Know The Novel: Within Project Wales

Hello all!

Much to everyone's disappointment, here I am again, with the second part of the Know The Novel linkup that I last completed back in October for my novel, Asteria. In that post, I told you guys all about my novel, Asteria, a space opera I completed the first draft of back in 2018 and am now editing, and I discussed my plans for NaNoWriMo this year, specifically to complete the novel I started last NaNoWriMo, Project Wales. You can find the original post for Project Wales: here. Just to be clear, even though I used the first part for Asteria, the main updates I'm giving here are for Project Wales, since that's what I'm working on for NaNoWriMo. 

Now, after three weeks of writing like an absolute Mad Lad, I'm back, to give you all an update on what's been going on and how my novel's going. This year I've been making recaps for each week of NaNoWriMo and posting them right here on this blog. If you're interested, you can find Week 1 here and Week 2 here.

Without further ado, let's go!

How’s the writing going overall?

deeply beautiful chart, i love it, it prettyyyyy

Actually, pretty well! I wrote the most in the first week, as is pretty typical for me, but even through my slightly rougher period in weeks two and three, I actually still got quite a lot done. 

Stayed ahead of the line all the way through, love that for me. I took Sundays off this NaNoWriMo and didn't write at all on those days, but other than that, I managed to keep up a streak of at least a thousand words a day, which I'm happy with.

Today, I hit 45k of NaNo words, as you can see here.

On my novel generally, I have a whole 125k!

she a beaut

With this recent chapter, we're really starting to get into the thick of Act 3. Stuff is happening, my guys.

So yes, this NaNo is going pretty dang well. I'm really happy with how everything's going. I've been making the effort to normally pray before starting a major writing session and asking for help, and I really think He is helping me, so I give the glory to God, of course.

What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

My characters remain just. So much fun to write. Their relationships really start building in this second half, and we start getting some solid Conflict too, so I've really been enjoying that.

see this snippet i shared in week 1 wherein my kids are starting to tentatively become close friends

Other than that, this world remains one of my favourites I've ever written in. It has its issues, yes, of course it does, but as a whole, it's coming out so well. It's so creepy and cosy and magical. I'm having so much fun just digging into British folklore to get inspiration - and there's so much about it that keeps blindsiding me. It's so much fun to write in, I'm loving it.

What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favourite to write about?

Ah, yes, the old nightmare children. I love them, I really do. They are, however, somewhat challenging to write. Let's go through them.

Peri - She's absolutely nuts, my lads. Her chapters are very fun to write; she's very entertaining. There's a lot of humour in her POV, and that's always a good time. She is, however, a bit of a nightmare in some ways. Specifically, in character development ways. 

I'm really struggling to fully connect to her. She's very much the kind of person who keeps her feelings somewhere deep inside of her and never admits to them, not to anyone. Not even me, and I'm the writer. Her character arc is kind of nonexistent. Every so often, she just remembers she's supposed to have internal conflict. It's rough out here.

Haneul - He's a strange character to write. If you remember last year, Haneul was one of the hardest POVs to write from. I really, really struggled to connect to him at first. He was also the one that I impulse-gender-switched at the beginning of NaNo 2020, only to promptly change him back to a boy at the end, resulting in many months of rewriting his POV. But, as much as that was frustrating to have to do, I think it's resulted in his POV being much stronger overall. I've finally cracked him, I think. I get him now. 

That doesn't stop him being strange. He's very gentle and mild-mannered, has a lot of emotion but is terrible at expressing it, cares deeply but only shows it via acts of service, that kind of person. Also! Turns out, there's way more of the old intergenerational secrets and mysteries coming out in this book than I was planning for his story. His family has a lot of mystery to unpack and get into, and I was expecting most of it to be in the next book, but there's a lot coming out as I write. It's been super fun.

Jules - My boy. My sad, sad boy. He is...not having a fun time, but at least he has...I don't know. He's very snarky, that's fun. I don't think I'm quite capturing the essence of an artist when I'm writing from his POV, so that's something I'll have to work on in the old edits. His family still sucks and I Do Not Like. He's about to get hit with some major character development-worthy revelations so we'll see how that goes.

