Greetings. Guess who managed to finish this linkup this year. Very nearly not me, but here we are.
So, in case you're new here, this post is the final set of questions from Christine Smith's Know The Novel linkup. It's designed for those who are doing NaNoWriMo in November to talk about their novels, but it's open to anyone. I did the first set in October, and the second in November.
Since my plan for this November was to do another 50k on my NaNo novel from last year, I did the first set of questions for a completely different story - my space opera Asteria which I'm currently editing - and then I did the second for my NaNo novel. For this set of questions, I'm continuing to talk about my NaNo novel - Project Wales. If you want my introductory post for this novel, here's my post from last year.
How did writing this novel go all around?
It actually went really well! I had a better time of it this year, albeit still with some rough patches. I managed to hit 50k on the 24th of November, which didn't quite beat my record from Camp NaNo earlier this year where I hit 50k by the 23rd but almost.
I still haven't fully finished this novel, but my goal is to pound out the last 14k or so by the end of the month, which should be plausible.
As for the writing itself, there were definitely some hard parts, but overall, I really enjoyed writing this novel. It's one of my favourite projects that I've worked on. I just adore everything about it.
Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome?
As I mentioned above, I technically haven't finished yet, so it's kind of hard to talk about the outcome, but I have written a lot of it, so I'll give it a go.
Honestly, this novel has grown so much. It's over 130k now and it's. Still. Not. Finished. I'm pretty sure it's going to be like 145k for sure, and that's just. A whole thing. And might I add, that's with me probably skimping on some character development scenes. She's a beast.
For the most part, I've kept to the bare bones of my (very vaguely) outlined plot, but pretty much all of the details have changed. A lot has been taken out or moved to the next book, and a lot has been replaced by different, better scenes. The world has also fleshed itself out more as I wrote - which I'm very grateful for, given my Scrivener World-building folder was sitting at a measly 1k of vague notes prior to my starting this novel. That is typically how I prefer to work, I just don't find it easy to world-build in detail before I start writing and interacting with it, but it's still stressful starting a fantasy series without really understanding the world haha.
It's still very much a soft world-building world - and a soft magic system for that matter. Much more about atmosphere and Vibes than about iron-clad rules, which was my original intention, so that's great.
What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)
I've said this before, but I just adore these characters so much. These kids are some of my favourite characters that I've ever written. They're the most chaotic squad of nerds I've ever seen and I love it.
The plot needs a lot of work, but it has definitely come out better than I was expecting it too. I was really worried about whether or not the treasure-hunt aspect would come out really repetitive, and there definitely are scenes where that's an issue, but for the most part it's actually alright, I think. I tried to focus on creating new and unique parts of this fantasy world for my characters to go to and interact with for each clue, so it feels more like they're exploring than just going from one clue to another, and I think it actually worked alright. I also adore the intergenerational secrets aspect and all the mysteries. I haven't even revealed half of what I have planned for this series, but I'm already so excited about it.
I'm pretty happy with my prose for this novel. Yes, it has its issues, and oh boy does it need cutting down, but I think it mostly came out feeling right which was a really big part of my original concept.
Like I said up there, the setting is going really well too. It's probably the part that's come out the best, I would say. I have significant issues with every other aspect of this novel, but the setting only has minor issues imo, which I'm delighted with.
How about your least favourite part?
Hmmm, difficult. I enjoyed every part really, but that doesn't mean that those parts didn't also have aspects I didn't enjoy. Like, I might be happy with my prose, but that doesn't mean there weren't whole sections where I was just pounding out words and hating every single one of them. I might adore these characters, but that doesn't mean that their character arcs aren't a mess.
If I had to pick one least favourite element, I guess it's probably those big info-dumps I ended up having to do just to figure out the information for myself. There are a few scenes just ruined by these exposition dumps.
What do you feel like needs the most work?
Like I said, many, many issues in this novel. Peri just forgets she's supposed to have internal conflict for like the entire middle of the novel. Haneul has no midpoint whatsoever and his best friend just materialises at like 100k words into the novel having never been mentioned prior to that. The mystery element remembers it exists like 80k words in. Big problems.
