a few questions & answers that explain my thought processes, what ifs, and character developments about my story- Nerve.
What made you want to write about Nerve and the plot around it?
Gah, I personally love any movie that consists of Dave Franco, so once I saw those Nerve commercials I immediately fell in love. Once I saw the movie I realized, oh my shit, my life is boring as hell what can I do so that I can make my life interesting? Turns out that it's write a story based off of the Nerve universe. and no, i have not read the book, so i have no idea how similar the movie and book are.
What made you choose the characters you did and why you chose them to be that way?
Well, I knew that the main protagonist was not gonna be some shy, cowardly girl and blah blah, because I don't really like the whole "save me save me" kind of relationship with guys and gals in my stories, so I made sure Emma was independent. You can totally beat me up by bringing up all of those times Lukas saved Emma but that's not the point I'm trying to get out there. Emma and Lukas saved each other which is what made their bond so strong.
Now Lukas I knew I had to make him a great fit for Emma. Not the stereotypical bad boy or nerd or whatever, he's a chill skateboarding guy that not everyone knows but you'd like to. He has a strong backstory that emotionally affects the story which I do love.
Holly is one of my favorite characters. She's outgoing, risky, and nearly the same as Emma. Even though she had her moments, Holly wouldn't never turn her back on Emma because she's very loyal.
Jayden, oh Jayden. I enjoyed Jayden a lot because he is very ruthless and you can get a sense of why he is. His family life is almost like Lukas' because their families don't pay that much attention to them, (hence why they became friends in the first place) but he's kind of an alternate version of Lukas because they both could've ended up the same. However, Jayden is more power and attention hungry, while Lukas would prefer to keep to his close friends.
What can you say about Marcus and Laney?
Marcus and Laney seem to be kind of rushed characters, but they were planned since the beginning. They actually attended Holly's party but I never seemed to add in a part about that simply because they weren't really relevant at that time and place. But, Marcus is the hacker genius with his sidekick Laney and lets all ship them right??? haha no ok
Can you evaluate more on Liam? Who is Liam?
Yes alrighty if you didn't catch that at the end, Liam was Lukas' twin brother that died playing Nerve with Jayden. Liam and Jayden were Nerve buddies until the whole train incident. Liam died due to force of impact landing on the train. Jayden claimed in the finals that Liam was very passionate about winning but when in reality he wasn't. Jayden was the motivation that kept Liam playing Nerve, even though Liam was as never into as much as Jay was. When Jayden intentionally failed the dare, Liam had no prior knowledge he would do that.
What would've happened to Jayden if he followed through on the dare with Liam?
He would've died too. And this story probably wouldn't be possible.
What about Ethan?
Ethan was never going to be a major role in the story, he was just Emma's main motivation to play Nerve (aside from Lukas) and raise money for her family.
Evaluate on Emma punching a window to pieces?
Lmao okay so this is the supernatural scene in the story. ha i'm joking. The windows in the apartment weren't double glass or whatever fancy windows. They were just as about as thick as a car window which can easily be broken- especially if a phone is chucked at it from a far distance and a knuckle with metal rings on it punches the shit out of it. Emmas very badass.
Lukas' dare on taking Emma to the party?
Lukas yes was dared to take Emma to the party. But he didn't know the fight would start. Emma didn't know he had this dare either, and probably never will.
How did Emma not die jumping out the window?
It wasn't that high up, ok so say you have a house with a basement, main floor, an upstairs, then an attic. She would be jumping from the attic because she was only two floors above ground. If she hit her head on her way down she probably would've had amnesia of some sort but she landed on her feet/knees. She knows how to land alrighty? I'm sure she's done it before considering her personality.
Why did Holly want to win so bad?
