Author’s Note #2
Hopefully you have finished the story
by now. If not, DON’T READ THIS! SPOILERS!!!
GO BACK NOW!!! Hehe.
Okay, now that that’s over…
I got slammed once for having too many
rambly author’s notes in the story itself, so I’m going to try to take at least
some of them out and write one big long rambly AN to be read at the end of the
story instead. Yay! :) LOL.
Normally I don’t take the time to
write big author’s notes like this after finishing a story, but Broken is my
baby, and in my mind, it’s different from my other stories. Maybe it’s because it’s so much longer or
because I spent so much more of my time on it.
Maybe it’s because, to me, it’s sort of a turning point in my
writing. I think my writing style
changed with this story… not intentionally, but it did. And for the better, I would hope. Writing this story has been a great
experience for me, and I know that it has helped me grow as an author. I had a lot of “firsts” in here – my first
time outlining an entire story, my first story over 100 chapters (150!), my
first story over 500 pages (557!), my first time writing a good female character,
etc. This is also the first story I really
spent a LOT of time researching for.
I’ve done minor research for stories before – Code Blue especially – but
never like what I did with this one.
I’ve gotten a lot more anal with my writing because of Broken (and I’m
not sure that’s a good thing LOL). I
know that despite all my research, I still have plenty of mistakes, both
medical and otherwise, but as a whole, I feel the research paid off, and the
“realism” is part of what hopefully made this story unique from most other
“cancer stories.”
Speaking of “cancer stories,” I have
to acknowledge the inspiration for this story – the “Swollen Issues” series by
Jenna and Swenglish. I feel bad for not
posting a link to that series here before because I should have been plugging
them like crazy all along. Here is their
link: http://www.angelfire.com/band2/backstreetfics/stories.html I started reading the first Swollen Issues story
whenever it was first posted… I’m thinking sometime in 2001? Anyway, I really liked it, but while it was
in progress, I somehow lost track of it and re-discovered it months later, when
it had been completed. I re-read it and
went on to the sequel, SI2, which I believe was also finished at the time. And that’s the one that really got me – when
I read it in January 2003, I was ADDICTED!
Seriously, it was one of those things where I would go to that site
multiple times each day to see if it had been updated by some miracle – and I
was on both Jenna and Swenglish’s mailing lists too! Anyway, they are the ones who took the
“cancer story” to the next level. That
series is very well-written, well-researched, informative, and realistic, not
to mention emotional. Every chapter had
me just wanting to throw my arms around poor Nick and hold him tight. And it inspired me so much that I was like,
“Wow… if only I could write something that good that would evoke that kind of
emotion in people.” And so of course,
since I’m no master at coming up with original ideas, the cancer plot came into
my head. What if I tried to write one
too? Well, I’d already written one
cancer story, a Brian one – “Don’t Wanna Lose You Now.” So I really thought it was stupid to try
another one, but I’d been wanting to get back to my “roots” a little and write
another medicalish drama/tearjerker, and this was just the kind of story plot I
love. So… I decided to give it a try. At the beginning, I was not even sure I would
keep the story going. I trashed the
first beginning I wrote and started a second one… which is what got posted on
Nick’s 23rd birthday. Even
then, I was not sure if posting it was a good idea, but I acted on impulse and
did… and the rest of the story goes from there.
Beyond my wildest dreams, the story that I wasn’t sure I would even be
able to continue ended up being by far my longest and most successful novel
yet.
