Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on August 01, 2008, 09:04:37 AM
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I know this is Howie's month but this is a Nick centered story. Sorry Howie :( lol
Anyway, a lot of people recommended this story as one to be discussed so here it is!
Feel free to post your comments and questions about this story in here as the month goes by and i'm sure Sakabelle will be more than happy to answer questions for you!
Hope you enjoy!
Here's the link to the story: http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8805
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Here's a survey for you to fill out! lol
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?
6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)
7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
8 ) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol
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Yay! This is super exciting :) Thanks for choosing me (and In Pieces) as featured author/story for this month!
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
Something that no one else knows? There's a lot of things haha, there's one big thing, but it's a big spoiler for the end, so I won't say what it is, except for the fact that the ending is totally opposite from what I originally planned it out to be. Oh, also when I was writing this story I absolutely had to have a bottle of that Arizona Iced Tea to drink. I don't know why, but before I sat down to write I would always go down to the corner store to get one, haha. That's not really about the story.. but maybe all the sugar/caffeine is what helped me churn out updates so quickly :P
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
About six weeks, no jokes. It's not too long of a story, but I was on a major update roll, and this story wrote itself very very easily. I remember churning out a chapter every couple of days. Those were the days lol
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
Hmm...
Back in 2001, Ashleigh and Nick had a fling, leaving her wanting more. When the two cross paths once again during the Unbreakable tour, will she fall back into his arms, or will she be able to get over him once and for all?
4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
Well I would obviously have Nick star as himself.. for Ashleigh I think I would have Reese Witherspoon because she just strikes me as quite innocent and sweet but with a little bit of an edge (just a little bit) and for Joey, maybe Eliza Dushku or someone like that.
5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?
I never seriously thought of giving it up, but a struggled a bit with the ending and wasn't sure what to do with it. But I was fairly motivated with this story, (mostly because it was my first one to get a lot of reviews) so I never seriously thought of giving it up.
6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)
This was the first story I ever actually outlined. The reason for that is it's really two separate stories - the story of Nick and Ashleigh's past, and the story of when they meet up again in the present. Each chapter alternates, and the events somewhat parallel each other. In order to accomplish that, I had to outline every chapter first to make sure it matched up. This because an issue when I changed my ending, because I had to add more chapters to the present so some of the past chapters are a bit flat and full of filler. But hopefully what I added to the present made up for the lack of excitement in the past.
7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
That's a toughie! I love all my characters in this story... I think I'm going to give you two separate answers. In the past scenes, my favourite character was Ashleigh. She was just so teeny and hilarious to write. She was completely over the top, so that made her a lot of fun. I was worried she'd come off as unbelievable, but it seemed to work.
For the present, my favourite character is probably Nick. He was incredibly sweet and showed a lot of growth and maturity from the past (not that Ashleigh didn't, but Nick.. more so.) So yeah, I'd go with him.
8 ) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
Can I give you two answers again? Well I'm going to :P
For the past, it would probably have to be Nick. He was just such an oblivious douchebag. Ashleigh was clearly in love with him and he was pretty much just using her so he wouldn't have to deal with his own issues. It annoyed the hell out of me to have to write him like that, but it was necessary. Plus, if he hadn't been a jerk in the past, there really would be no story for the present :P
In the present, my least favourite is Matt, Ashleigh's jerkface fiance. He treats her like crap, and is a real indecisive controlling jerk. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to write his scenes, particularly his last one :D
9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
Yep, they're all there! And they all served an important purpose, too. Brian and Kevin of course had their wives, making Nick jealous, which caused him to pick up Ashleigh in the first place. AJ and Howie were around to keep Joey company while Ashleigh went off gallivanting with Nick. AJ was also around to offer Nick advice in the present, when he does meet up with Ashleigh again.
10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol
Well, if you liked this one I'd hope that you'd check out the sequel to it called My Happy Ending. It's a lot sadder than In Pieces, but I felt like I did a much better job with it. It develops the characters a lot more, and gives you more insight to their personalities now. Plus the plot is a bit better since I didn't have to alternate between two points in time :)
Yay! I'm so excited about this! I hope some of you take time to read this story this month, it's the first one that I finished here on AC, the first one to get a rather large readership, and I kind of love it a lot.
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Congrats Saka! :)
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Congratulations. :)
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YAY! Congrats, hun!
