Know The Novel: Introducing The Wild Swans Retelling

 

 Guess who's back, back again. 

And guess what's back, yet again. The Know The Novel linkup that has, for the last few years, been literally the only thing pushing me into actively posting on this stupid blog of mine. It's done it again, lads, I'm back. For like three months. Kind of. 

 

Just in case you don't know what Know The Novel is, somehow even though I'm pretty sure the only people who are going to be reading this are people coming from the linkup itself, let me quickly explain. Know The Novel is a three-part linkup created by Christine Smith, one for each month of October, November and December, originally intended for NaNoWriMo participants - and other writers working on projects in that time-frame - to talk about their projects. Christine has, however, opted to create her own writing challenge this year, instead of doing NaNo, starting on October 15th, which is why this post is a little earlier this year. Each part consists of ten questions about the novel in question. 

 

The new challenge is called Fall Fiction Writing Frenzy, or Fall Fic Frenzy for short (my British self is in pain with writing 'fall' for autumn, but it's fine, it's chill, it's okay, we're all good haha). Christine has made this beautiful graphic for it. If you want to know more, just follow the link up above to get to the post which contains the details of both the linkup and the challenge.

 

I've decided to do NaNo, but I'm also participating in Christine's challenge as well, intending to do the normal 50k in November, and also an additional 10k in October, hopefully writing 35k by the end of Christine's challenge. If I write more than that, great! If I don't, hopefully I'll at least complete the challenge I've set for myself.

Admittedly, it'd be absolutely delightful to finish this novel by the end of November but...I'm not holding my breath for it. She's going to be a monster.

 

With that explained, which project am I working on this year? 

 Last year and the year before, I worked on Project Wales, but as I said in my post earlier this year, I actually completed the first draft of Project Wales right at the very end of last year, at a whopping 144k. I finished on Christmas Eve, actually. I've started work on the second draft, and considered doing that this year, but in the end, I decided that I'd rather take my time with it. I'm focusing a little bit more on prose and character and I really want to put the work in to make this story as good as it could be, and I think pushing myself to write loads on it at once is definitely not the way to do that. I have also considered writing Book 2 for this, however, I...don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. I would like to at least iron out Book 1 first - I'm someone who's very chronologically minded and thus far my edits are going to require changing a lot of Book 1, such as adding a whole new character to the main squad and making Peri's brother a much bigger part, and I just don't think I'm capable of writing a second book without having Book 1 pretty much through developmental edits. That way I know where I'm starting from. My hope is to get Book 1 through the second draft by February/March next year, and then to maybe do Camp to start off the second book. We'll see if that happens or not haha. Either way, I'll probably be doing it for NaNo next year.

I went back and forth on a few different projects when trying to decide which one to do this year, and ultimately settled on my space opera retelling of the Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. It's a weird freaking novel and, most likely, is going to end up absurdly long just like good old Project Wales. I made the unfortunate decision to keep all twelve of the siblings from the original fairytale, so...yeah. This is going to be rough.

Now, without further ado, let me introduce you to my Wild Swans Retelling - she doesn't have a proper title yet, shush. I'd recommend you go get a cup of your beverage of choice, we're going to be here a while.

 

What first sparked the idea for this novel?

  

The first idea for my Wild Swans retelling actually came from a post on Fairy Tale Central, specifically one of their Story Wishlists. I don't actually remember which one it was - I went back to see their Wild Swans post and, strangely enough, it actually wasn't that one. I think it may've been an amalgamation of a few different ideas mentioned in different posts. This is their Wild Swans post.

Either way, I think I properly started work on it in December of last year, although it took me a little while to properly get going on it. I went through a lot of different ideas whilst trying to find the best way to adapt this lovely fairytale. My original idea was much closer to straight-up sci-fi, there wasn't any magic at all, but I ended up taking it much closer to the original fairytale as I developed it until it reached what it currently is. 

 

BEHOLD, the first ever brainstorming words i wrote for this stupid book.

 

It took me quite a few months to figure out how I wanted to tell this story. After I decided I wanted to keep all twelve siblings, I knew I had to find a way to balance all of them and give them all characterisation, so I chose to write three of them as POV characters, which will hopefully allow me to give all of the siblings some degree of focus??? We'll see. Which siblings specifically those POV characters were going to be changed a ton, I couldn't decide which brothers to use, but I finally settled a little bit ago. I've actually already written the first 25k words of this novel, so I'm going to be continuing it.

 

Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

 

Hi, I remain terrible at blurbs. This might actually be the hardest blurb I've ever had to write. I have no idea why this story is so hard to summarise, but it is.

 

Six months ago, Queen Freya Averlarde of Ciraniya was murdered, in front of four of her children. Ever since, Eden Averlarde has lived in fear. She hides away in her workroom, afraid of the outside world, afraid of the dangers that lurk beyond her rooms. She longs to keep her family safe, but how can she do that when all sense of safety has been stripped away from her. Meanwhile, her brothers all fall apart in their own ways, grief taking its vicious toll on all of them.

All of this is brought to a head when their father announces his re-marriage, to a mysterious woman named Lady Insa. The fall-out from the announcement alone is massive, but when, merely hours after the wedding, Eden and her siblings discover that Lady Insa has an entire file of information on their family, including their mother’s autopsy report, everything only grows worse. Lady Insa stops them before they can warn their father, and reveals terrifying power that nobody could’ve foreseen. She sends Eden’s brothers away and, before doing the same to Eden, tells her that she must find out how to save them before they are gone forever, all without saying a single word.

