Thursday, September 2, 2010 Analysis: Kieran- Chapter One
(Note: Kieran in italics denotes the story whilst Kieran in standard font refers to the character.)
It may have arrived a year later than I originally hoped, but Kieran has finally hit the net! The first reviews have also come in and so far everyone seems to be loving the new story so that’s pretty cool to know. :)
Now onto the analysis:
Some of you may be new to this whole idea of chapter analyses, but after I wrote several chapters of American Differences (AD), I just felt like there were some things I wanted to mention/detail further than what’s written in the chapter. I don’t write any spoilers for the upcoming chapters, in fact, sometimes I might lead you on a different track completely. It’s up to you to decide how to take what I give you here. Ok? :P
First, here’s a little background... The idea of Kieran first came to me early last year and a few months after I started posting AD. The initial idea revolved around a character who, at first glance, was undefinable. I also wanted his sexuality to be different than what’s usually seen in stories. And I wanted conflict both within the character and in the story.
With the other two stories taking up my time, I wasn’t able to work on Kieran last year. But I never abandoned the project. Instead I put it to the side and vowed to revisit it later. Personally I think this worked out for the best. I have now been writing for two years (my first ever chapter was posted on the 1st September 2008 :) ) and in that time I have definitely seen some improvement. Kieran benefits from everything I’ve learned and gained during that time.
Now onto Chapter One:
One of my earliest thoughts about Kieran was the first line of the story: ‘I like girls.’ Followed with, ‘I like guys too, I’m just not bisexual.’ If anything can come close to defining Kieran, then that little puzzle is right on the money. Not only did I want to throw things on their head from the get-go, I also wanted to immediately show Kieran’s mindset and where he stood in terms of understanding his sexuality.
Following the beginning lines, we had the main opening that took place on a stage during an exam. Again, this was something I had decided on a long time ago too, but was somewhat reluctant to go ahead with the idea in case it confused too many people and would therefore not be good at catching (and holding) interest. But after I wrote the scene down and played about with a few things, I was satisfied with how things worked out and chose to keep it as the story’s opening.
Torri was also an element I had thought up from the early stages. Sometimes in stories we see the protagonist with a girlfriend but often they’re using them as a cover or are still questioning their sexuality. Kieran knows who he is, and he isn’t using Torri as a cover. He really does care for her, which puts him in an even worse situation.
Taking another departure from my other stories was the inclusion of two openly gay characters in a high school setting. Moreover, we have Jordan, the one who holds Kieran’s interest, be a character who is out. That will definitely throw some sparks into their dynamic and how Kieran will approach things.
We then have Stephen, quite an interesting character and quite unique in that I’ve never created anyone like him before. Stephen is brilliantly flamboyant, a fact that Kieran hates. It seems like a degree of irony is at play there there, and I’m sure that fact will come up a few times during the story’s journey.
Also in Stephen’s case... well he holds a certain secret. A few posts ago, I mentioned that there was a surprise in Kieran. That surprise is Stephen. To explain, let me take the following quote from Chapter 26 of American Differences:
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She replied, sighing, “But she isn’t as tunnel minded as you think. You know she used to hang out with Stephen.”
Jamie looked at me, “Who’s Stephen?”
I shrugged, “Some guy from another school who’s in the year below us, apparently he’s gay.”
“And you’ve never told me about him?”
“I’ve never met the guy. Only ever seen him on Facebook.”
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Have things clicked into place yet? :-P That’s right, Kieran takes place in the same town as American Differences.
So how does this work out? To keep things simple I based the stories on a timeline similar to ours.
Chapter One of American Differences was based in January 2009. It finished in August 2009.
Chapter One of Kieran was based in July 2010.
So Kieran is based one year later. This also means that the characters in Kieran are one year younger than the characters in AD.
I know what the burning question is: “Will they meet?” My answer: Maybe. I mentioned Stephen in AD to allow the possibility for crossovers to take place. If they do, then they won’t appear until MUCH later in Kieran. Just remember that Kieran is a standalone story and has a looong way still to go before it’d even be ready to take on some of the old characters. But we’ll see what happens there later on.
Okay, so that (was supposed to be!) a short analysis into some of my thoughts/ideas behind Chapter One of Kieran. There’s some things I left out and some characters I didn’t mention, or even in not a lot of detail, but I’ll be focusing on them in future analyses. Sound good? :)
Take care and have a great weekend,
Emulated
Reader Comments (8)
Wow, now I'm looking like a stalker. xD
The minute I seen the AD reference to Stephen I fluttered a bit! But this will be an amazing stand-alone story (:
Brilliant first chapter, can't wait for the rest! I was hoping that it was the Stephen from AD, as that led to the possibility that we would at least get to see a bit more of Sarah, or some of the other characters. But am looking forward to getting to know these characters and hopefully seeing a lot more of Jorden.
Thanks for the kind comments Robbi!
Hehehe, nooo, you're not a stalker (I HAVE got my eye on you though!) :P
Yep, the little reference to Stephen was rightly placed, he's definitely the same boy.
-Em
Thank you for the kind words, Daniel! I'm pleased you enjoyed the first chapter!
It's certainly a possibility that we might see some characters later on in a kind of a crossover, but again, we'll have to wait and see there. ;)
We'll get to see more and more of the new characters as the new story continues, and we'll also be seeing a LOT more of Jordan really soon. ;)
-Em
You have a knack for building characters! They all seem real and different from each other. Kieran not being confident about it's sexuality is a good twist to the story, it will be fun to see where this is heading. Good start on the new story!
Thanks, Gabriel! I'm pleased you liked the first chapter!
I've been thinking about Kieran, the characters in particular for a loong time. The main part of Kieran I wanted to focus on was his sexuality and the unique position he found himself in. He's gay yet he's torn between a boy and a girl... how does that work? :P
They all have a long way to go in this story, so it'll be interesting to see where they all end up.
Thanks!
and we'll also be seeing a LOT more of Jordan really soon. ;)
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As long as you're showing nothing below the waist :)
There'll be plenty to see below the waist, Circle. :P
And below the groin for that matter... ;)
-Em