Beautiful Books #3: SlavicNovel Yet Again

Well, 2015 is almost over here in Chicago - only six and a half more hours to go until the New Year! I thought I'd end off the year with this month's Beautiful Books post - obviously not because I'm LAZY AND PUT THINGS OFF UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE, but because it's all about edits and future plans and hopes for next year.

I wanted to finish SlavicNovel by today - that was the goal - so that I could have something editable fresh for the new year, but that didn't happen. However, I'm close to the end! I just need to figure out that dang climax.

Anyway, here we go with the questions!

1. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how did the book turn out? Did anything defy your expectations?

Weeeell I haven't finished it yet. But it's really close to being done. I'd say right now it feels like a 4 or a 5, but maybe that's pessimistic? The ending (ish) defied my expectations because it was way more complicated than I thought it would be dangit.
But on a happier note, some of my characters defied my expectations and were way easier to write than I thought they would be - namely, Baba Yaga, Damla, and Oriana.

2. Comparative title time: what published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book? (Ex: Inkheart meets X-Men.)

Dang this is complicated. Let's go for the Grisha books (by Leigh Bardugo) meet The Darkest Part of the Forest (by Holly Black) meets... something with ninjas. I dunno.

3. Do you enjoy working with deadlines and pressures (aka NaNoWriMo)? Or do you prefer to write-as-you're inspired?

Deadlines help definitely. I don't like them, but I can't deny that I am ten times more productive with them than without them. I like to think I'm self-motivated (homeschooling and all that) but perhaps that's only with academic pursuits. With writing, it's way harder.

4. How do you go about editing? Give us an insight in to your editing process.

Confession time: I've never reached that point on a WIP where I wanted to edit it. My collection is full of first drafts. But with SlavicNovel, I know I want to go farther. Here's my plan:
-Take a month long break from the novel.
-Send it to my kindle/phone and read it straight through as though it were any book I was reading.
-Make a gigantic plot outline using sticky notes and/or Scrivener
-Make the plot make sense. Cuz right now it doesn't.
-While working on plot, figure out character arcs kinda simultaneously.
-Eat a lot of chocolate after the plot is happy. CELEBRATE
-Take a break from the technical stuff for a month or so and conglomerate a ton of worldbuilding facts and fun stuff
-Somehow dive into rewrite #2.

What'll happen after that, I don't know. I'm not sure how rewrites work in my world. We'll see.

5. What aspect of your story needs the most work?

This is so hard to pick. I'm going to go with two things: worldbuilding (which is usually awesome for me *sad face*) and the conclusion/climax. I'm bad at tying plot points together.

6. What aspect of your story did you love the most?

Characters! As always. See next question :-)

7. Give us a brief run down on your main characters and how you think they turned out. Do you think they'll need changes in edits?

I have quite a few major characters because epic fantasy y'know.

Tania (my MC) - ew. She definitely needs work. She's so dang normal, and when she's not normal, she's whiny and immature. I can't seem to figure her essence out. She's supposed to be a bit of a jerk, but I can't figure out what she is when she's not being a jerk. Currently, she's pretty unlikable, which isn't good for an MC.

Stefan (Tania's unintentional friend) - pretty decent. He's kind of peppier than I though he'd be, but it's good, it balances out Tania's jerkiness.

Baba Yaga (witch) - epic sassy witch. She came out way sassier and way better than I expected she would. All the love to Baba Yaga.

Damla (thief) - wait no, all the love goes to DAMLA, not Baba Yaga. Or split it evenly between the two? Because this little marzipan ninja is my favorite of the badass women of SlavicNovel. She is perfection.

Oriana (warrior queen) - she's pretty decent, my major issue is that she's basically Damla but without as much heart and more violence. Which isn't what I want. Oriana's got heart, but it's a different kind from Damla's and I'm struggling to show that.

Koshiy (villain) - I'm trying to not make him your stereotypical dark bad boy but he very much so wants to be. I'm still not 100% sure what he's going to end up but whatever it is I know it will be fabulous. I don't have doubts with him, just unsureties.

Then there are various mermaid characters who are lesser than I wanted them to be (Laryssa, Rusalka), so I'm going to work on expanding those in the next draft.