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Awww, congrats Saka! ;D I said in my thread that I need to read something of yours and this presents me with the perfect opportunity. So I give you my promise right now that I will have read IP in it's entirety before we meet up later this month and I will leave ya some reviews too!
So, question...how did you come up with the idea for this story? I know you said you couldn't write it without drinking your Arizona Iced Tea. Did that have something to do with it? LoL. Were you just sitting around one day drinking your Arizona and it was like *POOF!* and the idea just popped into your head?
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Another question for you, what made you choose Nick as the main character?
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Awww, congrats Saka! ;D I said in my thread that I need to read something of yours and this presents me with the perfect opportunity. So I give you my promise right now that I will have read IP in it's entirety before we meet up later this month and I will leave ya some reviews too!
Aw thanks hun! I hope you enjoy it :) And I will try to get to reading ITNC as well!
So, question...how did you come up with the idea for this story? I know you said you couldn't write it without drinking your Arizona Iced Tea. Did that have something to do with it? LoL. Were you just sitting around one day drinking your Arizona and it was like *POOF!* and the idea just popped into your head?
It was sort of weird how I came up with the idea, actually. It just randomly popped into my head as I was walking to school, coincidentally, listening to the song "In Pieces" and I toyed with the idea a bit. Each time I listened to the song I'd play with another scene in my head, the whole heartbreak theme of the song was easy, and that part came quickly. But some lyrics game me specific parts such as:
I don't wanna be somewhere where you can watch me as I breathe
sort of gave me the idea for her to go to a concert, front row, and having Nick see her. I can still picture that vividly in my mind, her standing there uncomfortably, at a concert she really doesn't want to be at, and Nick glancing at her...
There are a couple more examples but they are a little spoilerific lol. So I will just say that the song wrote the story, per se. You know what I mean? I molded it around my interpretation of the song :)
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Another question for you, what made you choose Nick as the main character?
Nick's always been my favourite, and I usually only write about him, so that part was easy. But it also seemed to fit him. He has a lot of issues in this story, mostly feeling left out because Brian and Kevin are now married so he tries to seek out the same kind of companionship with Ashleigh. Of course he goes about it in completely the wrong way, because he's so young and still isn't sure what he wants. Even though Nick is my favourite, because of the commitment issues he has and because of how stubborn he is, I don't think it would have worked with any of the other guys.
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Oh my God, I am a horrible human being. I haven't been on here in... months. Damn summer school and work! One more week and I'll be on here again much more.
Steph.... CONGRATS! I'm so happy for you! You totally deserve this :) In Pieces is what got me hooked on you lol It's a wonderful story written by a wonderful author.
P.S. I hope you're doing well.
P.P.S. *mass amounts of hugs* Muuuuuah!
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Congratulation s!!!
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I had no idea Nick was your favorite. For some reason I thought AJ was your favorite lol
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Congratulation s, Steph.
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Aw thanks you guys for all the congrats :)
Dani, I'm glad to see you on here again! I've missed you! *muah*
Mare, you probably thought AJ was my favourite because I'm so frequent in the AJ gals thread :P and I'm also writing on the AJ collab. He is a very close second to Nickers :)
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I bet you are correct about that lol
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A few more questions for you to think about:
What was your favofite scene to write?
Do you have a favorite line?
What chapter did you struggle withthe most?
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What was your favofite scene to write?
I have a few favourite scenes. I really liked writing when she and Nick went out to dinner that first time they met up again. It was really fun to portray them in such a different way than I had in the past chapters. Though I also really enjoyed writing the part where Ashleigh and Joey run into Nick for the first time at the club. It was really amusing for me to write her reaction, because of course she's a fan, so she's already freaked about meeting him, much less having him hit on her and try to take her back to his hotel room, lol.
Do you have a favorite line?
I actually do! It's in chapter 24 (so close to the end) when Ashleigh is finally telling Matt everything that's been going on with Nick. Of course he doesn't believe her and tells her that she's nuts. She says:
"I'm not f***ing crazy! I am, however, f***ing Nick Carter!" lol so yes that has always been my favourite line in the story.
What chapter did you struggle withthe most?