And also beyond my wildest dreams,
people accepted it. People liked
it. I purposely took a long time in
developing the storyline at the beginning because I didn’t want to reveal the
“cancer story” plot too early on – I was afraid that would scare people
away. Because face it, it’s not the most
original plot in the world. But to my
delight, people took to it, and as the story went on, I started to get more
feedback. When it came time to do what I
did in Chapter 106, I was scared I was going to turn a lot of people off and
lose readers. And I did lose a few. But for the most part, people were quite
accepting of it. Thank you guys for
that. :) Writing about that has been
probably the biggest challenge I’ve faced with writing fanfiction, and without
your support, I don’t know that I would have gotten through it all. Looking back, I still don’t know whether
that was a good decision on my part or not, but in my own defense, it did add
some originality to the story, and it was a great challenge for me, and hey, I
learned A LOT (probably more than I would ever want to know LOL). So… yeah. =P
This story was written during a
momentous period of my life. When I
started the story, I was a seventeen-year-old high school senior. Over the course of the story, I graduated
high school and went off to college, where I am now three quarters of the way
through my freshman year. It just so
happened that I finished Part II (Chapter 100) right before I moved away to
school, hence the emotional, long, rambly author’s note that I put at the end
of that chapter. It was also a momentous
time for my country (the U.S.), what with the war in Iraq and everything. I know there’s at least one reference to that
in the story.
There’s also references to lots of
other things in the story, and I’m sure I had most of you going “huh?” at
certain parts that probably seemed really bizarre or random. I go through little phases with my writing,
and one phase I went through with this story (and there were many – the
parentheses, the metaphors, the song lyrics, etc.) was slipping inside jokes and
stuff into my writing that I was hoping my friends would catch. So a lot of the parts that made you wonder
probably made sense to at least one person reading the story. I’m not TOTALLY random. You’ll also find homages to ER and Harry
Potter and little slams on everyone from Paris Hilton to Britney Spears to
other people that I don’t like. And of
course, there’s plenty of props to people I DO like – chances are, if you sent
me regular feedback throughout the course of the story, you’re in there somehow,
most likely as part of the hospital staff.
And I know there are a few of you who started sending feedback near the
end of the story, and I ran out of places to put you in. I apologize for that, but I promise I’ll get
you into the sequel. :)
So on that note, I owe a few people
some thank-you’s. Without all the
support from the following people, who knows what Broken would have turned out
like or even if it would have gotten finished.
So thank you!!!
Props to:
Bianca – my “Unofficial Beta Reader,”
who reads my chapters before anyone else and offers me reassurance. Love ya, girlie! b^__^d
Susan – the Dr. Evil to my Mini Me,
who tells it like it is and shows me perspectives I wouldn’t have otherwise
seen. Thanks for reading and sending
feedback that was more than “great chapter!”
Kaz – for your constant interest and
support. Thanks for everything!
Mare – for sending feedback after
every update, keeping things positive, and lifting me up when I needed it
Carrie – this story exists because of
YOU! Thanks so much for all your
wonderful feedback (I’m honored!) and for giving me medical advice when I
needed it.
Swenglish – this story also exists
because of YOU! You were the first of
the Swollen Duo to send me feedback, and to say I was flattered and thrilled is
an understatement. Thanks!
Laureen – your feedback always puts a
huge smile on my face. Thanks for all
your enthusiasm and for being my BNCS!!
Kat – I can always count on you for
regular feedback, and I really appreciate all your support. Thanks, girl! :)
Jen – the original Bsb tearjerker
writer (at least in my mind) – thanks for your inspiration and feedback! And as far as I know, you were the first to
do some LC – you go, girl! lol.
Nichole – you’ve been sending me
feedback for longer than anyone on this list, and I know your life has been
completely crazy lately, but thanks for reading anyway! You’ll always be my original #1 fan! Hehe.
Also, big thanks to:
Diana
Renee
Kathy
Sharon
Mersey
Veronica
Carey
Brenda
Angie
Maya
Malee
Gustavo
Chava
And anyone else who has read the
story. I know there are probably a few
people who deserve mentioning that I have overlooked, and I apologize for that
– I got this list together in a hurry, and I probably missed some people, so
sorry! But seriously, thank you for
reading the story and supporting me along the way; I really appreciate it!!!
Now THAT is what I call an Author’s
Note! =D
~Julie
3/9/04