Know The Novel Part One: Introducing Asteria (& An Update on Project Wales/NaNoWriMo)

 Hello all!

Last year, I participated in Know The Novel for the first two parts (and flopped at posting the last, but it's okay, everything's fine) and I had a really good time! For an update, since I missed the last lot of questions, I did in fact successfully finish NaNoWriMo last year.

So, I decided to participate again this year - and actually endeavour to finish it this time around. However, I was faced with a bit of a problem, specifically that my 2021 NaNo project is, in fact, the same as it was last year, because I'm hoping to use NaNo to completely finish Project Wales this year! I'm currently at 72k words for this draft, and before I start NaNo, I'm hoping to write another 20k or so on it during October so I can finish it with the 50k for NaNo. Yes, this is an enormous book. I'm currently partway through the midpoint chapter, so...yeah. Massive book. My goal was 120k, it's looking like it might be 140k haha. Hilariously, my first ever completed novel finished up at around 72k words, so...character development, I guess?

But, since I'm doing the same story, I felt like it'd be a bit redundant to go back through the same novel using these questions, since I've already answered them. The only thing that's really changed since last update is that Haneul's back to being a boy again haha. So, I made the decision to answer the Part 1 questions for my other WIP, Asteria. Yes, I have a plethora of WIPs. No, I'm not okay. Here's a link to my Project Wales post if you need a refresh on what my actual NaNo project is: Project Wales

Asteria is a WIP I've talked about a few times on this blog, but I've never actually made a whole post talking about it. Since I've long-since finished the first draft, and am currently working on the second, it seems like a good time to do so. Especially since I'm hoping to continue working on it a little during November. Project Wales will obviously be my focus, but I'm hoping to get a decent amount done on Asteria as well.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Asteria (definitely not final title).

What first sparked the idea for this novel?

I came up with this idea literally years ago and it's honestly very hard to pinpoint what started it. If I remember correctly, it was way back when Disney XD's Lab Rats was airing and I got an idea to write a contemporary sci-fi about three triplets with superpowers, who escape from a lab. Literally none of this has stuck around. For context, that show started airing in 2012 and only ended in 2016 so...it's been a while. I distinctly remember being sixteen when I was developing it, because I was the same age as Minerva, and I'm twenty-three now, so...yes. It's been a hot minute.

I wrote out so many different variations of this idea and it took years for me to come to my current iteration of it. First I switched it from contemporary to set in space. I even filled out a whole outline plan for that version of it, before ditching basically everything except for a couple of characters' names, as you can see here - I can include this because literally none of this is relevant anymore haha.

Then, I cut two of the siblings and stuck with just Minerva. I then wrote the first chapter and a half for my Advanced Creative Writing OU module final EMA in mid-2017. And then I wrote a rambling bulletpoint outline that was ninety-nine percent me snarking at myself and my characters, which ended up being what I wrote the first draft off of - except it was nothing like the outline really, because I am nothing if not an incorrigible pantser even when I'm trying to outline. Just so you understand what I'm talking about here, this was the beginning of my mess of an outline.

Also, for your information, Patrick does not in any way exist anymore. So that's a RIP on him.

So yes, this story has been in the works for a very, very long time and I'm just now starting on the second draft of it. I finished the first draft back in 2018, ignored it for ages because I'm the worst like that, and now I'm finally editing it. There are some big rewrites happening here. It's wild. 

Basically every piece of advice out there for editing says to read your whole draft through first and make notes before diving into editing. I...got up to the middle of it before I started editing? I have notes up until chapter twenty-four? (of forty-three, but shush, it's not a big deal)

Just funny things from the early days of this story's inception include Minerva being an INTP (rip her braincells) and the fact that I, for some reason, thought it was a smart idea to have no less than two separate smuggler crews involved in the storyline, which was confusing even in outline form, so I'm glad I got wise about that. Also, Minerva used to be named Becca. That's just very funny to me now.

Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

Hello, welcome to To Write or Not To Write, where I'm absolutely terrible at writing blurbs. But here's a rough summary that I managed to scrap together over the course of about ten minutes.

Number 1291 – secretly known as Minerva to a scarce few – has nothing, except for her loyalty to the Valerian Republic, her orders and the stolen moments in cupboards and behind pods where she can truly be herself, with those few whose names she knows. Part of her knows that there should be something more to life than this, but she cannot let herself dwell on it.

But then Layla – one of the only people in her life – hacks the information satellite, Apollo, that keeps the Republic running, and reveals terrible information to Minerva about the Republic that they both serve. Shortly after, Layla is caught and executed for treachery. Minerva’s response drives the overseers to attempt to reprogram her and, terrified of losing Layla all over again, Minerva breaks out of the station and flees to the planet below.

All she cares about, all she can care about, is escaping. Getting away from the Republic, whatever the cost. A smuggler captain agrees to take her on as a passenger, as long as she works off the debt, and Minerva resolves to reach Kimbal – the only planet outside of the Republic’s control due to being a mechanical planet floating in the Hades gas cloud – without anything holding her back. But as she spends months on the ship, she finds herself growing steadily more and more attached to the crew – something that terrifies her because to love is to have a weakness. Worse, she soon discovers that she is being hunted down by the terrible Iron Lady, who will have no qualms about murdering whoever she is caught with.