Eden lands on a new, strange planet, one twisted and torn apart by monsters that were once human. Once she finds her siblings, it’s to find out that Lady Insa has turned them into monsters too – at least, for the daytime and, increasingly, for the night too. She must find a way to save them before they lose their humanity forever, whilst uncovering the secrets of the planet they’ve been trapped on, secrets that Lady Insa herself holds terribly dear.

 

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

  

It takes place in two major locations - rather, two major planets. Those two planets are:

•  Ciraniya - The Averlardes' home planet. A magnificent, technologically-advanced planet covered with greenery and life, filled with elegant structures and beautiful mountains. Due to the then-King's decision to cut Ciraniya off from the Galactic portal network, Ciraniya has had five hundred years of peace, which means that they remain rich and prosperous, even when many neighbouring planets have been ruined. 
• Palenesia - A mysterious planet destroyed by an apocalypse of humans-turned-monsters, that have massacred their way through the world, leaving behind magnificent empty cities haunted only by them and the corpses of the dead. Small pockets of survivors hide away, planning ways to retake their planet, at whatever cost.

I'm super excited to write in Palenesia. I've already written most of the part of the novel taking place on Ciraniya, but I haven't gotten to write in Palenesia yet. 

I absolutely adore the combination of magic and technology that science fantasy grants you. For this story-world, I got to play with creating cool technology whilst also creating magic systems and combining the two, which is so much fun. I also love that, since it's a completely fictional and also technologically-advanced world, I don't have to worry about the characters sounding too modern. I mean, I can't use obvious slang, but they generally sound pretty modern.

I also love the horror element to Palenesia. It's kind of inspired by the Netflix K-drama Sweet Home*, if any of you have seen that, and I just love the vaguely post-apocalyptic vibes. This book's not going to be quite as dark as that show, but the aesthetic is similiar.

 

*i would recommend it, it's very good and has some beautiful themes, but it's also...very violent and quite dark. to the point that i had to take frequent breaks. so, be warned. it's not for the faint of heart.

 

Tell us about your protagonist(s).

 

The real challenge is figuring out how to explain these characters to you. There's just...so many. There are only three Main characters, as in, point-of-view characters, but I feel like I should probably introduce all twelve of the siblings so...here we go. Wish me luck.

 

 

Point-of-View Characters 

 

 Eden

INTJ | 14 | Slytherin | 5w6 | original fairytale's Princess Eliza | third-youngest | self-reliant to a fault | asocial | extremely introverted | agoraphobic | loyal and protective | autistic | loves fashion and fashion design | 'you expect me to leave??? my room??? abhorrent idea' | pretends she doesn't have any siblings most of the time | which is impressive because she doesn't have any other friends | extremely perfectionistic | quick-tempered | so freaking sarcastic | just very tired, let her rest | has to have a backup plan for everything, Just In Case | socially awkward | had lessons on etiquette for years but still doesn't have a clue how to talk to people | has an unemotive voice | actually does have a lot of emotions but they're pretty invisible from the outside

 

 Hawthorne

ENFJ | 19 | Hufflepuff | 2w1 | fourth-oldest | concerningly over-protective | basically Surface Pressure from Encanto in a person | places all of his self-worth into taking care of his siblings and takes failure badly | kind-hearted | can be manipulative | somehow ends up being the one to take care of everyone else's problems | Hawthorne, just trying to have a fun day: ... | one of his annoying siblings: heyyyyyyy, so you know how i love you, right? | loves cooking | isn't very good at cooking | is, however, good at hot chocolate | schemes too much, they're always absurdly over-complicated

 

Juniper

 ISTP | 15 | Slytherin | 8w9 | fourth-youngest | youngest of the Averlarde triplets | the others tease him and call him the baby and boss him around | it drives him up the wall | generally has trouble with the idea that other?? people??? care??? about him???? sounds fake but okay | refuses to acknowledge his own emotions ever at all even once | hot-tempered | extremely hyper-vigilant | sleeps with a weapon under his pillow | big fan of machines, any kind will do | extremely impulsive | thinks he's way cooler than he actually is | control freak | Juniper when his siblings are around: whines and tells his siblings to leave him alone, Juniper when they actually do it: ummm, excuse me??? | has thought through a decision precisely once in his life | 'i think we should go break in there just because that's what my Heart is Telling Me To Do'

Other Siblings

 

Paris

ESTJ | 22 | Hufflepuff | 1w2 | oldest and crown prince | expects perfection from himself and everyone else in all aspects of life | very controlling |’you should all listen to me because I’m Right’ | except none of his siblings listen to him which annoys him | ‘rules are good! rules help CONTROL the fun!’ | prone to hero speeches | *while facing down a monster the size of a skyscraper* ‘guys, this is a minor obstacle that we can totally overcome very easily just so long as we Believe in ourselves’ | naive and idealistic | hero-worships their father and refuses to acknowledge that he could ever be wrong | protective | relieves stress by grumbling | you know how i said Hawthorne was Surface Pressure from Encanto personified? somehow Paris is Surface Pressure and What Else Can I Do? combined

