User blog comment:Sambarnes/Survivor: BSSS Q&A 1/@comment-26485526-20200208223624/@comment-26098956-20200209015758

Thank you for the questions! :^)

The first incarnation (which I didn't get around to writing) with this cast was a season called Survivor: India, and from what I remember, most of the castaway personalties were similar (sans occupations). When I drafted Survivor: Street Smart vs. Book Smart, a few characters on the Book Smart tribe, namely a college professor, real estate agent, retired [ something ], and male dorky superfan were characters I couldn't flesh out when I ended up combining the two seasons together. As for castaways that actually made the season, almost all of them changed (mostly for the better):
 * Ash and Carrie had more or less the same personality (intense strategic women). I decided to make Carrie more sociable and friendly to contrast the two.
 * Bernice was supposed to be a timid and awkward superfan (à la Hannah) who still would've idoled out Tamesha but would grow increasingly paranoid and get voted out because of that.
 * Chad came from an Ivy League school and would've had a more douchey and entitled personality. I changed that because Nicholas was already douchey enough.
 * Dakota was an exotic dancer at one point who would've flirted with both men and women to get her way, but I liked her better as a SJW rebel.
 * Don was supposed to be a gambler and would've been a lot more outspoken.
 * Frank was a rancher who was fighting to keep his farm alive... found him way too boring (even after I made him the fish-out-of-water).
 * Gregory was supposed to be a guru who would occasionally give spiritual advice and have a lot of the present Bernice's mystic and erratic tendencies.
 * Jimmy began as the male dorky superfan but became a power-hungry journalist that was determined to "fight for the truth". When I started posting profiles, I decided to change his job and his personality because I needed mellower personalities on the Book Smart tribe. I envisioned him to be a theatrical and cunning puppet master... but with the changes in the story, I couldn't quite adjust his new personality so he became more UTR.
 * Justin was going to be a bland version of the Joe Anglim archetype.
 * Tim would've evolved into a more threatening player, with the castaways becoming more and more afraid of how he would emotionally manipulate others with his story.
 * Valerie was a lot more whiny and would've gotten on the nerves of her tribe. I liked her better as a scrappy underdog that people would want to root for.

I'm most proud of creating the feud between Joy and Mei. It was an extremely last-minute addition, as I realized that their story from the merge up until the Finale was that they would still remain tight allies and vote together. I was writing Episode 9 (which was when I added Justin and Tim's idol saga – a close second for my favorite writing moment) when I realized that I couldn't keep them like that for too long. It also helped me develop Jimmy's character, as Jimmy's storyline at that point was that he had no allies... and would vote without giving much thought to what decisions he'd make. The feud also helped develop Ash's sacrifice in Episode 12: she was always going to give up reward for Joy, but Mei never threw the challenge because she was still friends with Mei.

I guess I feel somewhat bad for booting more dynamic personalities (such as Bernice, Tamesha, and Valerie) before the merge while some... less stellar characters (Jimmy, Molly) made it deep into the game. One of the themes of the season that I was proud of was that nobody is safe – even your favorites. I loved eliminating your favorites didn't quite realize that Jimmy and Molly made it that deep, especially when they were very one-note and uninteresting. If I could go back, I would've still eliminated some early favorites, but perhaps drop Jimmy and Molly earlier on. In all honesty though, I'm proud of how this season came to be because everything fell into place and I enjoyed every step of the way.