Inside scoop #4

In the very early stages of development David had an older brother who was to be the story’s antagonist. My plan was that this brother was someone who had recently became involved with a group of religious extremists and after months of being suspicious of them, catches David and Ben kissing. He is outraged by this and goes a bit crazy and attacks them. They manage to get away, but the brother begins stalking them and eventually kills David. However, try as I might to get this to work, it just kept fizzling out. I got so far as to start writing the scene where the brother catches them and it just felt wrong. I had to put the story away for a few days and come back at it with fresh eyes - I realized that it did not feel genuine. I removed the brother, and thought I wonder what it would be like to use David’s dad as a catalyst to get the story started. I knew I didn’t want the dad to go the same route as the brother, but needed something to really draw the boys together. Once that started rolling, I knew I still needed an antagonist and since I had already mentioned her, I thought let’s use Psycho Karen and see what happens.