Ilon

ISFJ | 20 | Ravenclaw | 6w5 | second-oldest | twin of Rowan | grouchy | likes to give off grinch vibes | profoundly done with everyone | intensely introverted | interacts with someone for five minutes and has to take five hours to recover | never leaves the library | has in fact fallen asleep in the library before | The Braincell Holder(TM) | quietly selfless | constantly gives of himself to everyone | absolutely terrible at self-care and generally allowing himself to have feelings | considers himself to be less important than everyone else | excruciatingly self-sacrificing | Rowan picks fights with him on the daily for this | hates physical touch, except for with Rowan and also Sky | generally prefers to not be perceived by other humans, especially ones who aren’t his siblings

 

Rowan

ENFP | 20 | Gryffindor | 7w8 | third-oldest | twin of Ilon | doctor-in-training | adores arcade games more than life | may be a medical student but will not let that stop him from consuming too much sugar | rules are for SUCKERS | ‘i may be an idiot, but i’m not stupid’ | constant puns | completely unhinged | talks to himself out loud | goes from being really quiet to being ridiculously loud with seemingly no in between | ‘personally, i don’t agree with concepts, ideas, thoughts, existence’ | always impulsive | EXTREMELY protective over his siblings | hurt one of them and you will die | this goes double for Ilon | who might just be his entire world | probably has the healthiest emotional processing skills of this entire family | dyspraxic king

 

Kai

ESTP | 17 | Gryffindor | 3w4 | fifth-oldest | *vibrates with anxiety* | ‘repeat what I just said? bold of you to presume i ever listen to a single word coming out of my own mouth’ | literally always down to fight | fist-fighting preferably | would (and does) fight himself if no one else is available | his life aspiration is to be the ‘cool older brother’ | he is not | tight hugs are the Best, if you don’t crush his ribs then you don’t really love him | stims aggressively by literally yeeting himself across the room like a cannonball | if he senses anything that feels even remotely like a rejection it will send him into a Spiral | competitive swimmer
 

Winter

INTP | 16 | 5w4 | Ravenclaw | sixth-oldest | star boy | ‘stars. can’t do it. not today.’ | only rarely deigns to acknowledge the real world | horrendous eye sight | despite this, refuses to ever wear his glasses which is a major problem | except for when he’s stargazing, can somehow remember to wear them then | pretends he doesn’t care about his appearance but actually spends hours in the bathroom styling his hair | then claims he just rolled out of bed | constant sarcasm | his first and last goal in life is driving Paris up the wall | has a planetarium and basically lives his entire life in there | every so often one of the others goes up to make sure he's still alive

 

Tegan

 

ESFP | 15 | Gryffindor | 7w6 | sixth-youngest | oldest of the Averlarde triplets | incredibly clumsy | once fell down three flights of stairs in succession | voted mostly likely to accidentally cause the end of the world by tripping over his own feet and hitting the wrong button, but we’re not going to hold that against him | means well, not great at follow-through, but at least the intentions were good | formerly known as the resident ray of sunshine | definitely is not that anymore | hasn't stopped dissociating in six months | constantly sneaks out to get into fights | argues with any and everyone who gives him the opportunity | has more unhealthy coping mechanisms than you could shake a stick at

 

Aspen

 

ENTP | 15 | Ravenclaw | 7w8 | fifth-youngest | middle Averlarde triplet | inventor of a variety of hilariously useless things | such as exhibit 1 - an egg-thrower | ‘you want me to ‘explain my thought process’???? who says i know?’  | nothing but a fool | *making coffee and also Mistakes at 3 am* | actually nocturnal | extremely dry | constant unending sarcasm | kindhearted but you won’t catch him admitting to it | *cares for you but, like, behind your back so he doesn’t have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known* | far more impulsive than could ever be healthy | surprisingly gullible | an extreme sport, getting Aspen to focus on one topic of conversation long enough to get him to finish a sentence

 

Cedar

ENTJ | 12 | Ravenclaw | 8w9 | second-youngest | loathes being the second-youngest | 'why must i be "nice" and "friendly", is it not enough to be always right and the best person in any given room?’ | brat | ‘i am no longer Baby, i want power’ | simultaneously very clever and also the stupidest person you’ve ever met | the most annoying troublemaker | mostly because he somehow never gets in trouble | there is only one person who has ever been deceived in Cedar & that’s their tutor/pseudo-parent | bullies his siblings but if anyone else even looks at them wrong he’ll lose it | delights in breaking rules right in front of Paris just to drive him mad | obsessed with botany | good luck getting him to leave the gardens

Sky

INFP | 11 | Gryffindor | 4w3 | youngest | art baby | everyone's baby | mildly feral | should not be given unfettered access to matches | very soft | book-lover | ‘you better watch out if you mess with me, cause you know what i’ll do??? that’s right, cry’ | has never heard of a lie | makes the bold assumption that absolutely everyone is being completely honest with him all of the time | they are not | very protective of his older siblings for someone who's literally four foot two | you could knock him over by shouting at him yet he's out here sticking up his fists | loves music | loves to sing | tone-deaf

Who (or what) is the antagonist?

 

 The main antagonist is Lady Insa, or ye old evil step-mother from the fairytale. She's...complicated and there's a lot to her. Most of which is spoilers. She's also a Fashion Icon. Behold! An aesthetic.

There are other villains too, but I can't talk much about them. Partly because I haven't actually developed them yet haha.

 

What excites you the most about this novel?

Everything! I love absolutely everything about this story. It's so much fun to write, even if there are emotionally harrowing parts.