8. What are your plans for this novel once you finish editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self-publishing? Hiding it in a dark hole forever?

Though I have hid many novels in dark holes forever, SlavicNovel is not destined for that path, happily. There will definitely be WAYYY more edits though, and eventually - maybe in 2017? - I'll find some beta readers. Querying and publication is the eventual goal, but that's a long while away.

9. Share a favorite snippet!

Hm. To a sharp eye this might technically be spoilers but oh well....

10. What are your writing goals and plans for 2016?

Drafts #2 and #3 of SlavicNovel! Start a fresh WIP (not sure which one yet). Write a couple short stories because I'm awful at that. Write around 100 words a day (small and therefore manageable).

Now it's your turn! Tell me about your editing process! (Any advice for me?) And what are your plans for 2016? Writing and otherwise?

Beautiful Books #2: SlavicNovel again

So yes, I missed Beautiful Books last month. BUT I WAS WRITING FURIOUSLY so HA I have excuses. NaNoWriMo is the ultimate excuse.

December is much less busy than November, so I will do both last month's and this month's. Here are November's questions! The December official post comes next week. :-)

1. Is the book turning out how you thought it would be, or is it defying your expectations?

Well, yes to both, kind of. Parts of it are exactly as I expected. Parts of it are totally different. Baba Yaga for one is a lot sassier than I expected her to be, which is AWESOME. Damla is a lot sassier too, which is DOUBLE AWESOME. Tania is a lot more obnoxious, which is NOT AWESOME and may get toned down in draft two.
I also thought, because it was so well plotted, there would be no major surprises. BUT WAIT. A random dude showed up and started making eyes at Damla, who isn't supposed to have a love interest. Stay away, Martin! She's a sass-master now.

But a lot of it is just a mish-mash of plots and scenes, and, frankly, right now it feels like a giant mess. Is there a central theme? Is there a proper path of events? Is it the grand epic I imagined? Who knows? Probably not.
But that's the fate of the first draft.

2. What's your first sentence (or paragraph)?

I shared this in my last Snazzy Snippets, actually. (Even though that probably won't be the real beginning in the final version.) So I'll share the first paragraph of Part Two of the book.

Damla looked around the empty alleyway and, with a small grunt of effort, pulled herself onto the balcony above. Pulling out a small, sharp, pin-like tool from her pocket, she knelt down by the lock on the balcony door and bit her lip. The lock was a little more complicated than she’d expected, but it was definitely very old, and so with a few twists of her pin, she heard the satisfying click of it opening.

3. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Have you ever tried both methods and how did it turn out?

I am a PLANTSER. A hybrid. Because YES I have tried both methods, and I am about to relate to you the (not so) fascinating tale of how that turned out.

IN THE BEGINNING... I thought I was a hard core planner (even though I wasn't). I would lie on my bed and plan all the novels, and write out extensive plots. But I never finished books. I'd get bored. My first NaNoWriMo novel was partially planned. At about 10,000 words, my plan DIED. So I pantsed the rest and it was awful. "Never again," I said to myself. "I must stick to planning or else it will collapse like The White Rose (aka Sophia's NaNo 2012)."

So I plotted out everything for NaNo2013, which was actually going to be an utter rehaul of a teensy thing I had written in my babyhood called Kings and Traitors. And then, on the evening of October 31st, 2013, a thought struck me. A scene, an image, a character. "Dang, I should write that," I said to myself. So I discarded any thoughts of writing Kings and Traitors that NaNo, and instead entirely pantsed my way through the mad and hilarious mess of a space opera called The Ulianthra. I reached 50,000 words at the climax, which was good, because I had no idea what to write next. So the beautiful horror that is The Ulianthra sits on my computer, unfinished, never to see the light of day.

For NaNo2014, I plotted out EVERYTHING - well, almost everything, except the ending, because I am bad at endings. Which can cause problems. Also, I grew bored of NaNo2014 (which you lovely folks know as VeniceNovel, or Masked Souls), and quit before I reached 10k. Good going, Sophia. (It was my first year of university, cut my some slack!)

And then suddenly, this year, I had an epic plot, with twists and things that ACTUALLY MADE SENSE, and I wrote it out immediately and dove into it just in time for NaNo2015 and then it just worked.