I am struggling with him as well. Not as much as with Peri, seeing as how he actually does have a character arc and a midpoint and all of that good stuff. I've had some really good scenes from his POV, really digging in to what makes him tick and pushing him to the edge, but there's just as many scenes where it's all surface-level and a bit bland. So there's a lot to fix in editing.

Arthur - Still a mystery. Still a nerd. Has actually become more of a mess as I've written him more. Has more psychological issues than you could shake a stick at. Is probably just straight-dissociating for like ninety percent of this novel. I will once again re-state that so many of the problems in this novel would be solved if Arthur Mulligan possessed a baseline capacity for Communication that wasn't purely in riddles and cryptic, unreadable comments.

Has your novel surprised you in any way?

A basilisk showed up in Chapter Seventeen. That was an absolute hoot. Haneul got like 70% more traumatised from that encounter. 

Other than that, there's been quite a few surprise events or appearances that I didn't plan for. The last third had the loosest 'planning' of all, it was literally three separate plot points, one of which I cut, that were connected by 'i dunno they find a thing that leads them to next thing'. It was wild.

There's also been a lot of times where I was surprised by the way planned events ended up going, see basilisk. And I had a lot of fun with settings in this half. I mostly just had a vague idea of the folklore creatures I wanted to appear in a given place and where that was going to lead them next in the treasure hunt, but when I actually wrote the settings, they filled themselves out and became so much more detailed, it was so much fun.

Have you come across any problem areas?

Like I said, I've had major character issues, so that's going to be fun trying to fix. I can't fix it until I know where I'm going though, so it'll have to be a second draft change (the life of a pantser). I also just have a lot of...conveniences moving the plot along. There are several points where I need to make it more difficult for my characters to achieve things. I'm also a little worried about how much I'm revealing with the mystery? I think I might need to cut down on some of it, so it's better paced, but I'm still figuring it all out right now, so I'll know better once I've actually written the reveals haha. We shall see.

What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

As of right now, I'm on track to possibly finish this whole novel in November, which was my original goal. That, I'm thinking, is going to take me another 10k beyond the final 50k mark. I'm on track for that, which is a big victory for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain momentum and push through to completion. I have had a bit of a problem in the past with hitting 50k and then immediately losing all motivation and momentum for that story, so hopefully that won't happen this time round.

Other than that, I'm just really happy with how it's all turning out. Yes, there are major problems, but it's probably the best first draft I've ever written, so I'm really happy. 

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?

Hmmm. Honestly, I wouldn't like to be any of my main characters for this novel. None of them lead particularly happy lives. I'd probably want to be Peri. Yes, she has EDS, but I also have that so I'd at least know how to cope with it. She has a great, loving family to go along with it, so I'd be alright. Wouldn't like to be Haneul, what with his horrific dreams tormenting him every night, or Jules with his abusive family. And Arthur's just. A whole mess. No one wants to be Arthur. Not even Arthur wants to be Arthur.

If I was Peri, I'd probably get her to act on her suspicions more and to be more open with the others. And I'd get her to talk out her problems with her family; she's very prone to just bottling up her feelings and frustrations until they explode out of her, so I'd make her talk it out. 

Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favourite snippets!

Okay! I did give the first sentence of this whole novel last year, but I'll give it again just in case you haven't read that one. Then I'll give the first line I wrote for NaNo this year.

First Sentence of Novel

'The painted faces of his parents over the mantlepiece scared Jules Ridley. They always had.'

First Sentence of NaNoWriMo 2021

'Jules woke up to a painfully familiar ceiling.

Specifically, his bedroom ceiling. Not his room at the Halls; the space that he’d carved out for himself in between all the terror and the hopelessness of last year, the place where his sketches, pencils and singular sketch pad could be left out on full display with no fear of reprisal, but his bedroom. 

He’d almost forgotten about last night.'

Snippet #1 - feat. family and friends, also arch-nemeses

'Haneul immediately grabbed up his laptop and turned it on, opening Facetime and tapping on Seungyong’s name. It rang once, before she answered.