• The Setting - I love especially the world of Palenesia. I'm so excited to explore it along with my characters.
  
• The Themes - The themes to this story are, currently, really close to my heart. To the point that I might have some trouble writing it. The central theme is really grief, and the different ways of dealing with grief, and about healing from grief. The other theme is one that I also adore, and it's one that good old Tolkien put the best name to - estel, or irrational hope. That kind of hope that says 'There is no logical hope of winning, no logical hope of surviving, but I'm choosing to cling onto hope anyway'. That, I would say, is the other major theme. Irrational hope.
  
• The Characters - I love these characters so much. These kids are so much fun to write, even just in the part I've written. I suspect they won't let the story get too dark, since they literally can't stop bickering for the life of them. I love their relationships, they're a delight. As someone who has four siblings, I just love getting to write siblings, in their natural habitat. I am going to put them through it though. These kids are coming into the story with trauma and I'm just over here like 'here, have so much more'.
  

 

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

 

I'm actually not sure. I'm currently thinking a standalone, but it might well end up being too big a story for that. It'll probably depend on how the story goes. The problem is that if I were to add another story, it'd probably be going fully off-book, as in the actual retelling events would be over, so I don't know yet. Depends on if there's more story to tell, I guess.

 

Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

  

Plantsing. Basically, my whole outline is...the fairytale I'm retelling and some notes on how to retell specific events. And a few notes on different plot points, like the midpoint. I have a decent idea of where I'm going but not a freaking clue how I'm getting there.

 

Name a few unique elements in this story.

Well, I think the post-apocalyptic space opera take on a fairytale is pretty unique. It's a strange blend of sci-fi, zombie apocalypse and high fantasy - and I think that's pretty cool.  There's also lots of fun technology, such as travelling from planet to planet via a magical portal system and holographic computer scrolls. There's also no romance, which is actually a major divergence from the original fairytale as there actually is a romance between Eliza and the King in that, but seeing as how my version of Eliza is literally only fourteen years old, we're not going in that direction in this story.

 

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!).

 

Wild Swans Retelling Aesthetic 

 

family bickering | tight hugs | shadows moving in the corner of your eye | magnificent yet totally empty ruined cities | hollowed-out mountains | loyalty | protectiveness | sacrificial love | hope in darkness | holding onto your humanity with both hands | choosing to do what is right, not what's easy | kindness | grief | monsters screaming in the dead of night | desperation | fear | faith | remnants of what came before

 

My main Pinterest board for this story is here. And this is my Spotify playlist. As you can tell, I've spent a lot of time adding songs to it. The 100 songs that the embedded playlist shows isn't actually even half of it, haha. I'm actually pretty happy with it, I went with a lot of orchestral/rock vibes, mixed in with some other songs.

If I had to choose just a few songs that, to me, sum up this novel - I'd probably pick the following: Hey Brother by Avicii, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, Burn It by Golden Child and Come Back Home by ONEUS.

And with that, I'm done! My apologies for this obnoxiously long post. It's about ninety-nine percent the characters' fault, I'm pretty sure. If you want to participate in Fall Fic Frenzy or in the linkup, then just head over to Christine's blog through the link up above. I hope to see you all in November, when I do the second part.

NaNoWriMo Week #1

Hello all!

So, you might have noticed, this is a New Thing. This year for NaNoWriMo, I decided to keep a daily record of my NaNoWriMo for 2021. Why? Partly because I keep seeing other bloggers doing it and always have so much fun reading theirs, so I wanted to give it a try; partly because I feel it could be really helpful to have a nice record of how it goes to look back on; and partly because Accountability. I...really need accountability, my good lads. That's just how it be. Yes, I am aware that absolutely no one follows or cares about this blog and yes, I am aware no one will read this. I'm just doing it for the vibes.

A quick reminder, for NaNoWriMo this year, I am tackling the ginormous task of wrapping up Project Wales, my NaNo project from last year, ideally within 50-60k words. Hopefully. It's getting to be a bit of a monster so...we'll see. 

With all that explanation out of the way, let's go!

Beginning Novel Word Count: 82 364 words

Monday, November 1st

This day, my friends, was top-notch. As far as writing went, I for the most part just. Sat down and wrote. It was great! I made the decision ahead of time to stop pre-NaNo at the end of a chapter so I could start NaNo with a fresh(ish) slate. And I spent a bit of time brainstorming what would happen in this next chapter so once NaNo came, I could just sit down and write it without having to stop and think. 

Because I have the sleep schedule of Dracula, I'm pretty much always awake until like two or three...or four in the morning, so this year, I opted to start writing at midnight. I didn't want to write for too long, I still had my nighttime Bible reading and prayer to do, but I ended up writing until about quarter to one and got 1241 words before wrapping up for the night, having completed the first scene of Chapter Sixteen!

This scene was entirely in my boy Jules' POV and it was...depressing, to say the least. Jules is...not having a fun time right now. It's not fun for him.

Once I got up in the morning, I did a bit of writing once I was dressed, writing about 700 or so words before I made lunch. 

This year, I decided to join the King's Daughters Writing Camp - which was, to be honest, an extra anxiety in the lead-up to NaNo, but I think I'm...starting to ease into it now? Kind of? 

Anyway, today I got into the writing sprints channel and just sprinted with a few other campers for a few hours, which brought my word count up massively. All in all, by the time I stopped at like five in the afternoon, I had a word count I was super happy with! 