So really, when I say I'm a plantser, what I really mean is I don't know what the heck I'm doing with this noveling thing I just go with what the voices in my head tell me to do.

4. What do you reward yourself with after meeting a goal?

Sleep. All the sleep. Because I usually meet my goal at 11pm at night. (At least that's how it turned out this NaNo.)

5. What do you look for in a name? Do you have themes and where you you find your names?

Ah, names. I have a love-hate relationship with names, and I name my characters a little haphazardly depending on the genre and the story. Some characters have names that Mean Things. For example, apparently Damla means "Water Drop" in Turkish. Others, not so much. In SlavicNovel, many of my secondary characters have names because - oh dang he needs a name that's vaguely Slavic so how about Misha?

6. What is your favorite to write: beginning, middle, or end - and why?

I like middles. But early middles. And beginnings. Because I KNOW how they're going to play out, and can see the entire scene in my head.

7. Who is your current favorite character in your novel?

 DAMLAAAAA
I knew I liked her, but I didn't know she'd end up being my fave. But she has! Damla has the most perfect mix of sass and badassery combined with a really sweet heart, pretty excellent morals, and a nice dose of common sense. I couldn't ask for a better character!
(Dang, my favorite character isn't my villain? Applause for me. Maybe I'm normal after all.)

8. What kind of things have you researched for this project, and how do you go about researching? (What's the weirdest things you've researched?!)

I reasearch with The Almighty Google, and so far I've researched lots and lots of Turkish culture (and a bit of Slavic culture too, to fill my knowledge gaps). BUT.

The weirdest thing I've ever researched was for this project - mermaid sex. Think about it! Actually, maybe don't. Googling this was an interesting experience, to say the least.

I also had a long discussion with my mother about mermaid sex, nymphomaniacs, and sex slaves. It was surprisingly chill. I wish equally chill mothers upon all you writer friends.

9. Do you write better alone or with others? Do you share your work or prefer to keep it to yourself?

ALONE. I cannot write when there are people.

And I DO share work - I have been sharing work more lately, actually - but only teeny snippets. No big works. It's still super scary! I don't want to share my babies until they're perfect! (And we all know they'll never be perfect.)

10. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

I don't have super set writing habits. I particularly enjoy writing on a certain couch in my front room, though (featuring our just-decorated tree):

It's such a nice little sunny spot during the day! And the couch is super comfy and reclines with a foot-rest. <3

I write best in the afternoon, I think, but rarely do I actually write then. I usually end up writing in the evening or early in the morning on the train to school.

NO MUSIC ONLY SILENCE and the occasional coffeeshop chatter if I'm feeling like it.

I eat whatever my mom gives me when she fears for my survival because I've been sitting in the same position on the aforementioned couch for too long. Usually it's fruit, nuts, and cheese. Sometimes it's tea. And on lucky days, my dad throws me a chocolate bar.

What are your writing snacks? Are you a plotter or a pantser? And what's the weirdest thing you've ever researched for a novel? Let me know in the comments!

Beautiful Books #1: SlavicNovel

Well, it's that time again - Cait and Sky switch up their normal routine and change Beautiful People into Beautiful Books in preparation for NaNoWriMo!

Today I introduce you to what I am (rather unaffectionately and boringly) calling SlavicNovel:


1. How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

Approximately... three? four? years ago, I was thinking about my culture, and how fun it would be to write a novel about the creepy dark things of Ukrainian folklore. I was also thinking about how little I remembered of the folktales my grandmother would tell me when I was little, and how the only ones I remembered involved (a) so many anthropomorphic animals or (b) retellings of western European fairy tales with a bit of Slavic culture thrown in. Someday, I thought, I'll write a story about a girl who disappears into the forest and has to face the demons and mermaids and Baba Yagas that live there.

And then I forgot about it.

Approximately... two? three? months ago, Cait mentioned she was writing a Slavic fantasy. Yay, more Slavic fantasy in this world! I thought. Then, more recently, she mentioned she needed culture-help, and I inundated her with a rather long comment, since, if you ask me, I WILL SHARE THE STORY OF MY PEOPLE. I mean, seriously, cultures are cool, and I love sharing mine (and hearing about yours).