I'd say overall, it's probably plot and structure that are the biggest problems right now. Most of the other issues are in some way caused by that, I'd say. If the story was structured properly, then my character arc issues would be solved, but rip to structure I guess.
How do you feel about your characters now? Who’s your favourite? Least favourite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!
I absolutely adore my characters. They're so much fun to write! Just a bunch of absolute nerds having fun messing around with magic and magical creatures. I love them.
Peri - Still a delight to write. Probably jokes way too much, especially when she's having a hard time at which point the jokes just reach critical level. Always down to pick a fight, especially when it is obvious to absolutely everyone that she has no way of winning. Super smart, but pretends to not be for no discernible reason. As I've written her, I've begun to suspect she has ADHD tbh.
As for surprises, I was honestly surprised by how hard her character is to get down. She's very stubborn and refuses to actually acknowledge how she's feeling even to herself, which makes her a hard character to really understand.
Haneul - Absolute sweetheart. Cares so much about everyone, but is so freaking scared of caring so much about anything, because he's very used to losing what he loves. My guy also needs to stop shutting people down the second they show they care about him. Someone expresses concern for him and he's just like 'haha, goodbye'. His self-esteem....needs a lot of help.
He surprised me in that he's actually even more of a mess than I though he would be. Like, I knew my guy had some problems, but he's actually so freaking sad. Child. Bud. Get some help. I was also surprised by how easy he was to get to know once I got past my initial issues. He used to be the hardest.
Jules - Snarky legend. Still very much depressed, but ironically probably has the healthiest coping mechanisms of this squad, which says a lot because he's living in an abusive situation and refusing to get out because he doesn't think he can exist outside of his family. So that's fun. He's super fun to write because he's so freaking snarky, which, incidentally, is one of the things that really surprised me about him.
He's way more snarky than I thought he'd be. And he's just generally more assertive and more prone to mediating between everyone than I thought was going to be his role. He's normally the one restraining everyone else and looking out for everyone, quietly, making sure people don't do anything too stupid.
Arthur - Raging disaster son. Gets a strict allotment of one(1) good, intelligent decision per decade. Straight up locked himself in his home for two weeks over a setback at one point in this novel. Haneul had to go and physically force food on him. Has so many psychological issues, of which precisely zero are in any way dealt with - or even acknowledged. Wouldn't know good communication if it hit him over the head.
What’s your next plan of action with this novel?
Well, first of all, I need to finish it haha. Once that's done, I'm going to put it away for a while and work on my other projects, and then I'll start edits. I'll probably try and get started on the next novel in the series too, maybe that'll be my NaNo novel next year, I'm not sure yet. It's a three-part story, essentially, which means it's probably best if I try and get them all written sooner rather than later so I can make sure everything is consistent.
If you could have your greatest dream realised for this novel, what would it be?
Publication, absolutely.
I'm kind of worried about trying to make it my debut novel, given it kind of has to be a series. In all my research about querying agents, everyone says to say your book is a standalone with series potential if you must query a series, but Project Wales is literally incapable of not being a series. Most plot threads don't get properly resolved in this book. I'm not sure what to do yet, I might try and complete one of my other fantasy projects that actually is a standalone to start off with, but I'm not sure yet. I'm really just praying about the whole thing and seeing where God leads me in relation to it.
Share some of your favourite snippets!
Ahh, snippets! Exciting. Just let me go try and find some new snippets.
Snippet #1
‘So how do we get in contact with Arthur?’ Peri asked, ‘Does he have a phone?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jules said with a shrug, ‘I assume he does. I haven’t got his number yet if he does, I’ve only known him for a week and I guess it didn’t come up. He always finds me.’
‘Ah,’ Peri hummed, ‘That to do with his weird ‘drawn to places and people’ thing.’
‘I think so,’ Jules folded his sketchbook over to close it, and slid it under his jacket, hugging it to his chest. ‘Though he’s never actually said that.’
‘He does like his ambiguity, doesn’t he?’ Peri said in amusement.
‘He definitely does,’ Jules rolled his eyes, ‘Like I said, I’ve only known him for a week, but I’m pretty sure he’s actually the most ridiculously dramatic and unnecessarily cryptic person I’ve ever met.’
