Knots: Empty (9/12)

[extrabitter]

Part One (By Pitza)
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part EightThe small room is furnished with a table and chair. Its walls are painted a non-confrontational pale yellow, and there are two inoffensive prints to break up the monotony. Wilson knows that the incandescent lighting and the décor are supposed to manipulate him

Comments

[namasteyoga]

I know you struggled with this, but it works well. Very Wilson to be responsible, oversee the selling of the house, set himself up with a therapist, follow up with her (though one with no Princeton ties.)

I loved this line:

If he is a butterfly, she is a collector with sharp pins and a board.

So is he also trapped by Princeton? By his failed marriage and the sale of the house? By his own history and his pathology of caring too much?

Now I'm looking forward to finding out where House has gotten himself to.

[extrabitter]

The butterfly line came to me about 2:00 this morning.

The pathology is what's making Wilson feel trapped, he's having trouble letting go. I cut two very calm scenes at the end because I realized I can cover the same material in the next part and it will mean more coming from House's perspective. And this part was already close to 5.000 words. Any more would have been too much. But I'm afraid I cut out some of Wilson's internal stuff that's important.

I did struggle with this part. It took me a month to write, and that's unusual.

Oh great Avatar of Angst!

[karaokegal]

Waaaaahhhhhh! So sad. Blessed be that it's a slow day at work. This was perfect for the miserable weather outside my window. I can't wait for the finale.

Re: Oh great Avatar of Angst!

[extrabitter]

I never set out to be the Queen of Angst, just kind of worked out that way. Heh.

It's always good when the weather outside suits what you're reading.

I'm looking forward to the finale so I can go back and read the piece as a whole.

[sylph_ironlight]

Wow. I just found this fic, and I am loving it. I am an angst freak, and this story is lovely. The pace is incredible and you capture both men perfectly.

[extrabitter]

Thanks for your kind words. I'm impressed that you read through it as an almost finished piece and still liked it enough to comment. I think I may have to write something slightly fluffy after this is done to get my bearings back. The project has weighed on my mind since September.

[lasplx]

This is an incredible fic. The language you use really pulls you into their emotions and mental state. Instead of being an outside objective view, the story is written as if in a character's mind. You have a wonderful tone and mood going on here and I'm really enjoying reading this. Thanks for sharing.

[extrabitter]

There are times when I wish I could include a bit of perspective from other characters, mostly Cuddy. For instance, I never covered whether therapy was a condition of Wilson's suspension, as in, get help and I might not fire you. But on the whole, I think I made the right choice with the overlapping structure that gives multiple points of view of the same situation.

I previously attempted a piece with three points of view of one event, but it didn't work very well, and I set it aside. I have been playing with multiple perspectives for about ten years in my original work, so it's nice to be able to put that to good use.

[veronamay]

I am enjoying this immensely. The slow way Wilson's trying to work through everything in this part makes me ache a little bit. Can't wait to see House's actions/reactions in the next instalment.

[extrabitter]

Thanks. One of my goals in this piece was to bring Wilson back around to a point where readers could empathize with him and what he's going through, despite his unthinkable act in the beginning. Taking a completely out of character scenario and keeping the characters true to themselves is important to me. I rewrote so much dialogue for this part, which has a lot more talking than previous parts. There are bits I'm still not sure of, but I posted anyway.

[veronamay]

I think you've been achieving that goal all the way through; I've always been able to empathise (or rather, sympathise) with Wilson, even at his worst moments. I have a clearer picture of his emotions than House's, which might be deliberate on your part. I think it'll be very interesting to go back and re-read once you're done, to see the progression in one hit rather than chapter by chapter.

FWIW, I think the dialogue is pretty in-character; certainly nothing strikes me as seeming "off".