And then I thought - wait. I know a crap ton about Slavic culture. I've been wanting to write some high fantasy for a while now. And I still have that tiny plot bunny hopping around in my brain whispering darkness! forests! magic! evil! folklore!

And NaNo was approaching. So here I am.

2. Why are you excited to write this novel?

Many reasons:
- MY CULTURE (see above)
- Dark magic
- Badass women
- Sexy mermaids (i.e. badass women)
- Witches (i.e. dark magic combined with badass women)
- Warrior queens (i.e. badass women)
- Lots of Ukrainian-style food (pierogie, fluffy bread, cheese-butter, and possibly the only delicious ways to eat beets and cabbage)
- A splash of Turkish culture (which I have no idea about HALP)
- Clever thieves (i.e. badass women)
- A dark sexy immortal villain
- And did I say SO MANY BADASS WOMEN

Also, I plotted out approximately 80% of this novel in a single weekend. This is a RECORD for me, people.

3. What is your novel about, and what is the title?

Well, this novel is about the things I bulleted above. It also involves people falling in love with the wrong people (and occasionally with the right people), a neglected youngest prince, and a lesbian mermaid who wants to seduce women, instead of men like the rest of the mermaids do.

I'm gradually realizing I don't really have a good summary, just a lot of exciting components.

I also have no title. The Raven King would actually be quite a perfect title, no lie, but I'm not trying to compete with Maggie Stiefvater here.

4. Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!)

Characters are possibly my favoritest thing in the world so I kind of went overboard on this one and threw nine at you. Enjoy!

Tanya (my darling MC) - confused

Baba Yaga (old lady of the forest) - manipulative

Oriana (warrior queen) - blunt (in word and deed)

Damla (adorable thief) - underestimated

Stefan (neglected youngest prince) - enthusiastic

Koshiy (SEXY VILLAIN) - perverted (what? he is! the creep)

Rusalka (mermaid queen - aka SEXY VILLAIN #2) - vengeful

Laryssa (lesbian mermaid) - longing

Tania's grandpa  (as yet unnamed) - solid

5. Which character(s) do you think will be your favorite to write? Tell us about them!

Laryssa's my sad little lesbian mermaid, and I'm very excited to write her. However. I think my absolute favorites are going to be Oriana (my badass warrior queen) and Damla (my quiet, sweet, adorable, cunning thief). Actually, I think my favorite thing to write is going to be the dialogue and scenes involving them both. They have some fun conflicts in store - both with words and with weapons.

Stefan is adorable and mildly snarky too, so he may quickly rise in my favor. We shall see.

6. What is your protagonist's goal, and what stands in the way?

My protagonist is Tania, and she's possibly the only character I don't have fully fleshed out. She's a little foggy right now, but ultimately, she wants the safe adventures of the fairy tales - as in, adventure without danger, where she can return to her grandfather and tell him all about it. (She doesn't realize that yet.)

Physically, she wants to find Koshiy, steal the golden box which holds the secret to his immortality, and bring it back to Baba Yaga, so that Baba Yaga will clear her of her commitment to work for Baba Yaga. It's complicated, and all kind of goes back to Tania's mother not realizing what happens when you make deals with the dark things of the forest.

A lot clearly stands in the way. Koshiy himself, for one. Also, a lot of politics surrounding Koshiy - both magical and non-magical politics - that Tania doesn't know about. There are many people/things who want Koshiy dead, but they can't agree on how/who gets to kill him/why the heck this mortal girl is involved in the whole mess.

Also, her grandfather can't really take care of himself so she can't be away from home for too long. So many complications.

7. Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!)

It's kind of a fictionalized version of Ukraine/the Black Sea/Turkey. I'm slowly making a crappy map on microsoft paint. Here's what I have so far.

Told you it's crappy. But hey, it's functional.

8. What is the most important relationship your character has?

I'm guessing this is about the main character? Tania is super close to her grandfather, but he's not present for a lot of the book, even though his well-being is the driving action for a lot of Tania's decisions. A second relationship that is important for Tania is a growing friendship between her and a stray prince named Stefan who is really not cool with being a youngest son and so decided to run off.