My goal for this first day was to write 5k, thus getting me solidly ahead. My tactic when it comes to NaNoWriMo is typically to try and stay well ahead of my daily word count, so if I do have a bad day where I can't write, it doesn't completely set me back. So, I aim at 5k the first day, and at 3-5k for the days after, more if I can get it, but if I don't, then I'm ahead enough that it doesn't matter, you know? 

And it worked out! I wanted to try and finish Chapter Sixteen the first day (my chapters for Project Wales are all like 5k words long, mega boys), which didn't work out, but I still got a solid amount of words done! Could I have carried writing past the time I stopped and thus maybe finished off the chapter? Yes, probably, but I didn't want to push myself too much and I wanted to watch something with my sister, so I decided to stop there for the day.

I will say there are already issues I can see with what I've written. That first scene I wrote in the morning - as opposed to the first scene of the chapter, which I wrote the night before - I think came out sounding quite awkward and it didn't quite come across the way I wanted, but I really like the idea of that scene and I think there's something there for me to try and perfect at a later date, and that's really all you can ask for in a first draft.

However, I did finally get to take my characters to a setting that I created so long ago and that I've been desperate to actually use, and it came out so well! I'm so happy with it! It's this eerie magical library that's made from curving silver trees and carved purple wood, that goes on forever and bends back on itself, like a magical library labyrinth. It's so beautiful yet eerie and slightly creepy and I love it! Yes, the descriptions could maybe use work - especially surrounding my attempts to describe how the labyrinth element works, but for the most part, this setting actually came out better in my draft than it was in my head and that's always a pleasant surprise.

All in all, I had a really good writing day this day, I really felt like it went well. I prayed before writing for God's help and guidance and I really felt like the words came easier afterward, so I give Him the glory for that. I definitely had moments where I was struggling, yes, especially when I first started writing in the morning, but I prayed for help with writing and it truly felt like I could write better afterwards. Definitely planning on integrating prayer more into my writing routine. I think it's the right thing to do, so I'm going to try and pray and ask for guidance and help before any major writing sessions.

Words Written: 5412 words

Tuesday, November 2nd

This day wasn't as easy. As opposed to Monday, where I pretty much had the whole day to write without anything to interrupt, on Tuesday, I had a Bible study in the morning until lunchtime. Which, for me, means hours of recovery time and trying to force my gremlin brain into stopping whatever I'm doing and just writing. I do best when I can just wake up and write without interruption, because that way I can keep myself from starting on The Spiral of doing other stuff to avoid writing haha.

I still got a few words in though, once I managed to kick myself into gear and wrote for about an hour or so in the late afternoon. I ended up writing just over a thousand words and finally finishing off the chapter I started on Monday. And! I wrote one of my favourite scenes thus far in my entire novel! Featuring Haneul, Jules, bags of frozen food on bruises, and a very precious cautiously blossoming friendship.

My babies 

*also those are POTATO waffles, i just noticed i missed that detail out in this particular segment haha

All in all, not my best day this week, but as you will see, also not the worst. I still wrote words that I liked, for the most part. First draft words, yes, but still. Words I liked. 

Words Written: 1231 words

Wednesday, November 3rd

WE HIT 10K TODAY BOYSSS

Today, I didn't have anything to do but write... which of course meant I put off writing until like three in the afternoon but it's fine, it's chill, everything's fine. Once I did get down to it, however, as you can see up there, I hit 10 000 words!!!

It was pretty slow-going and agonising at first. I had a whole week of time in-story to skip over and because my characters were going to the real world setting of Llandudno in this chapter, I had to use Google Earth to describe it in lieu of not currently being able to go physically to Llandudno to remind myself what it looked like, which slowed my writing down considerably at first. It's way harder to write in real-world settings by the way. I infinitely prefer fictional ones haha.

Once I got going, however, and especially once I got my characters into the fictional part of the setting, everything sped up a lot. It also helped that I did the Fellowship of the Ring NaNoWriMo Word Crawl - or the first part of it anyway, it's a bit too much to do in one day haha, but I'm intending to finish it over the next few days - and that helped with my writing massively. 

Overall, not my best day so far, but also not my worst, so that's good. And I'm really happy with where I got up to. 10k!!

Words Written: 3450 words

Thursday, November 4th

And we're officially back in business boysssss.

Today was a good day. I had pretty much nothing else to do today except for write, and it was great. It took me a little while to get started, but once I did, I had such a good time writing. On Wednesday, I pretty much got the hard parts out of the way, I got my characters into place and got everything going so that today, I could just go right ahead. Once I started writing, I literally just wrote and wrote and wrote. 

I continued the Fellowship of the Ring Word Crawl from Wednesday and got up to Rivendell, which is where I stopped. That helped a lot, I think, but the words were also just coming to me today. I was having so much fun! I do think the Word Crawl pushed me into writing for longer than I might've done otherwise though, I wrote an extra few hundred words because I wanted to reach Rivendell when I might've stopped without it. But that's a good thing, more words are always a good thing.

Most of what I wrote today was a scene that has been in my mind for literally years. It was one of the most detailed parts of my braindump-organized-into-rough-chronological-order 'plan' because it was super important, it contains the payoff to a bunch of foreshadowing scattered through the rest of the book and it's massive. So, of course, I was excited to write it. It ended up being nothing like my plan really, but the important stuff was still there, just surrounded in completely different ideas. 