His sister appeared – dressed in a Seventeen merch hoodie and white jogging trousers, with her hair up in an untidy ponytail – sitting cross-legged on the sofa in their house. Her assistance dog – Kimchi – lay with her head on Seungyong’s lap, snoozing. ‘Oppa!’ Seungyong cried excitedly. 

Kimchi shifted, opening one annoyed eye to glare up at Seungyong. Seungyong didn’t notice. ‘We haven’t talked in ages,’ she complained. ‘You’ve been so busy. What’ve you been up to? Have you met anyone cool? Did you learn anything?’

‘We talked yesterday,’ said Haneul flatly. ‘And before I answer any of that, what’s going on with you and Minhyuk?’

Seungyong stuck her bottom lip out and a laugh came from off-screen.

Haneul face-palmed. ‘Minhyuk. You’re right there, aren’t you?’

‘Duh.’ Minhyuk appeared and dropped down right next to Seungyong, on the other side to Kimchi. He looked much the same as he had two months ago when Haneul had bidden him goodbye – his dark hair was still long and bound back in a pony-tail, he still wore the studded leather jacket Haneul had bought him for his birthday two years ago. ‘Your sister’s a brat. Here I am, just trying to do right by my best friend and she’s whining.’

‘He won’t leave me alone,’ whined Seungyong. ‘He’s always here, trying to help with my school-work even though he’s dumber than I am!’

‘I take offence to that,’ Minhyuk said, as though he hadn’t been solidly at the bottom of their class for all four years of high school. ‘That’s rude. I’m helping.’

‘Oh yeah? Who was king after Sejong the Great?’ Seungyong snapped back.

Minhyuk stopped short. ‘Erm. Probably another ‘jong’?’

‘See?’ Seungyong turned her pleading face on Haneul. ‘Oppa, tell him to go away. Ever since you asked him to keep an eye on me, he’s been driving me mad. If you don’t, I won’t be held responsible for murdering him.’'

Snippet #2 - feat. friends and sandwiches

'Peri sighed and pushed off the windowsill, turning to get dressed and take her medication. She made her way out to the kitchen and, upon finding Haneul eating a delicious-looking fried egg sandwich, face-planted on the table next to him. 

He glanced down at her, raising an eyebrow. ‘Is there a problem?’

Peri moaned. ‘Rain.’

‘Yes, it is raining outside, how astute of you to notice,’ said Haneul flatly. 

Peri shoved him. ‘Shut up,’ she said, making a face at him. ‘You’re going to have to walk in it as well. See how you feel then.’

Haneul sighed, putting down his sandwich. ‘Yes, well,’ he said. ‘We’ll just have to…wrap up really, really warm.’

‘You suck,’ said Peri. She eyed his sandwich. ‘Oi, let me have a try,’ she said, poking him in the side. 

‘Of my sandwich?’

‘What else?’

Haneul shrugged at that and pushed the other half at her. ‘One bite. If you like it, I’ll make you one, you’re not stealing mine.’

‘Says you,’ Peri said. She picked it up and took a bite. Immediately, delicious flavour burst in her mouth. It was sweet and savoury at the same time, perfectly crispy. ‘Mmmm! It’s so good!’ she said, putting the rest of the sandwich down because for all she liked to mess around, no one messed with a person’s sandwich. That was, like, the number one rule of life.

‘You like it?’ Haneul’s smile reached his ears. ‘It’s called gaeran tost-u. Do you want me to make you some?’

‘Please!’ Peri grinned at him and limpeted onto his arm. ‘I’ll be your best friend, forever, if you do.’

Haneul paused, looking thoughtful. ‘On second thoughts, maybe I’d better not.’

Peri made a noise of outrage and shoved at him. ‘Oi. I’ll have you know, I have people lining up to be my best friend.’

‘Sure,’ said Haneul.'

Snippet #3 - feat. Cerberus

‘Guys!’ cried Haneul.

Peri turned towards his voice instinctively, only to stop short despite the ever-present threat of Cerberus behind her.

A griffin. He was sitting on a griffin.

‘What…what on earth, Haneul?’ Arthur had stopped too and was staring blankly at Haneul. ‘How…what?’