Everyone in Tania's village is kind of suspicious of her since her mother had dealings with the forest folk and Baba Yaga. Because of this Tania has put up barriers to close relationships in order to stop herself from being rejected. Friendships aren't an option in Tania's mind-world, so when Stefan comes along it really requires a lot of lessons to be learned on her part.

(I'm still deciding if I ship them or no... Do I want it to remain a friendship? Hmmm we shall see.)

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

She has a friend now - yay! She discovers that her agenda isn't the only one - her "quest" overlaps with someone else's "quest." And as cliche as this is: she learns teamwork actually works and sometimes working alone can be selfish.

10. What themes are in your book? How do you want your readers to feel when the story is over?

Some potential themes (though these are hard to determine for me before the book is actually written):
- selfishness destroys things
- revenge destroys things
- breaches of trust destroy things
- racisim and ethnocentrism destroy things
- don't destroy things.
Also
- dark things have reasons for being dark
and
- there are always two sides to the story - sometimes three

By the end of the book I want readers to be interested in Slavic (and potentially Turkish*) culture. And I want them to feel mildly creeped out but simultaneously alert for adventure every time they enter a forest.

*if I actually do the Turkish parts right OMG HELP ME GUYS SERIOUSLY

BONUS! Tell us your 3 best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.

Okay *deep breath* here goes:

1. DON'T EDIT - yet. I feel like everyone says this but it's worth saying again. November is for word-spewing. December is for editing. Repeat after me. DECEMBER IS FOR EDITING. If you don't write the thing you can't edit the thing.

2. Tell the people you see habitually that you are doing This Thing. Then maybe they'll forgive you if you disappear from all social life for a month to write your NaNovel. But seriously - it's awesome to have a support group that understands and can encourage you. My dad is totally into me doing NaNo and is the best cheer-er-on-er. My mom is a bit more hesitant but is cool with it as long as I tell her I won't let my grades fall and I won't destroy my eyes by staring at a computer screen too long. So if I disappear into my room for an hour or two - she knows what I'm doing, and will bring me grapes and cheese and water. That got off track - basically the people you tell will either support you (great!) or know to avoid you (still great!).

3. Consider taking a social media break. Yes, I know it's hard because part of the NaNo experience is Twitter with it's word sprints and encouragement, and the NaNo forums with a little bit of everything lovely. But think about assigning a certain amount of time where you turn off the wifi and just write. After your time is up, you can hop back onto Twitter or the forums and announce your newly-increased wordcount - won't that feel lovely?

SO FRIENDS! Tell me about you writing projects! Are you doing NaNo? (Add me as a buddy if you are.) Do you have any advice for other NaNoers? And do you have any insights into the Turkish culture? (seriously I need help here so badly.) 

Beautiful Books #3: The Venice Novel Yet Again

And here we go with the third and final round of Beautiful Books. Next month - we're back to characters. Even though I'm taking a break from my Venice novel (Masked Souls is what it's called for now), I thought I'd still use it for the questions this month, just for consistency's sake. So here we go!

1. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) how well do you think this book turned out?

Considering I didn't finish it... I'd say it was a solid 5. The pre-NaNo stuff did more for me than the actual NaNo writing. Which is weird.

2. Have you ever rewritten or editing one of your books before? If so, what do you do to prepare yourself? If not, what’s your plan?

I have never edited a book of mine. I've edited short stories, but not novels. And this darling Venice novel is not going to be edited anytime soon. I've got to finish it first. :-)

But here's my general plan:

~Print it out. (Waste of paper? Yes. But I think it'll help.)

~Read through and scribble in the margins. 

~Go through the word doc and change what I scribbled.

~Possibly rewrite the entire thing from scratch and start over.

I don't even know. Writing is madness. Why did we choose this weird writer's life, people?

3. What’s your final wordcount? Do you plan to lengthen or trim your book?

Ha, it's not done yet. All these questions assume it's done, of course. Nope.

Right now, I have one (also unfinished) version that's around 35k, and then this NaNo's version that is a little over 15k. So. I'm aiming for 60k in the end, though.

4. What’s are you most proud of? Plot, characters, or pacing?

Characters. Particularly da Vale, my antagonist.

But by the end of this process, I'm hoping I'm proud of my plot, too. 'Cause that baby's gonna need some work.