‘That checks out,’ Peri said with a laugh.
A shadow fell over them and Jules looked up to see Arthur, his coat being blown in the wind. ‘Oh, there you are,’ Arthur said. ‘I was looking for you both.’
Peri burst into laughter at the sight of him and Jules couldn’t help but join in. Arthur looked very bemused. ‘I don’t understand why I’m a source of such hilarity,’ he said, visibly a little annoyed, ‘But can you both calm down a little bit?’
Peri held up one hand, trying to stop laughing but failing miserably. ‘Sorry, Arthur,’ she managed to get out. ‘Just…’ she was off in a flood of laughter again.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ Jules managed to calm himself down a bit, before the sight of Arthur - honestly, truly - pouting set him off again.
Arthur made a face at them. ‘You’re both children,’ he informed them flatly as he came over to Jules. ‘If you will laugh at me, you could at least budge over a bit,’ he told Jules.
Jules held up his hands and shifted over a little, so Arthur actually had enough room to sit next to him. Arthur sat, looking very put-out.
It took another minute or so for both Jules and Peri to stop laughing, and Arthur pouted the entire time. Finally, they both subsided and Peri leaned forward so she could see Arthur more clearly.
‘Do you have a mobile? Cause it’d probably be easier to arrange where and when we’re meeting than just relying on whatever freaky psychic thingie you have going on.’
Arthur just looked at her. ‘I don’t have one,’ he said.
Jules turned to stare at him. ‘You don’t?’
Peri seemed equally astounded. ‘Mate, how old are you? Are you, like, actually eighty? Is that why you dress like a grandad, cause you’re actually ancient but just look mega-young cause Magic.’
Jules could literally hear the capitalisation of the last word there. But he agreed with the sentiment. How could Arthur be living in the 21st century without a mobile phone? He could at least have a pay-as-you-go one, those were easy enough to get.
Arthur just shrugged. ‘I’ve never needed one.’
‘What about keeping in contact with your family and friends and stuff?’ Peri asked, turning so she was sitting sideways and crosslegged on the bench, facing towards Jules and Arthur. ‘Don’t you need one for that?’
‘I don’t have any friends,’ Arthur said, ‘Nor do I have family. It’s just me. Why would I need one?’
He said it so calmly, as though it wasn’t a huge deal that he had no family or friends, that he was completely alone. It was as if he was saying ‘grass is green’ or ‘I dress like a grandad’, like it was just a fact of life, something he had no emotional reaction to at all. Like he’d been alone for so long that he had long since gotten used to it.
Not for the first time since meeting him, Jules wondered what kind of life Arthur Mulligan had lived to create the person he now was.
Peri looked equally as horrified as Jules felt, but she covered it up fairly quickly. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘You have friends now. So you need a mobile phone. Before we go any further, we’re taking you to buy a phone.’
Arthur stared at her, then at Jules, then back at Peri again. ‘Uh,’ he said, ‘Okay.’
Snippet #2
There was a long pause, before Haneul shook his head and sat up straighter. ‘Anyway, is this place seriously made out of tree root? How does that work?’
Recognising an attempt to change the subject, Peri sat back and ran her fingers over the wall. ‘It’s so cool,’ she offered, in her opinion very valuably, but none of the others looked very impressed by her addition.
‘We’re actually under a real tree,’ Arthur said, drumming his fingers on the table absently as he talked. ‘If we went to the same spot up above, you’d see this gigantic tree. Locals call her Old Woman Oak. She’s been standing up there for over a thousand years, watching over the town as it grew. Or so the legends say. Most people just see her as a big historic tree up above, but she’s actually home to a lot more than just this coffee shop. Old Woman Oak is home to Carydrai’s fairy market, appearing every fortnight. I’ll take you to it sometime, but you need to be really careful if we do,’ Arthur made a face, ‘The fey do love trapping humans and their markets are dangerous.’
Peri blinked. ‘Are they really that dangerous?’
‘I’ve known of people who got trapped forever because they made the wrong move at a fairy market,’ Arthur said flatly.
Peri ahhed at that. ‘Right. Okay. No wrong moves. Got it.’
