Writing in Reverse

Handcuffed

When school started back up at the end of that summer, I was disappointed.  The summer of 2012 was one of the more memorable.  I lost a lot of weight, was feeling good about myself, got a car, did a lot of things... but I loved the amount of writing I got in.  Going back to school ruined that.  I went back to the same schedule of updating Handcuffed Love.  However, just because I couldn't update like before didn't make me any less excited when I did.

Throughout the summer, I started to figure out where this story was headed. At the beginning, I had Albany struggling with drugs.  Now, this is where writing can sometimes be tricky, if you don't know much about the subject.  And I didn't.  I don't do drugs, never had.  That's why it was hard for those several chapters to try and get into her head.  I knew it would be intense, her trying to escape, resist... I admit I wish I played it out better though.  I didn't show just how desperate it made Albany - but of course, that's something to fix later on.  Another thing I should probably fix... was the clarity that it was obvious she wasn't having withdrawal from the weed.  A lot of people were confused about that.  I made it look as if she thought she was in pain because of the weed even though I knew that can't technically happen, getting addicted to weed.  She got addicted to cocaine.  Even though I wanted to show people that Albany makes mistakes and can be ignorant a little through this at this point, it came across as me just being dumb and not knowing the different effects.  So, I should probably clarify that too. 

But clarity... is something that can be a let down too.  I want to get people thinking and wondering what is going to happen next.  That's why I kind of began to add in that issue with Mark.  Things were meant to get complicated as time went on.  And it's not to make her get abused for no reason.  It's to show her strength.  I made it a point that Albany doesn't cry.  I'm not saying that is a weakness but in her mind, it can be the start of weakness.  She is very tough at this point and I wanted her to show that she is strong - and it's because of her past.  The book started when she got home so you don't see directly what happened to her before that.  That's why it is important to show a character's personality, their strength, and what they find important when it comes to being strong.  It reflects on the possibilities of her past and again, it gets the mind going... like what exactly happened to her?  Then slowly, you start to unveil it only to bring up something that gets more questions rolling.

Her strength shows what she went through.  But the fact that she finds Luke to be the point of her vulnerability make things interesting.  I didn't want to start with a story with romance right away; rather, I want to gradually establish some type of connection.  And that connection needed to happen between two completely different people.  It would be boring if Albany became interested in someone exactly like her.  That's why her and Luke connect, because they are so different and it's because of that that creates a balance.  She speaks her mind at the beginning and doesn't like showing how she feels.  She is sarcastic and witty.  Luke, however, is more held back in that aspect.  He doesn't mind speaking his feelings really and isn't as sarcastic as Albany is, not as open to sharing a ridiculous opinion.  But as the story comes along in the early chapters... that's what brings them together very slowly as friends.  Luke has the seriousness she didn't and she has the carefree and dark nature he didn't want to really embrace at first.  So those difference resulted in a strange bond, in a sense.  Even more so was their deep similarities.  How neither will give up in a fight, how they both crave control... both need to be in control.  And how sometimes, that can be too much and then they crave destruction at the same time.  That hidden want to just let everything go and fade away with it without showing the miserable side to that. 

It's these things that bring them together initially into that rocky friendship.  But once things between them begin to develop, like a good understanding of each other, I planned to have them slowly start to transform with the traits the others had (for example, much later in the book, Albany possesses the responsibility she didn't have before and Luke shows his humor more).