1. The idea of this story came to me at 5:00 am in the morning, while I was still in my bed wide awake. I couldn't sleep, and in my mind I already had this story for Mark and Skye. By the time I woke up, I had decided the main theme and plot.
2. I've never really felt so many paper cuts, except one a long time ago. I remember it hurt alot. But I also remember that I didn't even know what a paper cut was, until I felt it. (Maybe same is the way with pain..)
So I decided to name my book after it, because some kind of pain can even be more than thousand paper cuts you feel.
3. The name Mark was completely my best friend's idea, and then I decided for the name Skye.
4. At first, Lucas was supposed to be dead by some accident, but then I realised I needed something that'd distant Mark from the outer world---so suicide caused by the irrational thoughts and talks of people came into my mind.
5. Till the middle of novel, I've had this ending in my mind :
"Skye would run away from her wedding and meet Mark right outside--and then they'd run away together in his SUV. They'd talk alot in the car, and then out of nowhere, a truck would hit their car and one of them will die..". Honestly, that's what I'd thought. I swear I'm a madgirl. But anyway, I gave up on this ending because I didn't know who to kill. (So indecisive). If I'd killed Mark, it wouldn't be interesting because he'd already suffered alot and he can't just die after realizing hope is everywhere.
I couldn't kill Skye too, because it would have been so unfair to Mark who had ---I'll again make it clear---suffered alot.
Then at one point I thought of killing both of them together at the same time, but then story would've ended without any clue what happened after---because c'mon, those two poor souls were my only narrators.
So in the end, I killed Old James. (I had to kill atleast SOMEBODY)
6. The story of Georgia and James just came out of the blue. I mean, I'd already decided their characters separately before. James : the librarian, who'd lost his love. And Georgia : the weird old neighbour of Skye who doesn't remember anything. At the start of novel, they were nobody to eachother. But then it occurred to me, why not Let Georgia be the love James had lost? Tadaaaa!
7. My best friend doesn't like the name "Mia" for Skye's best friend, but I kept it anyway. (Hah)
8. In case you'll like to know the names of Mark's and Skye's parents :
°Skye's dad : Ben McLaren
°Skye's real mother : Rose McLaren
°Mark's dad : James Bryant
°Mark's mother : Esme Bryant
9. Skye's first novel "All the Good Things in Life" was in the top 3 names I had decided for my own novel, but then I chose Thousand Paper Cuts.
10. Stardust is a fictional band I created. I like this name alot, and will like to see them exist. (Singing country songs)
11. "How to escape the suffering", that Skye wrote for Mark at the end, was the content that took me alot of time to finalize. Because I wasn't just writing for my novel, in fact, in my mind I had these thoughts about how to really avoid pain and suffering. So in a way, all my feelings have been poured right there for the readers.
12. The ending that I've given them came to me after a long, long time, and it is the only ending from all those other painful (and bloody) endings that I'm satisfied with. In the end, we don't know what happened to Mark and Skye. Did they meet? Did they lie down together in the field of roses? Did Mark cross the road without seeing those traffic lights? What happened after that? Did he leave her waiting amid roses forever?
We never know. But it doesn't matter. What matters to me the most is that they are happy atleast in that moment I've placed them in.
13. This novel covers up my almost two full notebooks. Incidentally, I always create a rough draft on my notebook before writing it out for you guys. And even then, I need to edit alot.
14. This novel completed on 25th December, 2020, and started in (I guess) start of May. I used to write atleast half chapter everyday and then edit it quite frequently.
15. I've been thinking who my favourite character is. Mark or Skye? But I can't really choose, because I see myself in both of them. (Who is your favourite?)
16. My favourite sad scene was when Mark sees Skye getting married.
And also that scene when that night they parted in the rain, and how they were separated by a single door.
17. My favourite funny scene was when Mark and Skye didn't pay the bill and ran away.
18. The part of novel that was hardest to write was "how to escape the suffering". And of course, also that wedding part.
19. My favourite location in the novel was that hill where they chased the sun. And also that littered side-street illuminated by moonlight they hid in after running from the hotel. (I know it's just a street but I can picture it so beautiful)
Soo um, that was all from me, for this novel I've composed. And I'll write another one soon. (Spoiler alert : it'll be friendship) :)
YOU ARE READING
Thousand Paper Cuts
RomanceDespite of her everlasting efforts, Skye McLaren, an utterly screwed up redhead, can only dream about a smooth perfect life. But there is an abandoned mansion near her extraordinary small home, and she is determined to find a way there, not realizin...