‘He’s a good boy, really,’ said Haneul cheerfully. ‘I found an aisle with bird treats. And cat treats. Mixed them together and, boom, pet griffin.’ He stopped and frowned. ‘Erm, you guys are aware of the slobbering three-headed dog behind you, right?’

Peri turned, already resigned. Sure enough, right behind her stood the Cerberus himself, still slobbering, still glaring. But politely waiting for their conversation to finish, which was respectable. He might be a murderous three-headed dog, but at least he had manners.

Arthur grabbed Peri’s arm and they started off again, racing towards Haneul, who patted the griffin’s neck, murmuring something. The griffin preened and bounded towards them.

The pounding behind stopped as the griffin passed them. ‘Here boy!’ Haneul said, in the cutesiest voice Peri had ever heard. ‘Or…boys…Good boys, yes, you are, you’re such good boys, yes you are, yes you are…’

‘He’s saving our lives but this is sickening,’ said Peri.

The sound of licking came from behind them. Peri and Arthur both came to a stop, turning to stare at all three of the Cerberus’ heads attempting to lick Haneul all at once. ‘Oh, he’s just a big puppy,’ said Haneul, clearly having the absolute time of his life.

Peri shook her head. ‘Zoologists.’

‘Indeed,’ said Arthur.

Panting came from the aisle a few feet away and, seconds later, Jules inched into view. And he, to be quite frank, looked absolutely awful. He was soaked and there were scratches along his face and neck. He reached them and looked around, exhaustedly preparing to fight. 

He caught sight of Haneul with the griffin and the Cerberus and promptly gave up the ghost, dropping to the ground and sitting cross-legged, staring vacantly at the floor.

‘…You okay?’ Peri asked slowly. ‘What happened?’

‘You don’t want to know,’ said Jules with the tone of one who had Seen Things.'

I love my kids. Also, it's a complete coincidence that Jules started off both of my NaNoWriMos for this novel. What a guy.

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!)

What little outline I did have, I have rather rapidly derailed from. I've been making big cuts and changes from my original rough series of ideas. There've also been several scenes where I started writing, wrote like a thousand words, then realised I needed to throw all of that out. So, rather than cutting it all and losing NaNo words, I've taken to italicising the scenes I know I don't want to keep in my document, so I can still count them but I know they're not part of the novel anymore.

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!

On a normal day, I'd come downstairs, have lunch, and then spend ages trying to push myself to write whilst watching stuff on Youtube and screaming at myself internally, before finally managing to make myself do it and pushing through to write my words for the day. I only write in the afternoon nowadays. Even those times when I've gotten up earlier, I've not written anything until the afternoon so yeah. Mornings are just not my thing, at all.

I normally re-read what I wrote yesterday before writing so I can get back into the right headspace, and like I said earlier, recently, I've been really trying to pray before a writing session and asking for help and guidance, so I normally do that too beforehand.

I always play my playlist for this novel whenever I start writing, or I try to. It helps get me immediately in the zone. I've spent absolute yonks curating it, now it's a long boy. Yes, I spend too much time on Spotify, no, you can't judge me.

behold! a giant playlist. 234 songs! one of my biggest, i do believe, though not quite my actual biggest

I drink entirely too much coffee while writing. At least I normally keep myself from drinking coffee after four in the afternoon, so there's that. But I have broken that rule a few times just to get my brain in gear for writing. I actually do have a candle for this novel now, but I keep forgetting to light it haha. I write in our living room mostly, although there've been a couple of times I've gotten to write in a coffee shop recently, since the old pandemic chilled out a bit, and that's been amazing. I get so much more done in a coffee shop for some reason.

I also joined KDWC for this November, as I mentioned in my Week 1 Recap, which I haven't been super active in, given I've been busy with, you know, NaNo, but I have found it pretty helpful and enjoyable in general. I'm not sure if I'll do it for November again yet, but I am considering joining up for a less hectic month haha.

And that's a wrap! How has your NaNoWriMo going? I hope well, but if not, please don't worry, you can do it! I have faith in you! Please, comment down below, and tell me all about how your month has gone.