A basilisk turned up. Didn't expect that, but hello.

Most of it took place in a dream, which might seem strange, but remember, dreams are magical in this story so...yes. That's all I'm going to say haha.

All in all, this was such a good day. I'm honestly so happy with how it went today. Are there issues with what I've written? Yes, but it's not anywhere near as bad as it could've been and I actually managed to sort out and fix some problems that came up in my plot and world as I wrote today, and some things connected and came together that I didn't plan for or expect which made my whole story make more sense, so that was great.

Words Written: 5408 words

Friday, November 5th

So I might be noticing a bit of a trend.

I can write tons one day, be super productive, and absolutely slay my goal...and the next, I'm struggling to get any words out at all.

Today was one of those days. It seems to be that if I do a 5k day, the next day I'll always struggle and I struggled more today than I did on Tuesday. It doesn't help that this part of the novel is...much more blurry to me and I was having to do a lot of telling just to move the story along. Which isn't necessarily to mean in a bad way, although there's plenty of bad telling in there too, but rather that I've reached a point in the story where I need to skip over events. The things happening were important to both plot and flow, but I needed to zero in on specific parts and not just spend yonks describing them arriving at their new location and searching for hours through books in detail. It was challenging, but I'm out of that bit now so...hopefully all goes better tomorrow.

I did come back to my document to write for the first time today to find this typo, which I thought was pretty funny, so there's that.

that was supposed to be 'walls', by the way

All in all, this ended up being my worst day thus far for word count, but I still got in 1k, so I'm at least glad for that.

Also, it was Bonfire Night! Which we didn't actively celebrate because our church still isn't putting on our Bonfire Night celebration because of Covid, but we're planning to celebrate a week on Saturday. Either way, didn't have any impact on my writing, but I still wanted to mention it. Bonfire Night!

Words Written: 1027 words

Saturday, November 6th

This day started out badly, for writing specifically. I got up, got all of my other stuff done and sat down to write...and it was agonising. In this scene, I had to have a character encounter my antagonist, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a natural, organic way to write it. It was a real challenge.

By the time it was four in the afternoon, I'd managed to scrape out a thousand words but that was it. 

But then I hit a turning point. My sister - who is also doing NaNoWriMo this year for the first time! - agreed to do some writing sprints with me and we sat together to write for awhile. It was so helpful! This, along with finally getting past the above scene and into some Solid Bants, managed to actually get me absorbed in my writing to the point that I was able to get out a solid number of words!

It was all very exciting. I also got to introduce - properly - two characters I've been excited to introduce, Haneul's sister and best friend from back home in Korea. I do think that in edits, I might need to move this scene earlier, because tbh, it doesn't really work that his best friend doesn't get mentioned at all until this point in the novel - because I didn't even create him until I was like 60k words in haha - and that his sister doesn't get to make an actual appearance beyond texts until here, but meh. That's a problem for Future Me to deal with.

As Current Drafting Me, I got to have fun with an entirely new dynamic that came out far better than I planned for. It was so much fun.

mayhaps i love them

Also, I switched up my formatting for this draft because I felt like it and sometimes doing that helps my brain work better for some reason, so yes. That's why it's different here to up above. In case you were wondering, which I'm sure you weren't.

All in all, today started out badly, but ended up great. Even though I didn't quite get as many words as on Thursday, I still got a lot done and I'm really happy with my final word count.

Words Written: 3480 words

This NaNoWriMo, I decided to take Sundays off from writing to give myself a break and to be able to properly focus on the Sabbath and honour it properly. So, no words for that day, which brings us to the official end of this first week of NaNo!

NaNoWriMo Current Word Count: 20008 words

Overall Novel Word Count: 102399 words

And we're not even done with Act 2 yet, hahaha *sobs*.

Overall, this was a great start to NaNo. I'm super happy with my final word count for the week. I'm a solid 10k or more ahead of where I need to be, so I have wiggle-room if I get sick or have a bad mental health day or whatever in the rest of the month, which is perfect. It also means that, hopefully, I'm far enough ahead to be able to complete Project Wales this month, even if it does end up being 140k words long, which is good.

Please be forgiving of the snippets I included in this post. This is all first draft stuff, remember.

How did your NaNoWriMo go, if you're doing NaNo? Has it been good or have you been struggling? If you're not, how is it going with whatever projects you're working on at the moment? Comment below and let me know.

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.

Know The Novel Part Two - Within the WIP

 Greetings friends, I have returned once more with the second part of the Know The Novel linkup. Last time, I told you all about Project Wales, my contemporary fantasy novel wherein four losers look for the legendary treasure of Merddyn Wyllt, the novel that I am writing for NaNoWriMo this year. If you didn't read that post or just want a refresher on the novel I'm talking about here, the link is here. And on we go!

How’s the writing going overall?

It has been...going. I had a pretty good start to NaNo, getting quite far ahead on my word count in that first week or so, but I've kind of been flipflopping between confident and happy with what I'm writing and hating every single word. It also definitely hasn't been helping that my physical and mental health have both been kind of all over the place, but it's not too bad. I'm currently at 40k, which I'm happy with. I'm trying to stay ahead of the word count I actually need in case I have Really Bad Days.

