IQ148 // namjoon ✔️

| book discussion |

dear readers:

thanks to you, the comments are full of positivity and you have shared many of your own interpretations throughout the book.

This update is basically a place where we can have a book discussion. Feel free to bring up a topic/theme/etc. about the book that you want to discuss or you can ask any questions about the book that I can answer as the author!

This is kind of an experiment and I'm not sure what the response will be, but I'm interested to try it out and to see what you guys have to say.

Q&A >>>>>>

@Laggy_Duck
How did you come to make namjoon as a character?

Thank you for your question! Namjoon as a character is a manifestation of his real traits in real life combined with my imagination of what he's like. Obviously this is NOT what he is like in reality, or at least we'll never know what he's really like, but based on his IQ, videos and speeches, his love for books, and research, I made my own interpretation of him. Although Namjoon is the inspiration for the character, I also see the Namjoon in the story as a completely different person in itself. When it came to his thought process, much of it was either stream of consciousness or planned out beforehand.

@Cyxaps
How do you plan events that will happen or later come up? What inspired you to create the characters personalities?

Thanks for your questions! Before I started writing, I made a basic outline of the main plot points (exposition, rising action, climax, etc.) and chose what years the plot would run through. Then I split up the years and planned out the main plots of each season, then I split up the seasons into months and planned out what the goal of each month had to be in order to build up and achieve the main plot for the season. There were some months where I had nothing planned even after I started writing, so I used my extensive knowledge of Korean dramas to fill in the blanks.
Creating the personalities was pretty easy bc they are either from personal experience, based on someone I know, or based on myself. Side characters or extras were really just written to fulfill a role and I gave them traits that would fulfill them, that's why some of the side characters are pretty straightforward. The bookstore clerk HyunSeok is meant to be similar to Joon but I gave him some irony in the fact that he's bad at taking care of books but works at a bookstore as a way to turn JungMi off. I was inspired by NamJoon's real life personality and intelligence to make his character, bc I was amazed that there's not many fanfics that acknowledge that. JungMi is basically me; she has my thoughts and feelings, she's what I fear will happen to me but also what I aspire to become.

@btsuwu_13
Was this the original ending to this book or was there an alternate?

Great question! The ending was one of the first things I planned. I always had the ending of the book planned out beforehand and knew how the book would end, but the Ambrosia flower exchange was added in last minute. I was also contemplating whether to add a kiss in the last chapter or not. The epilogue was the resolution I felt was needed, but originally wasn't going to be published. Namjoon and Jungmi were always meant to be together in the end and no alternative ending exists.

@Sunnyisjustakitty
Are you currently working on any new books?

Thanks for your question! Although I have many more book ideas in mind, I am currently focusing on heavily editing and rewriting IQ148 for possible publication. My current goal is to publish IQ148 so no other books are in progress at the moment. When I do start writing again, it probably won't be fanfiction anymore so I can focus on original work and building my writing career. Please look forward to what I have in store!

@-anothermultitrash-
Did it take a lot of brainstorming as of how to refer the famous literary works in the book?

Great question! In essence, yes, it did. But in a way, I believe this book was destined to be written bc of how flawlessly everything came together. Basically, the literary works that I referred to in the story were texts that I was reading in real-time while writing it. All references were to works that I've either read in class or during my own time. The first few books that Namjoon and Jungmi discussed about were books that I had already read. When I read a new literary work or heard a quote that I felt connected to IQ148, I would use them to fill in the blanks of the plot outline I didn't plan out yet.  The hard part was how to connect them to the storyline apart from just having them have book discussions about them. A good example would be the Little Gidding by T.S. Eliot that I read in my AP Lit class. I knew that it would be perfect for IQ148, but I had to figure out when I could introduce it and how it could be used to drive the plot forward.