dirty, etc. I wanted her to be strong and tough, yet not unrealisticall y so... I remember thinking she needed to get emotional when the really bad stuff happened because that's just what you'd expect a person in her place to do, and I think she does. She's a character I'm proud of, because she really did turn out to be the way I wanted her, for the most part, in Broken. And her character develops further in BMS, maybe not in ways that everyone likes, but she does change.
mare:
So my next question is, and i'm not positive about this one because I have not read this story yet, but what made you decide to not have Nick and Claire together since one of the reasons you wrote this was to focus on their relationship. Because if i'm not mistaken she is with someone else in this story isn't she?
And I know how meticulously you researched your information for Broken, tell us your process behind that. What made you decide on leg amputation?
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: mare on August 07, 2007, 06:37:05 PM ---So my next question is, and i'm not positive about this one because I have not read this story yet, but what made you decide to not have Nick and Claire together since one of the reasons you wrote this was to focus on their relationship. Because if i'm not mistaken she is with someone else in this story isn't she?
--- End quote ---
Well, they start out together... but you can't have a good story without conflict, and since the main storyline focuses on their relationship, that couldn't be without conflict either. And I think it's realistic conflict, born out of the fact that you have two people with very different backgrounds and lives, brought together by a shared experience. Once that experience is over, what's left? Is it real love, or is it just a mix of empathy and lust? They do break up in the story, but you have to read to understand why. The simple answer from me is that they had to have a conflicted relationship in order for me to have a good story. :)
--- Quote from: mare on August 07, 2007, 06:37:05 PM ---And I know how meticulously you researched your information for Broken, tell us your process behind that. What made you decide on leg amputation?
--- End quote ---
I knew I wanted to give the "cancer story" another try, but do it realistically, which meant researching. I did most of my research online. For the basic physical aspect of it, I used a lot of medical sites to get my facts straight, and blogs and other fiction books I've read (mostly Lurlene McDaniel) helped me with the emotional aspect of it.
My first step was to decide what kind of cancer... I wanted to do one that hadn't been done before, by me or anyone else, and bone cancer was one that I hadn't seen in a fanfic before. I was kinda weighing my options, thinking where I could go with that, and the thought occurred to me that hm, if I gave him bone cancer, I could have him lose a limb... And then I laughed at myself and was like, "Haha, right, you could never do that." And that's exactly why I decided to do it, cause I knew it would be a challenge for me, and it would have some shock value with the readers, and it would be an interesting twist. I had a lot of doubt about it, but looking back, it was absolutely the right decision to make for the story.
MellzBellz:
Congratulation s Julie! You know I've said it to you a millon times but Broken and By My Side are clearly like two of the most brillant fan fics I've ever read. I'm not usually on for Nick with cancer stories, but this really suckered me in, probably because of the realistic aspect you tried to keep up. I have to admit I was VERY wary beginning Broken especially since the story starts out with Nick dating a stripper who cheated on him with Justin Timberlake but once the story REALLY gets rolling I forgot all about that.
I particulary love BMS though cuz it really is MY kind of story. Like you Julie, I do like to read romance, but complicated romances. Not where everything falls into place perfectly. I love the added drama and angst, so BMS just blew me away. There were so many great issues between Nick and Claire that you tackled (Claire being the first girl he was intimate with after losing his leg, their completely different lifestyles, their ongoing health problems even after battling cancer etc) I also LOVED LOVED LOVED the whole complication of the Nick/Laureen/ Claire/ Jamie plot. In a way you REALLY want Nick to get back with Claire, but I also liked him w/ Laureen too and yea it was just done really well. The only one I had no sympathy for was Jamie of course, but only cuz he's such a jerk.
I highly reccomend BMS to anyone who loves angsty drama-romances. This story has been a HUGE inspiration to me and actually has given me a lot of awesome ieas for my sequel to UMS that have got me really excited to begin writing it!
Oh yea... Side note. I used to love Lurlene McDaniels books LOl. Funny fact, but there's actually one where the girl gets diabetes (I don't remember the title) but she's a ballet dancer and her name is Rachel. Amyway she has a crush on this guy in school and guess what his name is? Dun dun dun.... Nick Carter!!! LOL How funny is that?
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