Tag: YA

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 19

Is this what is known as getting down to the pointy end? I’m in the home stretch, and what makes it more of an event is that I now have a clear idea of the front cover.

This was made possible when I was sent some photographs of my eldest granddaughter in her formal dress. Here we call that event to mark the end of secondary school a formal. Elsewhere I have heard it is called a prom.

It makes a perfect illustration of Princess Marigold, although rather than transcribe the photo, I have converted into a sketch drawing which is remarkably accurate. She was not quite sure if she wanted to have her likeness splashed across the cover in full colour. However, I have to come up with the rest of the cover design, hopefully with a representation of a castle in the sky, or something similar.

As for the story, a new character found its way into the pages of the story, one I hadn’t envisaged in the beginning, but had made herself a necessity in the final battle between good and evil.

As for the title, it had been set in stone for as long as I’ve been writing it, but now, as the curtain is coming down, the story is ending in a way I hadn’t considered, and it is almost as if the characters have taken over and writing their own ending.

I can feel another brainstorming session coming on.

For the word counters, another 4,404 words this session, for a total of 149,773.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 18

I’ve managed to get some writing time for this story, mainly to keep continuity as it’s quite often lost when stretching it over a long period of time.

For a long time I always knew how the story would end, it was probably one of the few that I’ve written that had an ending in mind. Now, that’s all up in the air.

What had brought on the change of heart? It might be one of the hazards of being a pantser, which when I took to the notion I would finish it come this NaNoWriMo, and when I didn’t, realised something was fundamentally wrong.

Not with the story, but just how it would end, which for Marigold, will always be the same, but for the realm. The thing is, the deeper you dig into a story, the more people who are affected, and the different points of view, and variations on the story from kingdom to kingdom, the more the resolution is affected.

What’s good for one might not be the same for another, and once there are new variables, new people, now wishes are taken into account, the more impossible the job is. And especially for a young princess who just came of age, and had no experience of a world beyond her own orbit.

In a way it reflects the world on my eldest granddaughter, for whom it was written, and her life has changed as much momentously as had Marigold’s. Different people, different ages, different times, that transition from wide eyed child to difficult teenager wasn’t as hard as I remembered it, but then things were different when I was young.

And perhaps more telling, not a princess either.

For the word counters, another 4,258 words this session, for a total of 144,369.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 17

I’ve managed to get some writing time for this story, mainly to keep continuity as it’s quite often lost when stretching it over a long period of time.

For a long time I always knew how the story would end, it was probably one of the few that I’ve written that had an ending in mind.

Of course, as the story proceeds, some of the plotline will change, sometimes caused by the character almost writing their own story, or it is dictated by events that you may not have foreseen at the beginning.

It’s a bit like life itself. You can chart a course that you might think will be where you are headed, and then an unforeseen event will turn everything on it’s head.

Stories are like that. One minute you are hurtling towards the end, everything about to be tied up into a neat bow.

The other day I had a brainstorm, you know, the sort that comes out of left field, and leaves you either elated or shattered.

I’m not sure what I’m thinking right now, only that the end will be different, and better. Much, much better.

For the word counters, another 3,490 words this session, for a total of 141,111.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 16

I’ve managed to get some writing time for this story, mainly to keep continuity as it’s quite often lost when stretching it over a long period of time.

One of the parts I’ve been working on lately had been difficult to write, to say the least, and there have been about seven attempts to get it right.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

I’ve been reading up on the way stories told over time change. I think these types of stories are called Chinese Whispers. That got me to thinking about the whole legend itself, and the fact that it would be different in each of the kingdoms in the realm, simply because each would cast their own hero.

And since it was a story that was rarely committed to paper, the oral retelling would always have the tellers stamp upon it. If it were me reciting the story, the saviour would be a boy. Since the story was mostly related to children by their mothers, the saviour was, and always be a girl.

This morning when mulling over some completely different problems, the end, a different one to that I was contemplating, came into my head, and, in fitting with the nature of how the legend was passed on, it will be completely unexpected.

Also, for the ending, there will be an epic face off, one that has be brewing for hundreds of years.

For the word counters, another 4,200 words this session, for a total of 137,621.

NaNoWriMo – Day 30 + 15

It’s a while since the last report, but the story in moving along, albeit at a slower pace.

I’m working on the last 20 chapters, each not very long, but have pivotal roles in the story, as we now get to see the legend from a number of different perspectives.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

And that circumstance is having a big effect on our once frivolous princess. Had the realm had spun out in a different direction, she would have been destined for a completely different life, one without having to make a decision, or do anything for herself.

Now, the weight of the realm, literally, is on her shoulders.

And in a strange way, having been writing this story for nearly seven years, getting to the end is surreal for me, and will be a surprise for the readers.

