For better or worse
Like Never Before chapter 8 has now been posted on ff.net. I finished it Friday night, had my sister read it (she’s my unofficial beta), who told me that it wasn’t as good as my other chapters but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Eh. According to her, my Paris was out of character, which really worries me because I spent so much time making her believable. All I had was one episode to go off in showing this side of Paris. One episode–“The Big One” from last season, where Paris has her breakdown. Yeah, not a lot of inspiration.
Ugh.
So, I went back and edited. Big time. I think it’s better now, but… I’m really nervous about posting it. Meeting the groom on the day of the arranged marriage kind of nervous. I don’t want to be tarred and feathered here! I tend to lean on the freak-out side, so hopefully things aren’t as bad as I fear.
Chapter 7 was rewritten too, to attempt to get more of Jess’s voice. My biggest fault, I think is that my characters tend to become as verbose as I do and I struggle to rein them in. But it’s so difficult to convey conversations in monosyllables as Jess demands.
Chapter 9 was done and I was going to post it in a couple of days–I had that one written a year ago, when the idea first came to me–it honestly was the reason that I wrote this story. But it was only 4 pages long and after this last chapters’ record of 8958 words on 17 pages, it was way too short. So, I’m rearranging, combining some chapters and other housework before it’s read to be displayed. I am aiming for Christmas/New Year’s. We’ll see how well I succeed. At least I like the chapter more!
Hey Julia, it’s Nate. I finished reading your newest chapter last night, and don’t know what the heck your sister was talking about! Even at your worst, you would write circles around anyone else, because your Paris was good. Damned good. Her emotions were heart wrenching, along with all the times Brad tried to comfort her, you’ve managed to turn him into a character with a full-on personality. And it’s so cute hearing Paris question herself for having one thought of Brad as more than a friend. I hope he gets a chance to become more than friends with Paris. Perhaps her and Jamie bump into him during their blind date and the real Brad shines through more than Jamie ;)?
You can tell I have very big issues with Jamie, can’t you, heh?
And the arguments between Rory and Paris? If only ASP was brave enough to have given us more than happy Paris and happy Rory in LHCD, you’ve done a great job with the summer trip, beyond awesome. And though I’m hardly a Lit your Rory/Jess scenes were so much better than the lame little ‘Dear Jess’ dilemma in that episode. Are you going to bring Shane into the picture, because I think that would make for some excellent angst. Rory’s in Washington, Jess is attracted to Shane and there’s nothing she can do about it. Think about that situation for a bit.
Keep up the great work Julia, because this fic is beyond words. I’d wait forever for a new chapter, and chapter nine is so going to be ten times better than the last, and so on. Excellent update, and I’ll be pimping it on FF, and I’m sure Marissa (aka Avid) will be doing the same thing too.
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Already did, Nate. Already did. 😉
Oh, wow. Thank you so much! You have really no idea how much this means. I’m really glad that you like the story, and coming from you, praise for my Paris characterization is mighty indeed. One could get quite drunk over such approval.
In all honesty, I introduced Jamie’s character just as a way to get Rory and Paris into their fight. I’m still playing with a couple of ideas of where to go from here, but just as a hint, I’m much more fond of Brad than Jamie….;)
Shane… I’ve never even thought of putting Shane in. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got no problems with Shane and I just about adore her in fanfic, but with a Lit storyline that takes place almost completely over phone conversations, working her in would be difficult. I was really hesitant at first when I read your suggestion, but you inspired me. I had a fabulous idea hit me this afternoon and I’ve already started drafting it out. But I don’t think it’s going to be what you’re expecting… 🙂
FF is different from ff.net, right?
And are you sure I couldn’t talk you into doing a Paris/Brad story too??
FF would be FanForum, it’s the main site where me and Marissa post most of the time. They have a fanfiction thread where you can pimp your updates and talk about what’s hot or not in GG fanfiction.
Aww, and I would really love to write a Paris/Brad fic if I could ever find a good idea about them floating in my head. As it is my love for Madeline/Brad is just a smidge higher than Paris/Brad, but not high enough that I would never consider it. Right now though I’m buried in Paris/Jess story ideas and putting a dent in each one. Maybe if I have a boring afternoon one of these days one will hit me.
And my Shane idea? Just a suggestion Julia. I usually suspect when I give out a brainstorm that it’ll be different complely from my idea and the end result still rocks ;).
I knew you’d be on it right away Marissa :)! I just had to pimp it myself after reading so many bad Paris stories lately and no inspiration for B&R and another P/J project I’m working on. I think I’m inspired again.
You sure you don’t want to start writing Paris/Brad stories yourself??? Come on, it’d be fun… 🙂
And yay, I have myself some pimps!! Now, I’m just wanting for the money and offers to come rolling in. 🙂
Julia