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poppyseedheart I started writing Merry Than Wise, affectionately referred to as Emma AU, on August 3rd of 2021. I wrote a scrap of a scene that I had to drastically overwork for the climax of the fic, and the momentum of the rush of that moment carried me for quite literally over 100k and 16 months (and counting). Here is the message I sent to your friend and mine @doongi about it:
Quickly is subjective here, lol, but I sure did write a lot of it! I got busy with casting, deciding on the setting and how not to write something that was going to be disrespectful or dismissive of Korean culture (more on that below), and researching locations and jobs. It was a rush!! While at times the drafting process was a little brutal, I never stopped loving this story. For that I'm really grateful. This is my extended author's note so there are spoilers for the chapter below, FYI!
Quickly is subjective here, lol, but I sure did write a lot of it! I got busy with casting, deciding on the setting and how not to write something that was going to be disrespectful or dismissive of Korean culture (more on that below), and researching locations and jobs. It was a rush!! While at times the drafting process was a little brutal, I never stopped loving this story. For that I'm really grateful. This is my extended author's note so there are spoilers for the chapter below, FYI!
Five days after that initial message, I had created a notion page for the story planning process. Here are some screenshots!
(This is a super early version of the plot map and is obviously missing a lot)
When using notion to plot my fic, I created a plot map and a custom template for each scene that would go into each arc. Chapter breaks happened during revisions. I tried to keep them approximately the same length while also making logical choices, but I already know I need to tweak a future one. Thankfully, chapter one worked out pretty neatly.
I also have a full character database for the fic right below the header that is super pretty BUT I can't show you because there are spoilers!
Speaking of spoilers, I promised in the author's notes of the fic on AO3 to spoil the endgame pairings for this story. DO NOT open this if you want to be surprised! Not kidding! I like to think there are some fun twists ahead and the journey is, in my humble opinion, worth rolling with. That said, I know some people have strong preferences so here's a peek at where we end up (highlight to read): [Seungjin, Chanlix, Minsung]. Okay great work team see you later.
*
One thing I want to touch on briefly is the setting choice. I've read some other Austen AU fics for non-Western fandoms and I think they do a really variable job of balancing the Austen content with the cultures and lived experiences of the people they are writing about. This isn't me critiquing the writing itself or any individual work, but rather a trend in fandom that I find tiring, which is the erasure of cultures different to the writers own; this can manifest in a lack of research, a lack of accuracy*, and ultimately a lack of care. I do think a lot about readers. I think a lot, especially, about readers who are Korean or East Asian or in some other way identify culturally with the subjects of kpop fandom, and what it would be like to enter a fandom because you feel connected to it only to see writers (very often white writers) strip away that culture and replace it with their own and then say it's really just not that deep. As writers, none of us will be perfect and we shouldn't hold ourselves to a standard of black-and-white perfection, but I do think there is an imperative to try our best and be respectful.
*brief interlude to also remind us all that experiences are drastically variable and there is no "right" way to be Korean, and also that the above is not critiquing Asian American writers exploring diaspora experience in their writing, because that is deeply not my lane!
Okay, soapbox moment over. That just felt important to say up front because it informed a lot of how I approached writing this story, and I know I myself am sometimes wary of reading a fic that utilizes a premise rooted in another culture, especially Victorian England.
*
That change has ripple effects and I need to do some other work but I think it's really setting up a stronger arc for these two and I am glad! I am kind of using this project's revisions as a test drive to see how it might feel to write and then heavily revise a draft of an original novel, which is why I've been sinking so much time and energy into it. Hopefully that pays off in the story!
Overall, if I'm honest, I really love this chapter. I tried to do a lot of things with it and I think (hope!) they were generally successful. We have to get to know these characters in these particular circumstances quickly, because there are more coming and there's a lot of plot to get through after this. I can't wait to unfold more soon hehe.
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! This journey is just getting started <333
One thing I want to touch on briefly is the setting choice. I've read some other Austen AU fics for non-Western fandoms and I think they do a really variable job of balancing the Austen content with the cultures and lived experiences of the people they are writing about. This isn't me critiquing the writing itself or any individual work, but rather a trend in fandom that I find tiring, which is the erasure of cultures different to the writers own; this can manifest in a lack of research, a lack of accuracy*, and ultimately a lack of care. I do think a lot about readers. I think a lot, especially, about readers who are Korean or East Asian or in some other way identify culturally with the subjects of kpop fandom, and what it would be like to enter a fandom because you feel connected to it only to see writers (very often white writers) strip away that culture and replace it with their own and then say it's really just not that deep. As writers, none of us will be perfect and we shouldn't hold ourselves to a standard of black-and-white perfection, but I do think there is an imperative to try our best and be respectful.
*brief interlude to also remind us all that experiences are drastically variable and there is no "right" way to be Korean, and also that the above is not critiquing Asian American writers exploring diaspora experience in their writing, because that is deeply not my lane!