I still don’t quite know exactly how it ends for everyone, but it will sort itself out.

For the word counters, another 3,679 words this session, for a total of 133,421.

NaNoWriMo Day 30 + 14

Yes, this project is still moving through the water, albeit very slowly, but progress is being made.

For the moment we are out of the snow storms and freezing cold, and meandering through a much more temperate part of the realm.

It’s a time to discover that people fear the unknown. My father once told me of soldiers in the second world war, their orders were to shoot first and ask questions later.

Has that changed much in any war? Or street battle between rival organisations or gangs?

These days it’s guns wreaking the damage, but back in the past, the old, old, old, old days it was swords, lances, bows and arrows, maces, and a few other interesting but painful implements.

To save the realm, these disaffected people need to be brought back into the fold, but decades, even centuries had festered the ill feelings between the others makes it nigh on impossible.

Sound like something going on right under our noses?

For those keeping an eye on the word count, this session, 3,842 words for a running total of 129,742.

NaNoWriMo Day 30 + 13

Yes, this project is still moving through the water, albeit very slowly, but progress is being made.

As much as it is the height of summer here, and we are sweltering in the high thirties centigrade and 100 percent humidity, my writing takes me to a place where it is very cold. The surrounding are of ice and snow, a proverbial frozen wasteland.

Well, people play around with magic and have little realisation of the consequences, especially when it was originally a fit of anger, and we all know what happens if we get too angry; deeds are done and words that can’t be taken back are said.

It is the reason why it is the way it is, but there are forces afoot to change all that.

So, what really is bad about magic one has to ask.

It’s like everything, the few who abuse the privilege make it bad for the rest. They say they can be trusted not to do the wrong thing, but, alas, people have shattered that faith, and typically after that, no one can be trusted. It is a theme that will be explored.

The story is picking up a few real-life themes as we go along, as there was an example of just that situation recently. Some people, apparently, believe the rules don’t apply to them.

How wrong they were.

For those keeping an eye on the word count, this session, 3,626 words for a running total of 125,900.

NaNoWriMo Day 30 + 12

Yes, this project is still moving through the water, albeit very slowly, but progress is being made.

Today’s efforts are directed towards completing several chapters that have most of the text written, but waiting on previous events to play out.

In other words, the story later on depends on something happening earlier on, so I have to go back and re-write certain parts, or in one case write a whole new chapter.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen too often.

And, I’ve been discussing Ophelia’s contribution to the story with my second eldest granddaughter (who is providing the inspiration for this role) and she has decided that she needs so mystical (magic is banned you know, she tells me with a dead straight face) powers.

Yes, well, I’m working on it. At least I didn’t tell her there’s a major family calamity coming up, not ours, but her mythical family. She can wait until she reads the first draft to find out.

For those keeping an eye on the word count, this session, 4,254 words for a running total of 122,274.

NaNoWriMo Day 30 + 11

Yes, this project is still moving through the water, albeit very slowly, but progress is being made.

When I woke up this morning I realised I had not changed the text of this post. It was the last update.

That’s now been corrected.

What has happened in the last session is based on two things, the first, the notion that a story can start out to be correct, but over time and retelling, it can change. That same story can have different versions, in different places, depending on who is telling the sotry.

This is how it is with the legend, and the quest it is based on.

It must come as a shock to realise that Marigold had been told a story that was basically not right. You might argue that a story is just that, a story, but in those times, a legend was what we call history these days.

And, like the bible, that history, when it finally gets to paper and print, can be substantially different depending on who is doing the translation.

The second, that a parent will tell a child, and others, what they want them to know, and not necessarily what it the whole truth. This is particularly relevant when it’s by those in charge. It is based on the fact you can say the same thing over and over again until you believe it yourself, and it becomes so powerful that others believe it too, because of the fervour and passion with which it is imparted.

For those keeping an eye on the word count, this session, 4,086 words for a running total of 118,020.

NaNoWriMo Day 30 + 10

Yes, this project is still moving through the water, albeit very slowly, but progress is being made.

THe story has me hooked, and despite the fact I keep putting it to one side, I still keep going back to it to write another piece.

The stories come to me at night, the dead of night, and, really, I should be sleeping. Then, after writing the piece, it mulls over in my mind while I’m asleep, and I go back to it in the morning to revise, and, lo and behold, I have another idea.

This lot of writing highlights the taciturn nature of Marigold when she has to tolerate fools. Well, in the first instance someone who is supposed to be helping her in her quest, and secondly with the man she was supposed to marry but now wants her dead.

Yes, it’s a bit like real life headlines torn from the national dailies, sometimes.

I wonder if they had newspapers back in the dark ages???

For those keeping an eye on the word count, this session, 4,228 words for a running total of 113,934.