Gentle Knock - DVD EXTRAS - 1
A GENTLE KNOCK AT THE DOOR
DVD Extras (Part 1)
By zeppomarx
What the Characters Decided to Do:
When I first envisioned A Gentle Knock on the Door, I knew exactly how the story was going to end, and the ending you’ve read is pretty close to the way I had it planned. With one big change. That change came about because the characters adamantly refused to do what I told them to do.
Originally, my plan was to have both House and Wilson end up alone, but in a much better mental place than when the story started, with both of them clearly on the road to recovery. House would play “Hymn to Freedom” on the piano, with Wilson next door listening contentedly.
Rainie was supposed to wind up with Evan, who-in my mind, anyway-had loved her since college and who she turned to after losing Jeff and Evie.
But somewhere around Chapter 45, it became apparent that Rainie had fallen in love with House. I tried to explain to her that this was not a suitable relationship-he was, after all, her doctor, not to mention very fragile and massively screwed up-but she stood her ground, which is her way. We fought about it for a good couple of weeks. I kept trying to write the Pevey courtroom scene differently (with her not in attendance), but she wore me down, and eventually I gave in.
As a writer of nonfiction, I had never before experienced what fiction writers so often mention-the moment when their characters make up their own minds and do things the writer hasn’t planned. It’s an odd feeling to have someone you have created out of whole cloth suddenly develop a mind of her own. Ultimately, I had no choice but to go along and see where the ride took me.
Since then, I’ve talked to other fiction writers who say you can’t argue when these things happen. If you insist on having your own way, the story will suffer. You have to go where the story and the characters take you. And so, after a few stormy weeks, I did.
My initial thought, once I gave in, was that Evan would become jealous and that would lead to all sorts of melodramatic and ridiculously pathetic complications. But suddenly, in the middle of Chapter 46, Rainie outed Evan. “I have no family,” she announced, “no one except Evan, who’s happily gay and doesn’t need a fucked-up straight woman messing up his life.”
Happily gay? Evan? Really? Surprised the heck out of me. But yes, he was gay. And happily so. Good for him.
Once I gave in and let them lead me, Rainie and Evan took me on a far different adventure from the one I’d had in mind. Yes, House and Wilson continued to recover pretty much the way I’d anticipated, but suddenly, Rainie was more than just a patient. And House’s care of Rainie began to parallel Wilson’s mentoring of Evan, which also eventually led to a (behind-the-scenes) romance between those two.
It also led to a much longer (and, I hope, stronger) story, because now not only did House have to recover in a realistic manner, Rainie did also. And their relationship had to develop in a way that made sense. Her personality really began to flower around this point, as I discovered it had to. For her to be a suitable match for House, she had to be smart, intuitive, funny… and flawed. I’d already determined that she was going to be someone who would confront House, forcing him to deal with his issues. Once she asserted herself, I realized I needed to go back to earlier chapters and insert more of her personality and background.
Rainie's Name:
As one person wondered in the Comments section: Yes, I named Rainie Adler after Irene Adler, “the woman” of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the woman he admired because she matched him intellectually. I’d named her this even before the romantic angle came up, because my plan was for her to be the catalyst for his growth and development, and it would take an extraordinary person-“the woman”-to do that. I wasn’t sure I was up to the task, but after Rainie took the lead, I merely followed.
Fan Fiction
When I started writing, I had read only a couple of fan fiction stories-Priority’s Exigencies and DIY Sheep’s The Contract, which was the grandmother of all this. In fact, I still hadn’t read any other fan fiction until quite recently. When I did, I discovered that a few things I put in my story were nearly stereotypes in House fiction: Ordering in Chinese food takeout is the one that springs immediately to mind. But I also discovered that I managed to avoid many others. Don’t know whether you noticed or not, but not once in 85 chapters does House smirk.
Research
As I was writing, I did a ton of research. I read up on:
- post-traumatic stress disorder-how it presented itself and how it was treated
- how to be a caregiver, and what kinds of emotional problems they suffer as they’re attempting to help someone else
- chronic pain
- hand injuries
- medications (and their side effects) for extreme pain
- head injuries
- mental status testing
- the grieving process as it applies to losing a spouse or a child
- spleen injuries-symptoms and treatment
- temporal lobe seizures-how they present themselves and how others perceive them
- after-effects of severe beatings-both physical and psychological
- courtroom security
- how trials are conducted
- paparazzi
- migraines
- muscle diseases that are aggravated by stress
- fibromyalgia and its treatment
- FBI procedures
- back surgery and its complications
- interior design
- maps of Princeton, NJ, and its environs
- Burger King locations in and around Princeton, NJ
- romantic French poetry
- Victor Hugo
- what happens to the body when someone is in extreme pain
- the study of evil in society and human nature
- Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn to Freedom”
- and much, much more…
What I had trouble researching was hospital procedure-what kind of tests would be done when, who would come in and out of a room, what the nurse rotations would be. So ignore all that stuff, because my medical guru told me I got it all wrong, but she said that it would destroy the story to go back and fix it.
Mostly, I researched how people recover from something catastrophic. I wanted to know what stages they go through, both mentally and physically, and whether anyone could really recover from something like what House and Rainie had been through. The answer was yes. It would be slow, and it would be painful, but recovery was possible.
And that’s the story I set out to tell.
In Conclusion, Or Not
Initially, I did all this work for my own amusement. Then, with trepidation, I showed it to a few friends, who encouraged me. And finally, the most amazing part of the whole journey. I began sharing it with all of you. The constant feedback and positive reactions have made this a life-changing experience, and I thank you all.
Now, onto information about the rest of the “DVD Extras.”
A lot of peripheral characters appeared in A Gentle Knock. I have had background information in my head about nearly all of them. Because many of you have encouraged me to do so, I’m going to share that biographical information with you. I’ll be going through chapter by chapter (with links), because that seemed like the easiest way.
In a few cases, someone other than me (or David Shore & Co.) created the character. Priority (author of Exigencies) and TrooperCam (author of Lifeline) created some characters I’ve picked up on. We all thought it might be fun if, in those cases, the creator of the character gave you her take on that person… and then I’ll give you mine as well. In some cases, these may dovetail; in others, we may see the character very differently. If all you see is the character’s name, then I created that character. If someone else created it, I will give you their version of that character before I give you mine.
The Character Studies will begin with my next posting.
Finally, I got a little carried away and designed a floor plan for House’s side of the duplex, and for the backyard. It helped me keep things straight in my head. I offer up those images for your perusal. Keep in mind that I am no designer, so don’t laugh too hard, please.
Onward!
--zep
House's side of the duplex
The front door is at the upper right, with the little foyer where Wilson was standing when he accidentally overheard House talking to Rainie in French. As you can see by the placement of the sofa, they would have had their backs to him.
To the left of the front door, past a large closet, is a very large bathroom, complete with handicapped accessible shower and a jacuzzi.
To the left of the living room is the dining area. To the left of the dining area is the kitchen, and the back door to the backyard is off of the kitchen.
Maybe I should have left this to everyone's imagination... kind of like radio. But since I'd already sketched it out for myself so I would know exactly how to write a given scene, I figured I'd share how I perceived it.
By the way, I just discovered that if you click on the artwork, and then click 2 or 3 more times, it will keep enlarging and getting clearer each time, until you can see everything and read all the little notes.
The backyard
The upper left part of the backyard is the fountain. The upper right corner is the Japanese garden. Along the back is a grove of small trees. To the right of the fountain is the firepit table, surrounded by curved outdoor sofas and chaise longues. Between the doors to House and Wilson's places is a tiled area with a small table and four chairs.
Click on the art several times and it will magnify.