What Should My Next Story Be?

This is an updated version of the former page that held this poll. In the summer of 2004, when my story “By My Side” was only a few months old, I posted six story ideas and asked my readers to vote on which sounded best for me to write after I finished BMS.

I guess I didn’t expect to still be writing BMS two years later, in the summer of 2006 LOL. But it’s almost fall now, and yes, I’m STLL not done with BMS, and in the meantime, I’ve thought more about those six story ideas, revamped some of them, and come to some conclusions about which ones I would actually consider writing next and which ones should be postponed.

Let me preface this by saying that reader input is important to me; otherwise, I wouldn’t bother putting up polls. I want to write stories that people want to read – it makes it more fun for me to know that other people enjoy my fics. At the same time, though, I need to write something that I’m going to be happy writing.

That said, there was one story idea that was constantly ahead of the others in the old poll, the sixth idea, tentatively titled “Divergence.” It was to be a Brian AU romance/drama. Out of all the story ideas I had posted, that was probably the vaguest one I had, and I actually think I made it sound better in the blurb I posted about it than the idea itself actually is/was. Although this idea seemed to be the most popular among readers, I don’t think it’s one that I will use for my next story, mainly because I think it would be a story better written when I’m a little older, with more life experience. I might still write it at some point… just probably not next.

I’ve narrowed my considerations down to two ideas that I’ve been toying with. I like both of them, for different reasons, but as of now, I can’t decide which one I want to focus on developing while I’m finishing BMS. So, I’m going to give you some brief info about both of them and let you vote on which one sounds more appealing to you.

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Idea #1 (tentatively titled “Once Upon a Dream”)

This is the oldest of all my story ideas that haven’t yet been written; I’ve been thinking about this one for over five years now LOL. The last time I posted anything about it, it was going to be an AJ story. Since then, I have revamped the entire idea, and it’s now a BRIAN story, as well as an AU. It has a reincarnation theme and will consist of two different stories, one taking place in the present and one taking place in the past, that intertwine. Although it will be an AU, the other Boys will be in it (just not as “The Backstreet Boys”), and AJ in particular will also have a big role (at least as of now, he will.) The genre will be romance/drama with a hint of suspense.

To summarize…

Main Bsb: Brian (with the other guys in it as well)

Genre: Romance/Drama/Suspense; AU

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Idea #2 (very tentatively titled “Austere Refuge”)

This is probably my most original of the six ideas I posted last time. It will be a “Backstreet” fic, not an AU, and all of the guys will have roles in it, although the main storyline will revolve around Nick. As of now, it’s going to take place in the earlier years of Bsb, probably around the Millennium era. It will be a suspense/drama, possibly with a hint of romance (as a subplot). The original blurb/tagline for it I posted was this: Something terrible has happened to one of the guys, and Nick blames himself. Driven by fear and his own guilt, he flees…

To summarize…

Main Bsb: Nick (with the other guys in it as well, more so than in Idea #1)

Genre: Suspense/Drama/Romance

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My thoughts:

I think either of these stories could be interesting, and I chose them over the other ideas because I not only thought the storylines were better, but also because I wanted my next story to be something different from what I’ve been writing, which is Nick angst/drama/romance. I like “Once Upon a Dream” because it would give me a chance to write another Brian story. I like “Austere Refuge” because it would give me a chance to write another suspense and a story that focuses on all five guys more (even though it would star Nick again.)

I don’t write or read many AUs because, honestly, I would much rather read about the BACKSTREET BOYS than just five guys with the same names who live totally different lives. However, I have read and enjoyed some really great AUs, and I’ve been wanting to experiment more with that genre. The main reason for that is that I have a goal to one day write a “real” novel and see about getting it published. AUs are especially good practice for that because many of them COULD be “real” novels and not fanfics just by changing names, since “The Backstreet Boys” as a music group don’t exist in them. So at some point, I would really like to write an AU that I feel proud of and might want to keep around for future use, if you know what I mean. Also, writing an AU makes the issue of how to handle Kevin’s leaving the group in a story much simpler, since the Boys never existed as Bsb in the first place in an AU. This is another reason why I would want to write “Once Upon a Dream.”

At the same time, I love suspense as a genre, but feel it’s one of my weaker genres as a writer, so I would love to challenge myself with another suspense and see if I could make it better than my last attempts at those kinds of stories. So there’s another reason to choose “Austere Refuge.”

As you can probably tell, I’ve gone back and forth between these two stories for months now, and I still can’t decide. It might come down to what I feel like doing when I do finish BMS, but until then, it would help to get some reader input on just these two ideas.

So, after comparing the details of the two ideas listed above, please vote for one in the poll below. If you’d like to leave a comment, you can on the results page.

I can’t promise I will choose whichever idea gets the most votes, but I will definitely take the poll results and comments into consideration. Thanks for your input!!!

~Julie