Featured Story of the Week: Everything You Want

Everything You Want is an amazing story written by Dixon-Darling. In this week's Featured Story, we take a closer look at this wonderful work!

Give us a brief summary of Everything You Want.

The prologue is a flashback of McKenzi’s last experience in New York City… When her five year boyfriend, Norman Reedus, breaks up with her. She hops on the very first one-way flight to London, where she becomes a well-known model. She returns home to New York City for Fashion Week and stays with her cousin, Sean Patrick Flanery. Sean has spent the last ten years watching his best friend and his cousin fall apart without each other, and he’s determined for them to reconcile their problems while Kenzi is home. Norman never got over her, and at this point he just wants her back in his life. It’s essentially about love lost, rekindled.

What inspired you to write this story?

I love Norman! Ha-ha, really, though. I’ve always loved Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery (and their bromance!) since I saw The Boondock Saints roughly five years ago. The last several months, I’ve really wanted to do a fanfiction about Norman but I never had a concrete idea to build on until I heard “Raining In Paris” and “Take Me Dancing” by The Maine. I really wanted the story to be unlike most of the Norman stories on here, and those two songs provided me the perfect mental alley to achieve that. Everything about Norman and Kenzi’s story is musically-inspired.

How long have you been working on this story?

Oh, lord. Not long at all, really. I believe I began on this this mid-January.

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

I go on something I refer to as ‘binge writing’ a couple times a week, which consists of writing from around 11pm until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer… typically around 5 in the morning. I do that just to get all my thoughts down while I have an influx of inspiration. The majority of the time spent working on this story is editing.

How did you choose the title for this story?

Like most of my chapter titles, it came from a line in a song. It also really captures what Kenzi is to Norman: everything he has ever wanted is encompassed in her. He admits to her every girl he’s dated since they split had one or two qualities that reminded him of her, but they just didn’t work out. None of them are remotely half of what he is looking for, but Kenzi is everything Norman wants.

What is your favorite thing about writing this story?

Norman Reedus, of course! He and Sean are such dolls and have the most precious friendship I’ve ever seen. It’s a joy to incorporate that into the story, and I’m extremely fond of how awkward Norman is. It’s endearing, and it makes him irresistible to Kenzi when she just wants to be angry with him.

What is the most challenging thing about writing this story?

The most challenging thing about writing this story would definitely be conveying Norman and Seans personalities, and keeping the tension between Norman and Kenzi awkward and believable. I want them to get back together just as bad, if not worse!, than everyone else does, but they just aren’t ready for that yet. I’m impatient, so it’s a big challenge for me to be patient with these two.

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

I actually haven’t experienced writers block with this story. I have experienced writers frustration, though! There are some chapters that I’m really not happy with because they felt so awkward and forced. Then, there’s one chapter I’m still fussing over that takes place at Comic Con (if you watch any of their videos, it’s the one where Norman gets a toy) that I’m just unsure of how exactly to insert Kenzi into. I know what I want to happen, but I’m just frustrated with how it’s coming along.

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

A little bit of both, really. When I get an idea for a story, of any sorts, I immediately go to my writing buddy/ best friend Kayte (she goes by Phenax on here!) and bounce ideas with her. After a few hours of that, I usually have a rather decent skeleton, but I like to wing it from there.

Do you have any pre/post writing rituals?

Most definitely. When I write it’s usually very late at night after work, and there is always, always, always The Maine & Mayday Parade playing on my Spotify. I have a playlist of every song the two bands have released, and a lot of my inspiration comes from some of those songs. It puts me in a good mindset for writing.

There’s always a glass or four of Mtn. Dew or Cranberry juice involved, too.

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

You all are absolutely wonderful and keep me motivated to write. Occasionally, it takes a little while to update because I refuse to post a chapter I’m not 100% confident in without having Kayte proof-read it. Then, after I post a chapter, I fret all over the place hoping you (my darling readers) will enjoy it. Much love, xox.

Special thanks to Katie Mosing and broken bells for editing!