But overall, I think I'm feeling pretty good about this story. Like I mentioned in my first Know The Novel post, this is a story that means an awful lot to me and that's been in my head for a long time. To an extent, I think that's making it harder because I semi-frequently write scenes and they're just Not what I wanted them to be like, but it also makes it so much more exciting and satisfying when they come out exactly as I imagined or better. 

So yes, very spotty and all over the place both in terms of how I'm feeling about this story, and also in word counts per day as you can see from this screenshot of my words per day table on the NaNoWriMo website, which isn't updated for today by the way.

 But I am still super excited about this story and these characters and I'm especially excited to be done with the first draft so that I can begin polishing it.

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

Absolutely the world. I just love this magic-tinged town and the whole way that magic works in this world is so much fun to write. I also love writing these characters a lot. I've had some trouble with them, but I do really really enjoy writing these characters overall. 

It also has a nice Vibe overall. I don't really know how to explain it. It's kind of stylistic and odd and I just really enjoy writing in this style. My sister read the first chapter and said that she was imagining it in a Tim Burton-esque style as she read it, if that helps at all with understanding what I mean.

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

They are my kids and I would die for every single one of them. I've really enjoyed the way they've come out in a lot of ways. 

Peri - is just a huge amount of fun to write. She has so much energy and is so excited about everything and also a hundred percent down to fight at any given time. She's definitely a helpful character to have around considering the other three are really introverted and they definitely need a solid Extravert to pull them out of their shells.

Haneul - mysteriously switched genders and now she's a girl, so that's cool I guess. I think she's definitely the hardest to write, she's very reserved and doesn't like to make her feelings clear to either the other characters or to me haha. But she just has so much love and kindness in her, even if she doesn't always know how to show it, and she has suffered and struggled so much over her life and cares so much about others, I love her.

Jules - can be hard to write sometimes, just because he's in a really bad situation with his family and his depression makes his POV sad to write sometimes, but he has a great sense of humour and I love the way he describes things. He's an artist, so he gives some of the best descriptions of the setting of all of them and I love that about him. He's kind of clumsy and awkward when it comes to friendship, because he's never really had that before, but honestly he's just here to draw things and love his friends, that is all. Also, I know I typed him as an INFP prior to writing him, but I didn't realise until I wrote him just how much of an INFP he is, sheesh.

Arthur - mysterious nerd. Everyone makes fun of him for dressing like a grandad. There is speculation he's actually an eighty-year-old man trapped in a young body. He Knows Things, but refuses to explain any of it. Feels the need to be unnecessarily cryptic about literally everything. So many problems that come up later would be solved if Arthur Mulligan possessed the basic ability to Communicate His Problems, but it's fine, it's cool, everything's fine.

Has your novel surprised you in any way?

I mean, Haneul turned into a girl so that was a pretty big surprise. Other than that, everything is mostly going according to how it was in my head, so not really. I will say I think it's way bigger than I was fully anticipating it being. Like, I have never had a novel take So Long to get to the freaking inciting incident before. I was up to like 15 or 16k before I even hit the inciting incident. The first act is over 35k long. I knew it was going to be fairly long, but I hadn't really realised how long it really would be before I started writing.

Have you come across any problem areas?

So many. I think Haneul's POV is going to take the most work in editing, because I'm definitely still getting to know her and understand how her mind works. Other issues include Terrible Descriptions, settings that just Aren't what I wanted them to be and a bunch of scenes that come across as super stilted that I was just desperately trying to hammer out and get past. 

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

Irregardless of anything else, I am genuinely enjoying writing this novel and that's a victory all on its own. Also, while there have absolutely been major issues in this story, when I get it right it is Right. Like, some of the scenes I have written in here are some of my favourites ever. A really good example of that is that I finally wrote the scene where I introduced my main antagonist and I just? Love this scene? So much? It's so creepy and unnerving and well and truly out-did my expectations for it.

Also overall, I don't think the plot is going to need that much fixing? It's mostly all going exactly how I want it to go. I think there are absolutely a few issues there, but mostly it all makes sense and fits together nicely.

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?

I'd become Arthur and make him talk out his problems, for goodness' sake. But for the most part, none of them have made any of their Horrendous decisions just yet. We're barely out of Act 1 yet.

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

Okay, because I began this novel pre-NaNo, I'm going to give the first bit of the overall novel and then the first bit that I actually wrote during NaNo. 

#1

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

When he was young, Jules had avoided this room at all costs because being near the painting made him feel sick. It was like that with all of the paintings in the house, but this one was especially bad.

A painting was supposed to be filled with life. The painting of Jules’ parents was filled with nothing but hollow smiles and covered in a shiny gloss finish.

"

#2

"
After Jules agreed, Arthur led them both to a little pub down a side-street deep inside Carydrai. Crooked old buildings crowded the sides, leaning over like worried gnomes, watching as Jules followed Arthur. 

The Leaping Frog read the faintly glowing sign swinging above the door. A painting of a frog sat just under the words. As Jules watched, the frog turned and winked at him.

"

#3

"
Haneul didn’t remember the dream. 

This wasn’t anything new. Haneul rarely remembered her dreams once they were over. She just woke; shaking, sometimes sick, with a nameless dread weighing down her bones.

All she could ever remember were flashes; once a bloody knife, once flashing ambulance lights, sometimes not even those remnants instead just a vague premonition, a certainty of things that were to come, even though she didn’t remember how she knew.

But this dream wasn’t like the others. There was no dread, no trembling, no hollow certainty. Only peace and comfort.