Okay, soapbox moment over. That just felt important to say up front because it informed a lot of how I approached writing this story, and I know I myself am sometimes wary of reading a fic that utilizes a premise rooted in another culture, especially Victorian England.
*
In terms of research for chapter one, I primarily focused on Hyunjin's apartment and Seungmin's degree. I watched some tours on YouTube of luxury apartments in Gangnam (Hyunjin's is based on Tower Palace) which was really helpful for imagining what the complex looks like and what his apartment might contain. I also looked online at curriculums for Linguistics PhDs. I think it comes up later but it's not really a spoiler to say that Seungmin goes to SNU. Good for him! I tried to stay true to the school year (actually also relevant for Jeongin who is student teaching at an elementary school) and do what research I could to make sense of that, but mistakes are mine and I would gladly hear feedback from anyone who knows better than I do!
That's the case for this entire fic, by the way. While I'm not super interested in hearing people break the story down with heaps of their own concrit (I promise I have solicited and taken feedback into account), I am very open to corrections and guidance around cultural aspects that I may have misrepresented. I did my best but nobody's perfect, as Hannah Montana says.
That's about it for this one! Other chapters were more or less research heavy depending on what came up in them and I'll chat more about that in future extended notes.
*
In terms of revising, this chapter thankfully didn't need much, but that's because I ran over it sooo many times during the drafting process. I don't tend to line or copy edit as I go, but I will make structural changes if I need to, or rework entire scenes. The biggest change in chapter one came with the Changbin/Hyunjin conversation, where on the advice of my betas I tweaked it so Changbin was feeling less pressured by his parents and more just hassled by the idea of getting out into the dating scene. Relatable, Changbin. If any readers are aspiring to date me I am single and I would also like to skip to blissful domesticity, thanks.That's the case for this entire fic, by the way. While I'm not super interested in hearing people break the story down with heaps of their own concrit (I promise I have solicited and taken feedback into account), I am very open to corrections and guidance around cultural aspects that I may have misrepresented. I did my best but nobody's perfect, as Hannah Montana says.
That's about it for this one! Other chapters were more or less research heavy depending on what came up in them and I'll chat more about that in future extended notes.
*
That change has ripple effects and I need to do some other work but I think it's really setting up a stronger arc for these two and I am glad! I am kind of using this project's revisions as a test drive to see how it might feel to write and then heavily revise a draft of an original novel, which is why I've been sinking so much time and energy into it. Hopefully that pays off in the story!
Overall, if I'm honest, I really love this chapter. I tried to do a lot of things with it and I think (hope!) they were generally successful. We have to get to know these characters in these particular circumstances quickly, because there are more coming and there's a lot of plot to get through after this. I can't wait to unfold more soon hehe.
*
And on a sentimental note, I've been very scared to post this! I've been sitting on this particular chapter in its more or less completed form for a couple months and in draft form for over a year (wow!) and it's frankly soooo weird to finally be sharing it publicly. I don't know, this fic is like my little buddy. It's seen me through a lot of life stuff happening and it's strange to be letting go of pieces of it. I've been sharing it with friends as I go (trust me, some people have seen what feels like half the fic through screenshots lolol) but that still feels different from putting it online. Once each chapter is up I'm promising myself to stop tweaking, or at least to stop making finicky line edits that are just twelve of one thing and a dozen of the other. It's fine! It's fine.
Revisions weren't too difficult for this chapter in part because I've been tweaking it for months and in part because there's no previous continuity to be dealing with. Future chapters will run up against my age-old challenges with conceptualizing time and space. But it will get dealt with, because my betas rule and have worked so hard.
Okay, here we come to the end of the extended author's note. I hope that was fun to read! Future ones probably won't be this long and will also probably be more focused on specific scenes and choices I made, but I thought an overview for chapter one would be a nice way to jump in.
And on a sentimental note, I've been very scared to post this! I've been sitting on this particular chapter in its more or less completed form for a couple months and in draft form for over a year (wow!) and it's frankly soooo weird to finally be sharing it publicly. I don't know, this fic is like my little buddy. It's seen me through a lot of life stuff happening and it's strange to be letting go of pieces of it. I've been sharing it with friends as I go (trust me, some people have seen what feels like half the fic through screenshots lolol) but that still feels different from putting it online. Once each chapter is up I'm promising myself to stop tweaking, or at least to stop making finicky line edits that are just twelve of one thing and a dozen of the other. It's fine! It's fine.
Revisions weren't too difficult for this chapter in part because I've been tweaking it for months and in part because there's no previous continuity to be dealing with. Future chapters will run up against my age-old challenges with conceptualizing time and space. But it will get dealt with, because my betas rule and have worked so hard.
Okay, here we come to the end of the extended author's note. I hope that was fun to read! Future ones probably won't be this long and will also probably be more focused on specific scenes and choices I made, but I thought an overview for chapter one would be a nice way to jump in.
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! This journey is just getting started <333
