And yep! I use initials when referring to characters to make typing easier. Hahaha.
Chapter 24 - Shattered Melodies
I made a slight change here regarding Elliot.
In my original notes, his scholarship was supposed to be offered to him before he joined the band, and he rejected it to be part of Moonfall. However, I changed this because it made Elliot seem too irresponsible. He had already achieved something significant, and while it wasn't his dream, it was still something he wouldn't have passed up at the time. The only reason he later rejected it was because of the memories he made with the band. Just like Wynther, those memories became precious to him, something he wanted to treasure beyond simply chasing his dreams. The scholarship no longer pulled him as it should have because he had already given up on that path. He only returned to track and field because, after Luna's death and Wynther quiting the band, it was the only option he had left. It was a backup plan, but his heart was no longer in it.
Chapter 25 - Muted Echoes
If you noticed, this chapter lacks traditional dialogue. While there are spoken words, they aren't enclosed in quotation marks. That's because I wanted to immerse readers in Wynther's muted world. The idea stemmed from the chapter title—when I thought of "Muted Echoes," I immediately envisioned a chapter where Wynther couldn't hear anything around him. This muted world even extends into Chapter 26.
Speaking of that...
Chapter 26 - Fractured Chords
Since Wynther's world was muted in Chapter 25, I extended the effect into this chapter. Then another idea came to me: what if sound only returns when Wynther sees Elliot? And that's exactly what I did.
The Most Challenging Part
Probably the romance? Haha. Honestly, I don't have personal experience with it, so I relied on the stories I read as a teenager. Back in high school, I was obsessed with Wattpad—I could finish two stories in a day and wouldn't sleep until I completed what I was reading. I was such a romance novel addict that I poured everything I learned from those stories into my own writing. I just hope I was able to develop the romance aspect properly. Haha.
Oh, and another challenge was conveying the emotions of losing a loved one. I haven't experienced that kind of loss myself, so I had to rely entirely on my imagination. I tried to picture how I would feel if someone I deeply loved and admired suddenly passed away. And I'm satisfied with how it turned out.
The Unexpected Part
Getting really technical about the band. I mean, I didn't have much knowledge about how bands work, how instruments blend together, or what musicians should focus on during practice. I mostly just wrote whatever came to mind. But of course, I still did some research to make sure my ideas were realistic.
Initially, I wasn't planning to be that detailed about music, even when characters gave advice or during Chapter 14, when Wynther first performed with Luna, Rive, Elliot, and Zeira. My original idea was to make them instantly good at performing, but I realized that would make them too much like Mary Sues. It felt unrealistic, especially since they hadn't even performed or practiced together yet. After all, they're still rookies with a lot to learn.
The Song
The lyrics Wynther "writes" in Chapter 28 and sings in Chapter 29 are from the Japanese song Fuyu no Hanashi, originally composed by Centimillimental and performed by Shōgo Yano. The English translated lyrics used in this story are from Madds Buckley's performance. To fully immerse readers in Wynther's emotions, I directly referenced this version in Chapter 29, where I linked the song to enhance the scene. This song beautifully reflects Wynther's emotions, and I wanted to incorporate it into his journey. All rights to the song belong to their respective creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. You can listen to the song here:
The Cameo
If you've read my short story The Quiet Heart, you might have noticed a familiar name—Lunara. They made a cameo in that story, performing at the school festival after renaming their band.
Characters from The Quiet Heart also made brief appearances in this story. Knixxon appeared in Chapter 5 when Wynther saw a guy in the neighboring condo unit after stepping out of his own. Later, in Chapter 22, Knixxon and Nizza appeared again at the supermarket.
The Language
I tried to narrate this story in Tagalog as much as possible since my last story was heavily focused on English. I wanted to balance it out this time. But there were moments when I ended up writing in almost full English—I just couldn't help it. My thoughts kept flowing in English while I was typing. Not that I'm fluent in English. Haha.
The Epilogue
The memories Wynther and Luna are watching are supposed to end with the festival scene where Wynther is singing. Luna is supposed to say something to Wynther about it—about her dream of performing and singing with him on stage—but I decided to extend it until the scene where he sang the song he writes in front of their bandmates because I need a certain scene from the epilogue for one of the extra chapters I'm going to write. And honestly, it was the best decision I've made. I think it came out better because it honestly made me cry while writing it. Especially their goodbye scene. I was sobbing while writing it. Hahaha.
And... I was originally planning on adding a scene where Luna would say something about Elliot's feelings for her, but it doesn't fit the narration I'm going for, so I decided to omit it.
The Extra Chapters
There will be five extra chapters for this story! Each one will focus on a different band member—including Luna's point of view!
I'll publish them all at once once they're finished, so stay tuned.
And with that, another story comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed reading this one. Now, onto the next story, shall we? Thank you so much for reading—I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Feel free to leave any comments if you have thoughts about the story or the characters. I read everything, even if I don't always reply.
That's all!
— Pennie
YOU ARE READING
Strings of Memory
Teen Fiction"Hating the one thing you love is a pain worse than losing it." - Wynther Fynne Clemenceau Wynther never had a dream-until he heard his father play the bass. In that moment, music became his purpose, his passion, his future. He dreamed of standing o...
Afterword
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