It's never talked about in the story itself on why Holly was willing to beat the shit out of Emma to win Nerve, and scale that flipping building. The reason she wanted to win was to prove to Emma and herself that she can be just as good as Emma. If you recall from the beginning of the story, Holly mentions that she would've told Emma about Nerve sooner if it weren't for Emma's determination towards taking risks. Emma is the prime daredevil between the both of them, and Holly just wanted to prove to her that she can be as good as Emma. But of course, Emma knew that if she went to the finals, that Holly would've never been the same.
What would've happened if Holly and Jayden went to the finals?
Jayden would've shot and killed Holly.
What would've happened if Jayden didn't hack the game and make it to the finals?
Lukas and Emma would be in the finals as planned, but Jayden would definitely interfere once they wouldn't have shot each other. But I didn't do that, because I didn't want my story to be too much like the movie.
What would've happened if Emma was chosen to be shot by Jayden in the finals?
Emma would still be shot. And the reason because is that she would've done anything to make sure she was the one to be shot and not Lukas. But wouldn't Lukas jump in front of her? Good followup question. The answer is no. Emma was in a clear state of mind while this decision was being made. Meanwhile, Lukas' head was clouded with thoughts by his brother, which would've lagged his reaction time. He wasn't thinking as quickly as Emma was.
Why didn't you make the guns with fake bullets like they did in the real movie?
Like I said in the other question, I didn't want my story to be like the movie. Also, there was no secret agreement between Emma and Jayden for them to stage something like Vee and Ty (Tie? Tye?). Jayden is more ruthless than Ty and his intentions were real. The game actually did set them up to actually kill each other.
Why did Lukas snitch when he knew he would end up a prisoner?
We all hate it when characters do dumb things that they think will work, but it obviously won't. In a real situation like this, Lukas thought that maybe he could get the police to look into the game. At that time, he wasn't thinking about anything other trying to make sure Emma ends up okay. Unfortunately, the police officer has been watching him play Nerve and knew who he was.
How did Holly know Jayden was hacking the game? How long was he hacking it?
Holly knew because she had teamed up with Jayden, whom was kicked out of the top two spots after Emma and Lukas won them. So, before their dare in scaling the building, Jayden hacked the game from then on through his phone. He placed his name in the finals, and the game never corrected it. How did he hack it? We dunno we thought he was a dumbass.
Purpose of the consistent theme of blue?
Did you catch onto the blue? Yes that's not a coincidence I did that purposely. Oh come on look at the cover of this book! And the spray paint cans, the lights, the masks? Other from the fact that it was the theme color, there isn't really another purpose for it. i thought that the color of blue would represent the game Nerve as a whole, so once the color was brought up the reader would think "oh the game is nearby" or "nerve is watching you". that's really what i was aiming for, especially the last chapter of the story. in fact the color blue is often associated with depth though, that's crazy right.
Did you plan for any characters to die?
YES. I tossed a lot of ideas in my head and I mean a lot. When I first started planning for this books I knew I wanted Jayden to die. But as I developed his backstory, I realized that he doesn't really deserve to die, more like a life in prison. Which is basically what I did. Towards the end of the book I also considered Holly to die. But I quickly trashed the idea when I couldn't find any reason why she needed to die. Finally, I took days and days debating whether Emma should die. I was torn you guys and I mean torn. She really had no reason to die, but I wanted her death (if she died) to represent what she sacrificed for the world and for Lukas, Holly, and maybe even her mom. I wanted a heroic death for her, but I was also hit with the fact that if Emma died, Lukas wouldn't get his happy ending that he deserved. He had already lost his brother to Nerve, and he couldn't lose Emma. Also I knew my audience would be pissed at me sooo.
Will there be a sequel?
i honestly think that this book can survive without a sequel, but I definitely have been thinking about it. if that was to happen, I would have to think of new ways for Nerve to return back into their lives somehow which would be really complicated to figure out. so, really really don't plan on me making a sequel.
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thank you all so much for your reads, voted, comments and constant support. it means a ton to me.
don't worry world, there's still more stories i have planned.
love you all
xx blue