Arthur shook his head, but he couldn’t help but laugh despite clearly trying not to. ‘I dread to think what kind of nonsense you’d get up to at a fairy market.’
‘Excuse me,’ Peri said primly. ‘I wouldn’t get up to any nonsense. I never get up to nonsense. I am thoroughly non-nonsensical in nature, I’ll have you know.’
‘How alliterative of you,’ said Arthur.
‘I have been known to be rather alliterative when the mood strikes me,’ Peri said.
‘Like a bowling ball to the face,’ Jules added, completely unhelpfully.
Peri kicked him under the table. He made a face, but subsided.
‘Anyway,’ Peri said, ‘How do we order?’
‘I’ll go through and order from the counter. There are wait staff here, that’s what I do normally, but I always prefer to go order myself whenever I come here,’ Arthur said, as he reached for the pile of laminated papers in the centre of the table, ‘These are the menus, here.’ He handed them out, giving one to each of the other three before taking one for himself. ‘Have whatever you want. I’ll pay for it, it’s my treat.’
Jules immediately started looking over the menu. Haneul looked down at his menu and then back up at Arthur then back down at the menu again, biting his lip but saying nothing. He looked like he was debating with himself about something.
‘You’re playing a dangerous game here,’ Peri informed Arthur seriously. ‘I have been called the Black Hole.’
Arthur raised an eyebrow. ‘Somehow I’m not that intimidated.’
Snippet #3
It was dark when Haneul opened his eyes. His body was mist, almost nonexistent. All around him was shadow and cold, sending daggers of ice deep into his soul.
The darkness shifted and slipped around him like a fog so thick that it blinded him, before it peeled away, revealing a room. A study, it looked like, filled with books, old papers and ancient artefacts.
A man stood in the centre of the room; so tall that his head almost brushed the ceiling light about him that lit up the room with a faint yellow glow. His skin was extremely pale, to the point of appearing almost blue. Veins stood out on his bare hands. His hair was black like coal, carefully styled with too much hair-gel.
His perfectly-tailored black suit seemed to blend in with itself, giving him the look of a long shadow, and his black Oxford shoes were so well-shined that the light was reflected perfectly in them. Everything about him was immaculate, in stark contrast to the room around him.
‘Morrey!’ the man shouted, turning around. For the first time, Haneul caught a glimpse of his face. If he had actually been physically present, he might’ve fallen backwards.
On the surface, his face seemed like that of any other man in his mid-30s, perhaps even a good-looking one, but that was not the first thing that struck him.
No, the first thing Haneul saw were his terrible, black eyes; hollow and dead like this man had died a very long time ago and now he was nothing more than a ghost haunting his own flesh and bone. His face - that on any other person would look human - looked more like a sick facsimile of humanity; his pale skin was stretched across his high cheekbones like too little pastry over a too-large pie and his lips were almost as pale as his skin.
Haneul instinctively quailed under his gaze. It was ridiculous, the man couldn’t see him, Haneul wasn’t really here. This was a dream, nothing more, he was an onlooker not a participant.
So why did it feel like the man was looking straight at him?
Something was wrong. This man was wrong. Haneul could feel it, feel his wrongness crawling inside of him and gnawing away at his soul, like maggots devouring a decaying corpse.
It was a little like Arthur felt, though Arthur was nowhere near as bad. Arthur was human, there was just a sense of death and wrongness to him, like he wasn’t quite right. This man wasn’t just not-right; the wrongness emanated from every atom in his long body. Where Arthur had a faint spectre of death leaning over him, touching him, like it was ready to take him at any time; this man’s spectre was all around him, inside of him, like it had tried many times before to take him, but had failed and now belonged entirely to him.
Haneul had never seen or felt anything like it before. Every part of him trembled and he fought against the fog surrounding him, holding him in place.
‘Please!’ he tried to scream, but he had no mouth with which to speak and the attempt only made the fog pierce deeper inside of him, ‘Please! Let me out! Let me out!’
But the dream would not release its grip on him and he watched as the man straightened up to his full height and called again. ‘Morrey!’
His voice slithered through the air and the door swung open.
