Featured Story of the Week: Brick by Brick

Brick by Brick is an amazing story written by Katie Shakespeare. In this week's Featured Story, we take a closer look at this wonderful work!

Give us a brief summary of your story.

Alex Cicero and Garrett St. Claire attend the most prestigious college in the world where only the best of the best are accepted. This new institution of learning is only in its third year of existence, in the small, quiet valleys of Vermont. Surrounded by luscious land and isolation, with high buildings of brick and beautiful architecture, the students are surrounded by thriving individuals much like themselves. However, there lies a dark side under these bricks. The school is built on competition, constantly bombarding the students' minds with the ambition to be the best and to knock down anyone who tries to top you.

Although the school has its rivals, the students' biggest rivals are each other. The school colors are red and blue, home of the Rebels, and each student is assigned to be a Red or a Blue based on their personality. Let's just say Reds and Blues absolutely despise one another. Alex is the number one Red. Garrett is the number one Blue. These two boys rival each other, trying to be better, constantly competing.

But, the school decided to give them an extra shove into their competition at the start of their junior year. These two boys were going to be roommates. Behind these walls they live, and as the days go by, they can't help but learn more about each other. They learn all sorts of facts except for the one thing they share in common - they are both in the closet.

What inspired you to write this story?

I'm in college now and so I have always had the characters Alex and Garrett in my mind. I often pictured them together, as roommates, but decided to give them the conflict of hating each other while also being roommates.

How long have you been working on this story?

Two months.

On average, how much time do you spend writing this story each week?

I usually write for at least thirty minutes each day, so on average I would say about an hour and a half.

How did you choose the title for this story?

Well, I came up with the college, which is Bastille, and that's based off of a prison that was torn down in Paris during the French Revolution, which was sort of the first act of rebellion. I remember my high school history teacher telling me that they tore the prison down, "brick by brick." Thus, came the title. It's suppose to be a symbol for the story as well.

What is your favorite thing about writing this story?

I always love a good hateful relationship and writing their struggles. Alex is so angry, Garrett is so untrusting. I love trying to interweave their struggles together while combining their similarities into it. Their relationship is just an interesting one, because it's not entirely hate, but it can't be love.

What is the most challenging thing about writing this story?

I'm taking a creative writing class this year and there are many things I want to write that don't go with what we're learning, and so trying to install these elements of writing I'm learning into the story is a tough thing to do so far.

Have you ever experienced writer's block with this story? If so, how did you overcome it?

At first I did because I wanted to write in a way I wasn't looking forward to, but then I decided to just write whatever I wanted to write and just whatever came out. To defeat writer's block you just have to keep writing, even if it's no good the first time.

Do you write with an outline, or just wing it?

I usually go over the very basic premise, and then I start writing, and then I do a small outline. Often I wing some chapters and just make sure to add in the crucial scenes into it, though. I don't really write the outline down, not until later around the third or fourth chapter.

Do you have any pre/post writing rituals?

Before starting a story, I think of where I want to go with it and I just see if I can incorporate other story ideas I have floating around my head, but otherwise no I don't have any rituals.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

I just want to give a big thank you to them all!

Special thanks to sheepcat; and Katie Mosing for editing!