"

#4

 "
Just outside of the back door was the garden she had poured her heart into. Every vegetable growing in that vegetable patch was her pride and joy; the gigantic pumpkins, the sexy onions, the long carrots and more. Once a year, since she was eleven, she had won the prize at the local agricultural fair for her vegetables. 

“Okay,” Peri said, kneeling down in front of the patch and wincing against her will. “Lanci. This is of vital importance. Hold up your right hand.”

Lancelot raised an unconvinced eyebrow. “Why?”

“Just do it,” Peri made a face at him. 

Lancelot rolled his eyes, then raised his right hand. “Fine. Now what?”

“You, Lancelot Gibson, have solemnly sworn to carry out the vital job of keeping these vegetables alive while their mother is at university,” Peri proclaimed seriously, raising her own right hand. 

“I said I’d water them,” Lancelot said, “I don’t think that’s as big a deal as you’re making it.”

“Shush,” Peri hissed at him. “Now. Say after me. I, Lancelot Gibson.”

Lancelot didn’t say anything. 

Peri kicked at him. Finally he rolled his eyes again and repeated the words. “I, Lancelot Gibson.” 

He didn’t quite have the gravitas Peri wanted, instead sounding rather bored, but she decided to let it pass. “Do solemnly swear.”

“Do solemnly swear.” Lancelot suddenly looked very concerned. “You better not be making me sign my life away to you or anything.”

“Would I do a thing like that?” Peri put her hand to her chest in shock. “Me? Your dear older sister, Peri?”

“You once tricked me into giving you all my Christmas chocolate in exchange for a stick,” said Lancelot flatly.

“Okay, that one was on you and also I was eight,” Peri protested.

“I was six! You tricked a six-year-old into selling you Christmas chocolate!”

Peri shrugged. “You snooze, you lose. Anyway, carry on repeating, you loser. To care for these vegetables as though they were my own children.”

Lancelot repeated her words, looking very dubious indeed which Peri thought was very unfair. 

“To read to them, every day, a chapter from the Lord of the Rings books,” Peri continued onwards.

Lancelot sent her a blank look.

Peri shrugged. “That’s their favourite.”

“They’re vegetables, Peri.”

“They have feelings, Lancelot.”

“Again, I reiterate, they’re vegetables, Peri!” Lancelot crossed his arms, glaring at her. “Vegetables don’t have feelings!”

“Maybe most vegetables don’t,” Peri said primly, “But mine do. Now shush and repeat it.”

Lancelot rolled his eyes so hard Peri was surprised they didn’t fall out of his head. “Fine. To read a chapter of Lord of the Rings to them everyday.”

“That’s not quite what I said, but I’ll let it go,” Peri said, and Lancelot made a face at her. She made a face back, before she straightened her face and tried to look serious. “Repeat. To talk to them and make sure they feel comfortable and to tell them that they’re doing well, tell them to grow up good and strong.”

“This is ridiculous,” Lancelot said. 

“Shut up,” Peri said.

“You’re the most annoying person on the planet,” Lancelot informed her. 

“I know,” Peri said, with a huge grin. “It’s great, isn’t it?”

Lancelot rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

“Now, repeat it. Come on!” Peri kicked him again just for good luck.

Lancelot groaned, but dutifully repeated her words. “Are we done now?”

“Not quite. Repeat. Most of all, I swear to be father and mother to these vegetables and to make sure they don’t die while Peri’s away, cause she’d be really sad and would probably cry if that happened.”

“This is getting personal now,” Lancelot said. 

Peri scowled at him. 

He rolled his eyes — again, Lancelot’s eye-sockets had to be getting the best workout of their lives today, Lancelot should really be thanking her for that. “Fine. Most of all, I swear to be father and mother to these stupid vegetables and to make sure they don’t die while Peri’s away, cause she’d be really sad and would probably cry.”

Peri gasped and put her hands on the nearest pumpkin on either side. “Don’t listen, babies. He’s just being mean.”

Lancelot just looked at her. “Can I go now? Am I free yet?”

“Yeah, you’re done,” Peri said with the biggest grin she could muster. “Take care of them, Lanci.”

Lancelot send her a long look. “I won’t let your vegetables die, Peri. You know I won’t.”

Peri reached out and squeezed his hand. “I know that, Lanci.”

"

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!)

I got bored of trying to cut out the few thousand words I wrote pre-NaNo when I worked out my word count and ended up writing the same amount of words in a different project and then included them haha. I haven't killed anyone yet, though we're getting close to the first death if my vague plot outline is correct. I also just generally keep switching projects and writing a bit on other stuff whenever I need a break from this one, but I don't normally include those words in my NaNo count.

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!

Well, I haven't really had Writing Days. I've been working on my course at the same time, as well as struggling through various health issues both physical and mental, so I've mostly been writing as and when I feel up to doing it. Most of the time, that ends up being in the evening. I've also joined a Discord group of NaNoers from Wales, so I've made heavy use of sprints and word wars this NaNo, which works really well for me. I also have a Whole Playlist about 11 hours long that I put together for this story, link here. I always turn that on when I'm writing, it helps me get in the mood. 

I get distracted by literally everything, but in particular my mind just fixated on the older tv show Starsky and Hutch this month for some reason and all I actually want to do 24/7 is watch it haha. But! I'm overcoming it. We're fighting onwards lads.