‘Yes, Master. I’m here, Master.’ The voice belonged to a much shorter man who looked to be in his early-30s. He was as thin as a stick insect and had a mop of dark hair atop his head. Grey eyes much like Jules’ stared at the wood floor, never daring to look up at the man he called Master. He was also dressed in a suit, but his was navy and seemed much drabber, the sleeves were threadbare and blue patches were dotted all over it, doing their best to blend in with the material but failing.
Haneul felt the icy fear release a little as he looked at Morrey. This man was human. This man wasn’t wrong.
‘Morrey,’ said his master. Almost against his will, Haneul shivered. ‘Have you finished packing my luggage?’
Morrey kept his eyes down. ‘Yes, Master,’ he said, ‘It’s all in the car.’
The man let out a low, creaking sound and it took a moment for Haneul to process that he was laughing. ‘Good. We leave in the morning. For now, call the fey, Morrey. I have an important job for him. Aaron has ignored my requests, it is time that I remind him of what happens to those who defy me.’
Morrey flinched so minutely and so quickly that Haneul almost thought he’d imagined it. ‘Yes, Master,’ was all he said, bowing deeply before backing out of the room.
Finally, Haneul felt the dream pulling him away. As he was pulled backwards, his eyes caught the man’s directly. He seemed to be staring straight at Haneul; his cold, dead eyes awfully aware.
Icy fear rushed through Haneul, freezing his mind as the man smiled a terrible smile. ‘Hello there,’ the man’s voice was horrifyingly genial, as though they had met casually at a coffee shop, ‘I know you are there, whoever you are. Do not play games with me, little dreamer. If you return here again, I promise that I will find you and I will kill you.’ His smile widened, revealing perfectly white, completely straight teeth. ‘Believe me. I always keep my promises.’
The world around Haneul faded, but the last thing to disappear into the thick fog were those terrible eyes...
still staring
still watching
always….watching....
Snippet #4
Haneul glanced around as Peri led them into the living room and then gestured to the sofa for them to sit down. It was a cosy house. The front door led into a narrow hall, with a flight of stairs sitting along the left side. The living room was the next room down, a door leading off into it. An archway in the backwall led into the kitchen.
The living room was fairly small, with a turquoise embroidered fabric sofa along one wall and a matching love seat under the windowsill along the left wall. Cushions sat at various spots all over the sofas, several piled high at the end. Bookshelves took up much of the wall space, sitting behind the sofa even where they were really being blocked from use. A coffee table sat in the centre, much of its surface littered with used mugs and magazines and toys. The walls were a creamy blue and the floor was black carpet. A toybox sat in the corner, but it can’t have been very full since most of the toys were out and all over the floor.
A little boy who looked just like Peri sat chewing on the ear of a little bunny teddy. He stared up at them with big eyes as they sat down. ‘This is Barnaby,’ said Peri cheerfully. ‘He’s my youngest sibling.’
‘Hello!’ An enthusiastic, loud voice came from the door. In strode a short woman with bright blue-dyed hair and a beaming dimpled smile, that crinkled the cream skin around her grey eyes in laughter lines. ‘Peri, you didn’t tell us we were having visitors. Are you both friends of Peri?’
‘Yes, from university,’ said Haneul.
‘I didn’t know,’ said Peri, smiling and rolling forward on the balls of her feet. She didn’t look at the woman as she spoke. ‘They just turned up.’
‘Ah, well.’ The woman’s face fell as she looked at Peri for a moment, before she smiled again and turned to Haneul and Arthur. ‘Well, never mind all that. I’m Peri’s mum, Maribelle. It’s nice to meet you both. What are your names?’
‘I’m Haneul,’ Haneul said, restraining himself from bowing instinctively.
‘Arthur,’ said Arthur, who was looking at Peri oddly.
‘What lovely names. Are you both History students as well?’ Peri’s mother asked. Her accent was different to Peri’s, sounding a little closer to Arthur’s, though not really even that.
‘No, I’m a Zoology student,’ Haneul said.
‘I’m doing a Masters in Philosophy,’ Arthur said.
‘How did you all meet then?’ Peri’s mother asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.
‘Well,’ started Arthur, but Peri interrupted him.