Chapter 5, when they sleep together for the first time. It was hard because first of all I hate writing sex scenes, but it was neccecary for this story since so much (or pretty much all) of Ashleigh and Nick's relationship in the past was based on the physical stuff. So I hate writing visuals, plus I had to make it as not intimate as possible so that was a challenge. I still don't really like how that chapter turned out, but I'm not about to go back and rewrite it so it's good enough haha
Weirdly enough, I also had some trouble with the chapter where Ashleigh goes to visit Nick in Florida. The scene with the two of them on the boat did not come out at all how I had originally pictured it, but it seemed to fit so I kept it how it is. But Nick was supposed to be a lot more smooth... instead he kind of stumbled over his words and didn't know what to say. I guess that worked better though because Nick isn't really supposed to be a smooth guy in this situation, he's supposed to not really know what to do, and to be somewhat vulnerable. Does that make sense? The point was that he and Ashleigh have (sort of) switched places. The first time they were together, he held all the control. The second time, every major decision in the relationship is hers.
Anymore questions for me? Also if you guys have questions about My Happy Ending (the sequel) I'm okay with that too :)
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lmao great line! Of course Nick would say F***
and I feel you on sex scenes. I don't think I could ever write a realistic sex scene. They seem to be very complicated to write.
And yes, even though I am Oprah, feel free everyone else ot jump in an ask questions.
I'm trying to think of some more for you.
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and I feel you on sex scenes. I don't think I could ever write a realistic sex scene. They seem to be very complicated to write.
It's complicated and I just feel so, so awkward writing them. It's like... this is a very private moment for this couple, and I'm just displaying it for the world to see! lol it takes me a really long time to write one. I usually end up staring blankly at the computer screen for quite some time before I actually write anything. In the new story I'm writing there's going to be another one, which is going to be worse because it's in first person :-\ So we'll see how that goes haha.
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LMAO eek first person sex scene. You could always just cue music and have the readers envision the rest.
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LOL I might do that. Fade to black is always a good thing!
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LOL yes, the popular *please stand by while we have sex*
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Urm...I am coming in this thread at a bit of an odd moment, aren't I?
lmao...anyways, I was wanting to say congrats on the whole story of the month thing. I really liked this story, but you already knew that!
So yeah...YAY STEPHIE!
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Thanks Kristal!! :-*
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Today I just realized how appropriate it this that this story is featured in August of 2008 because the majority of the story (the present parts anyway) takes place in August of 2008! I just thought I'd share that random fact with you all :D
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LOL weirdness! *cues Twilight Zone music*
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oooOOOOOoooo! Yay for random facts! ;)
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Okay i'm back with a few more questions for you
How much of yourself did you put into your characters if any?
What do you think is the most dramatic moment in your story?
Which of your characters would you consider the comic relief?
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Aww there are only a few more days left of Saka's month. I'm not sure if she even has been in this thread but if there is anyone else who has a question for her, now would probably be a good time lol
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Holy crap I did not even notice the new questions lol
How much of yourself did you put into your characters if any?
Ashleigh is an exaggerated version of myself when I was a young, lame teenybopper. I really did think I was going to marry Nick Carter... though I never went to the extremes she did to get him and I certainly was never a fling of his. But she does have a lot of my passion and of course she's got my love for the Backstreet Boys and 90s pop music.
What do you think is the most dramatic moment in your story?
The most dramatic moment is easily when *spoiler alert* Ashleigh finally decides to break up with Matt and he totally blows up at her. It's not exactly the most tense moment, and it's actually pretty hilarious because he's really freaking psycho, but it's definitely pretty dramatic.
Which of your characters would you consider the comic relief?
That's difficult, I think they all provided comic releif at some point or another, and Ashleigh herself was just so over the top in the past that she was very comical on her own. (There's a fantasy of hers that is just so exaggerated and amusing I was giggling the entire time I was writing it.)
That being said, much comic releif wasn't needed because if a scene got too tense or the characters got too dramatic, we just flipped back to the past or present. I tried to have drama going on at opposite times so that it wasn't too overwhelming. That's where outlining really helped me a lot. At the time something bad was happening in the present, I wanted there to be something good happening in the past and vice versa so it was parallel.
If anyone has any questions for me I'll be happy to answer them :) Thanks for choosing me as featured author, I really was shocked to see that on the first day... and the entire time I was in Minneapolis this summer I annoyed Randy and Kellen with "You know at this time, right over THERE such and such is happening with Ashleigh and Nick" because as luck would have it, we ended up being in the city at the same time to story took place.
I tried to get them to go for sushi at Fuji-Ya on Sunday (like Nick and Ashleigh do) but they didn't want to go. :P And I think they got really sick of me pointing out the Crowne Plaza haha