As per a request, I'm gonna be elaborating more on what happened behind the scenes (pages?) when I was writing APS. Just as a fair warning, a lot of my past ideas were really cringe. Especially my character ideas. But still, we're gonna start with that first.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUNjGWKNGN 維尼
I feel like the characters actually didn't go through that much development compared to the plot, but a couple of them could've taken completely different routes. Let's start with Shizuka.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJHIrXyqoT 維尼
I started writing APS about two days after watching the movie A Silent Voice. Now hold on, just listen to me, and you'll see how that's relevant. 8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1JxgftL5q 維尼
After watching the movie, I sort of had a lot of (short-term) passion and inspiration drawn from it. Especially from the female lead, Shoko. 8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡmw9wiOfFfw 維尼
So, when I planned Shizuka, I incorporated, well, a few qualities of Shoko Nishimiya, but altered most things. Instead of not being able to hear, Shizuka wasn't able to talk. (Had to switch it up so things didn't seem so similar.) 8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjqTEj42Ci 維尼
See, I'm already cringing. Help.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaXy4n8423 維尼
Anyway, the other thing was that… well, Shizuka, um… she was going to do what Shoko did in the climax of the movie. You know… commit the self-delete. And fail at it. (I'm sorry, I just feel like I can't say the actual word, so I'm just making up different terms for it.) 8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡt53uSomo0V 維尼
But the thing is, the second I wrote Chapter 2 of book one, I was like… nah. Nope. Screw this idea, I wanna do something else. I wanted something a lot tamer. 25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKKAhMHdXk
8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNuMUOPLPF 維尼
OK, full disclaimer: in my R/W Chats blog, I mentioned in one post that I was criticized for giving Shizuka a 'dark backstory,' and I called BS on that. You might be thinking now that it was wrong of me to do that, now that I told you about Shizuka's OG backstory. Keep in mind that I told nobody about APS for roughly three months. I hid it the same way a drug dealer would hide crack from the feds. So Shizuka's backstory grew and changed over time, meaning I told people the less-dark version of it, which, as you know, is just: bad dad, Mom dead, Shizuka's a natural-born with emotional trauma in the head. (That was such a forced rhyme, I'm so sorry.) But yeah, that thing. So, still, it doesn't justify that person criticizing her backstory for being 'too dark.' Anyway, that was all I had to say. Back to the post.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJ8tGwZUBH 維尼
For something more tame, I just took out any and every quality that had been inspired by A Silent Voice – which wasn't a lot — because my inspiration from it was short-term, and died an early death.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiZS3WSSJ8 維尼
I still kept the not-talking part for the first draft. Halfway through draft one, I hated the whole "mute" thing because it slowed the pace. Let me explain. Shizuka had a notepad that she'd carry with her everywhere… except when she forgot it, or she lost it in an emergency. And while the whole "I can't communicate because I can't write" thing is probably realistic, I had the feeling some readers would get annoyed when I wasted time on writing a small scene where Shizuka had to find out how to communicate if she was without any writing tools. And… well, the passion for the idea itself just died out. But I was already halfway through, so I just went with the mute thing and said I'd change it in draft two.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡBupZZlmuWQ 維尼
You know what that meant! I had a DUMP TON of work to do when editing! Dear God, why did I do that…?8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡglKtcabUSy 維尼
(I'm still planning on using the mute character concept for a different character. Also, Shizuka's POV used to hardly ever contribute anything to the plot, so I had to rewrite a ton of her POV chapters.)8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3bAncXKQ2 維尼
Other than that, Shizuka was also supposed to be a lot more…. shy and submissive? Almost like Kaori, but not exactly. I decided I didn't really wanna go with that. Calm and quiet was more or less what I aimed for. Something about that felt a bit better.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNOGJ66vJy 維尼
So… yeah, that's kind of what Shizuka could've been. I can definitely tell I've at least grown out of the cringey, short-term-inspired ideas, and into more substantial and working ones, so that's good.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fVt2bJwTl 維尼
I have a bunch of past character versions and plot ideas to talk about, but if you have anything you want me to talk about specifically in this "Behind The Scenes" series, feel free to let me know. :)8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCtbnt6IY2 維尼
ns44.192.114.32da2