‘A club,’ she said. ‘The…heritage of Carydrai club. We all met there.’
‘You did?’ Peri’s mother tilted her head to the side. ‘Oh, how marvellous. Alright,’ she said, clapping her hands together. ‘All of you sit, I’ll make some drinks and snacks. Who wants tea?’
After getting their various orders – Arthur was for tea, Peri and Haneul for coffee, and Barnaby for a Fruit Shoot, as he announced very loudly once they were all done saying what they wanted – Peri’s mother left the room.
Peri dropped down into the loveseat and poked at Barnaby with her toe. ‘Go play somewhere else,’ she said. ‘Adults are talking.’
‘You’re mean,’ Barnaby said, taking his bunny’s ear out of his mouth just long enough to deliver this information.
‘Yeah, I’m mean, and I’m your big sister, so scoot. Go hang out with Agatha.’
Barnaby scowled but didn’t protest any longer. He picked up his bunny and ran out of the room.
Peri turned back to Haneul and Arthur. ‘Alright,’ she said. ‘Let’s get started. Give me all the details. What happened?’
And so they began their retelling. Arthur said how Jules had first drawn and then pushed the drawing of Oliver under the door. Haneul said that he had recognised Oliver, and then how they’d figured out that he must’ve donated the artefact. After that, it was a simple case of explaining how they’d located it.
Peri sat back at the end, looking impressed. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Great job, guys. So, how do we get to it?’
Silence.
‘We…hadn’t exactly thought about that,’ Arthur admitted. ‘I was just happy we got this far, honestly.’
Peri looked at him, then at Haneul. ‘Seriously?’
‘In our defence,’ said Haneul. ‘We only figured this out last night. It’s not been very long.’
Peri eyed him and then shook her head. ‘Well, first things first. How are we going to get to it? It’ll probably be on display. What if we need to touch it? What if we need the magnifying glass?’
‘Well, first,’ said Arthur. ‘I think we should just go have a look at it. See what we think we need to do. We can better form a plan of action once we get a good look at it.’
Haneul nodded. ‘I think that makes sense.’
‘Alright then,’ said Peri. ‘We should get going. We need to get a looksee at this artefact.’
‘Who wants ice cream?’ Peri’s mother called down the hall.
Silence.
‘We need to have ice cream,’ Peri amended her plan. ‘And then we need to get going. I’ll have rum and raisin, Mum!’ she yelled. ‘Haneul and Arthur both want some too!’
‘Alright!’
A few minutes later, Peri’s mother brought three bowls of ice cream and three drinks out. They all set to work on eating and drinking their way through it, while Peri’s mother yelled, ‘Kids! Ice cream!’ up the stairs. Immediately, pounding came from above and down the stairs as a flood of children and teenagers raced down and into the kitchen.
Haneul stopped eating for long enough to say. ‘How many siblings do you have?’
‘Eight,’ said Peri. ‘Why?’
Both Haneul and Arthur stared at her for a moment.
‘I thought I had it bad with one,’ said Haneul flatly.
The others burst out laughing at that. From the kitchen, Haneul could hear shouting and chatter, as the three set back to eating.
1) Writing three POVs is hard, but fun. I really enjoyed getting to write multiple viewpoints and getting to play with different characters knowing different things and keeping things from each other. It was really challenging though. It's hard to keep it all straight and remember who knows what, and it's hard to make sure that each character gets equal page-time and each develops properly. It's easy to lose track of it.
2) Communication is important. Seeing my idiot kids getting into so much trouble because they just won't communicate their feelings or anything with each other, really has reminded me how important it is to talk to the people you care about and share how you're feeling about stuff, rather than letting it fester away inside of you.
3) It was through this novel that I realised the importance of praying before writing and asking God to use my writing and to help me to glorify Him through my work. It's so important - and it actually helps too! - so I'm really happy I finally realised this and made it a priority.
And that, my friends, is it! My goal remains completing this novel by the end of December, so we'll see how that ends up going. If I succeed, I'll make a post on New Year's Day talking about it.
How has your November gone? Did you guys succeed in whatever goals you had for the month? Comment below and let me know!
