NaNoWriMo has officially ended, and I am officially tired of writing. XP That's what my brain says, anyway - but once I make myself start I enjoy it every bit as much as ever.
Today's post is the second part of Know the Novel (see the first part here if you haven't already), featuring my current WIP, Project Avian. (Speaking of which, should I create a WIP page for Project Avian on here? Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in that. ;)) But, since NaNo is over, I figured I'd give y'all a quick update on how that went.
NaNo Update
For those of you subscribed to my newsletter, you already know this. But for those of you who aren't (and why not, pray tell? *waggles eyebrows menacingly*), I didn't beat NaNo this year. I fell behind in the middle and struggled to catch up. I did catch up in the end, but something more important than writing came up on the last day and I decided to forego beating NaNo in favor of said other thing.
That being said, I reached 50k words on Saturday and have continued working on Project Avian since. I have no doubt this will be my biggest WIP yet, which is both exciting and exhausting to think about. I'm already almost at the 150 page mark and not even halfway through. 0_0 We'll see how long it ends up, but it will be a honker for sure. Which means editing will be a nightmare. XP
Know the Novel
(For those of you who don't know what this is, check out this post here for an explanation. :))
The Questions
How’s the writing going overall?
*glances at messy manuscript* I mean... I have over 50,000 words and 150 pages. I think that's a good sign. XD That being said, this is a crazy bad first draft. So much of it changed in the middle, my pacing would bring an editor to tears, and my characters too similar to one another. That being said, I love it. So I'm going to keep trying to write 1500 words a day until it's done and go from there. XD
What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?
Honestly... as much as I moan and groan about how bad my plot is and the mess I've made of things, I'm finding the way things just show up on the page to be quite entertaining. Does anyone else have that thing when you're writing where you'll just get into a mood and thirty minutes later you come back to reality, reread your work, and are like "Woah I did not see that coming"? Just me? Ok. XD
What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?
Oh my word you guys. These charries are just-- *excited Joelle noises* I understand why pansters like pansting so much now. I haven't had to wrestle with a single one of these charries yet (which may be concerning to me later but for now I'm just relieved XD), and so many of them are revealing little sad secrets which aren't your typical tragedy but kinda make you ache anyway, y'know? Like Kendral. Kendral, y'all. He wasn't even supposed to be an important character, but he kind of just inserted himself and here we are. He's fantastic. XD And Lilith. Poor girl needs to take a chill pill and get a puppy. Even Lyria has been surprising me. She's now joined the collection of characters whose voices show up in my head from time to time and make life very distracting. :P
If there were any one character that's been giving me trouble, it would be Alek. His personality changed and now I'm struggling to figure out where he's coming from. But something about him is also so natural. I love it. XD
Has your novel surprised you in any way?
Ha. *points at the trash bin, where my three-page plot was thrown after day 2* Every day has a new surprise waiting to happen. I don't even know where I'm going anymore. XD
Have you come across any problem areas?
*points at plot again* If I don't know where I'm going, how will anyone else? Also, I'm in desperate need of a map. XD
What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?
Writing a MC different from any I've ever had before but similar enough that she doesn't seem... stiff, y'know? I've never written such an introvert and I'm starting to think I'm becoming one just from spending so much time in one's head.
Characters have influence, guys. It's scary.
Careful with those villains, yeah? XD
If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?
Oh wow, I love this question. Mostly because I have no idea. XD I thiiink I'd be Lyria? She's very relatable in how she interacts with the other characters and the questions she has and how her brain works. But she's also so... awkward. And quiet. Like quieter than Gilead, and the way his character voice is unique is through his silence. If she weren't a POV character I'd be afraid the readers would forget she was there. XD
As for whether or not I would have taken any different actions... yeah, probably. At least vocally. XP
Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!
Too easy.
That's the first sentence of the prologue. And I'm not giving you any more of it. However, I'll give you the first paragraph of the first chapter, 'cause why not? XD
Everything was still. Twilight cloaked the world, blending colors and shrouding even the brightest of things in shadow. The half moon hovered over the distant mountain peaks in the east, dim with the final streaks of sunset in the west. Lyria tucked her wings closer to her body. Just like I like it.
Hehe. I love her so much. XD
I'll save longer snippets for days when I run out of stories for Story Day. :P Plus, they're all very poorly edited if edited at all, and I'd rather spare myself the embarrassment. XD
Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)
Derailed from my outline? Uh, yeah. Like I said, I have no idea what is going on anymore. This whole thing is being driven by Joram's reckless idiocy, Lyria's confusion, and Alek's fear. Throw in some of Lilith's deceptions and the chiefs' vendettas and I've completely lost control. XD
Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!
It's funny how similar my writing habits are novel by novel, but also how different. For A Tale of Two Brothers, it was a very chill morning following my outline, laughing to myself at Irad's deadpan sarcasm, and remembering to eat breakfast. A lot of this novel's routine is similar - get up, make breakfast, and sit down to write. But there's a whole lot more blinking cursors and inward groaning and the occasional huff of indignation going on. A Tale of Two Brothers was safe. This story... not so much. I even cried over it at one point in the middle of NaNo because I was so tired of trying to fix all the problems I stuck my characters in and really didn't want to write anymore because I have no idea what is going on. The unknown is terrifyingly beautiful when you're creating something, and it's only through blood, sweat, and tears that you reach the end - and hopefully you and your WIP get there in one piece. XD
That being said, music has been a lifesaver with this one. I feel like progress is going slower than with ATOTB, but my playlist for Project Avian (what I'm listening to right now, actually) has kept me from getting stuck so many times. Candles, on the other hand, give me migraines. So it's usually just me, my music, and some kind of snack. Sometimes the dog comes to cuddle, too. XP
That... was so much fun. *grins* Y'all need to answer these questions for your WIP even if you don't have anywhere to publish it purely for the joy. XD (Plus, hey, you could always pick two or three of these questions and answer them in the comments... *winks*)
What about you? Are you a plotter, panster, or planster? Do you have characters that you have a love-hate relationship with? I want to hear about them! What do you do when they shanghai the plot? How long was your longest project? If you were in your book, which character would you be?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!!
"This whole thing is being driven by Joram's reckless idiocy, Lyria's confusion, and Alek's fear." LOL! Your poor characters! I absolutely love hearing about this project, girl. <333 Though I hate how much I relate to your problem of just having no idea what's even going on. 🤣 It is a real thing.