As her desires, fear and heart conflict with each other, which will Minerva choose to follow?

Is it awful? Absolutely. Is it the best I can do in this current moment of time? One hundred percent.

Where does the story take place? What are some of your favourite aspects about the setting?

This novel takes place in the Asterian solar system, which is largely ruled by the Valerian Republic - a deeply corrupt, abusive institute originally formed a thousand years prior by humans who migrated to the system via generational ships. While the Republic started with the best of intentions, and initially was perfectly fair and as right as a government can be, over time it steadily began to break down until it reaches the state it's currently in, which is very not-good. 

I created several planets for this world and I love all of them. Especially, I really enjoy the legends and myths that I crafted for the cultures. I also just really like writing in space. Space is fun. There are also a lot of minor details that I really had fun thinking up when I was writing. 

Tell us about your protagonist(s).

1291 | Minerva

ENFP | 16 | Hufflepuff | brainwashed assassin turned runaway | telepathic | incredibly anxious | suffers from PTSD and lowkey depression | named herself in secret | leather jackets | loves bread more than life itself | delights in exploring new places and meeting new people | kindhearted | loves history and stories | extremely protective of those she loves | has never heard of this 'friendship' you keep talking about | emotions are hard and she doesn't deal with them

*forgive my attempt at an aesthetic/moodboard here, i'm working with stock photos because i am terrified of copyright infringement and it's a rough life.

Who (or what) is the antagonist?

As a whole, the Valerian Republic is the overall antagonist, but the more personal antagonist is the Iron Lady, who is the Republic's enforcer specifically trained for hunting down people like Minerva.

What excites you the most about this novel?

So much about this novel excites me! It has so many of my favourite themes and elements. Honestly, I'm just as excited about it now as I was when I was first drafting it. Some major things I'm excited for are:

The Characters

I absolutely adore all of the characters in this novel. Minerva, of course, is an obvious one. She's one of my favourite protagonists that I've ever written and I'm very excited to strengthen her character. I put a lot of myself into her, especially I used a lot of my own experiences with anxiety and depression to write her, so she's a character who's very near and dear to my heart. 

I also love the crew she joins. There are nine current members of the crew, as well as another passenger called Calahan who's Very Important, and they're all so much fun. I'm really eager to strengthen their characters as well. I really want to create some more Conflict between them all and to make them more well-rounded and individual. I've been hard at work developing them more and I'm excited to put it all into action when I rewrite their scenes.

Calahan in particular is a character I'm excited to make better. He's very complex and I love the character arc he undergoes, but it definitely needs strengthening. I also love his relationship specifically with Minerva, it's very important overall - it's somewhere between a romance and a friendship, which develops more later in the series, but in this book we lay the foundation, which needs to be strong. I'm eager to improve it.

The Relationships

Speaking of which, in general, I'm very excited for all the character relationships in this book. There's a significant found family aspect, every member of the crew has in some way lost their family and they've built this family and home together, and through that, Minerva comes to understand friendship and family in a way she never has before. 

Along with Minerva and Calahan's relationship, there's also the relationship between Minerva and Layla, which is extremely pivotal and a lot of the novel is devoted to Minerva figuring out how to define it and understand it, as when she first leaves, she doesn't know how to call it a friendship.

The Themes

There are so many themes in this that I just adore. Themes of friendship, sacrifice, found family, freedom - the question of what freedom truly means, healing from trauma, rebuilding self-identity and a lot more. I'm so excited to bring them out more and make them stronger.

Certain Scenes

As this is a second draft, there are also just some scenes that I'm really excited to get to and work on. There are more scenes that I've planned to replace old ones that I'm eager to write out and see how well they actually work. I'm just really excited about this story, guys.

Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

This is intended to be a trilogy. I've planned out a lot of the second already, and I'm mostly just hoping to get this one a few drafts in before I start on the second.

Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

I'm editing, so I'm kind of beyond the plotting vs pantsing stage. If I had to pick one, I'd probably say plantsing, since I have kind of planned out scenes that I need to write, but a lot of the changes are happening as I write still.

Name a few unique elements about this story.

Hmmm, I think the characters are quite unique, hopefully. I also think the idea of a mechanical planet in a gas cloud is pretty unique. Also, there are space sirens! And a space kraken! And semi-living spaceships! And slight hints of magic, which is always fun. This story is really more science-fantasy/space opera than sci-fi, and I'm hoping to bring that out more in the second draft haha.

Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

The Pinterest board for this novel is here and the Spotify playlist is here. 

And that, my friends, is that. Hopefully, I will return in November with Part Two, and December with Part Three. Who knows, maybe I'll start being more active on here in general...we shall see. Good luck to you if you're doing NaNoWriMo too. My NaNoWriMo account is here, I'd love to be buddies if you so desire. Just shoot me an invite and then message away to your heart's content.