5. What’s your favourite bit of prose or line from this novel?

Actually, it's right in the beginning, from the Prologue. I love baby Zaneta. I think I had this excerpt in my last Beautiful Books post, but here it is again, anyway:

"Come dance with me, cuore mio," exclaimed Bartolomeo, clasping Besina in his arms and twirling her around his workshop. Zaneta, enchanted, leapt around, arms twirling, in the sort of graceless yet perfect dance that only children are capable of. Besina, with a mother's mind, gasped out, "Don't break anything!" but Bartolomeo only cried, "Dance with me!" and care was tossed to the wind. 

Laughing, twirling, and gasping for breath, the trio made their way out into the fresh and cold air of the Venetian autumn. "Don't catch cold," Besina said, still smiling, and draped her shawl over her daughter's tiny shoulders.  

"The canal drowned the moon!" Zaneta shrieked, awestruck, gazing at the reflection in the water before them. The little canal lapped onward, unknowing of its great misdeed.  

"The the moon isn't drowned," Bartolomeo laughed. "Look, the canal is only its mirror. It wants to see how fine it looks on such a clear night." He knelt down to Zaneta's eye level and pointed towards the shining moon in the sky. "Don't you think it looks fine?" 

"It's a fine moon," Zaneta agreed, soberly. "Moon! You're looking quite wonderful tonight!" 

She knelt down on the cobblestone and peered into the canal before her. "Ohh," she sighed, "I'm looking quite wonderful too."

6. What aspect of your book needs the most work?

Plot. Totally and entirely.

7. What aspect of your book is your favourite?

DA VALE. Need you even ask? I love my dear, troubled villain.

8. How are your characters? Well-rounded, or do they still need to be fleshed-out?

I love my characters. They are spectacular (in my opinion). 

9. If you had to do it over again, what would you change about the whole process?

Not rush it. Make more notes. Not have school randomly take up my writing time.

(That last one is perhaps something I cannot change.)

10. Did anything happen in your book that completely surprised you? Have any scenes or characters turned out differently to what you planned? Good or bad?

Da Vale is a bit different than I expected him to be, but I like where he's going.

Also, there is going to be a possible murder now. There wasn't, in the original plan. Mwahahaha!

11. What was the theme and message? Do you think it came across? If not, is there anything you could do to bring it out more?

I... don't have a concrete theme yet. Perhaps something about not trying to control life? Getting your priorities straight? Not going out with masked strangers who won't tell you their name?

12. Do you like writing with a deadline (like NaNoWriMo) or do you prefer to write-as-it-comes?

Both. Sort of. I like deadlines, but not too harsh. I don't want writing to become an utter chore, which is why I quit NaNo this year.

13. Comparative title time! What published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book? (Ex: Inkheart meets X-Men, etc.)

The Night Circus meets The Count of Monte Cristo. Or something. This is hard.

14. How do you celebrate a finished novel?!

Not this one, but I HAVE finished a novel before. So I celebrate with chocolate ice cream. And a flail dance around the house. And cheering family members.

15. When people are done reading your book, what feeling do you want them to come away with?

A certain nostalgic feeling of magic, an introspective look at humanity and motivations, and a desperate desire to visit Venice.

Have you ever reached the editing point in your novel writing? How do YOU celebrate finishing a novel?

I'm off to work on some OTHER WIP's now - all completely different from my Venice novel, and all completely outside my usual writing comfort zone. One is paranormal, about an unusual team of ghost-hunters. One is contemporary romance, about fame and its effects on people and relationships. And one is me playing around with Arthurian characters in a modern college setting. I'm having a lot of fun with that one :-)

~Sophia

Beautiful Books #2: The Venice Novel Again

  Well.

It's November 30th, so I should be at 50,000 words by now, right?

Yeah, about that. I'm still where I was when I left you a week ago. 15,418 words.

Okay, so this NaNo was a bit of a fail, that's certain. But hey - college has been a success, at least so far! I've got three more exams and two more papers, and then I'm done with an eighth of my undergraduate career.

And I've learned so much about myself as a writer this NaNo, even when I wasn't writing for these past few weeks. This winter break (my first ever winter break when I am absolutely free of all my studies), I am going to work on three different WIP's, and maybe even give my darling Venice novel a break.

BUT I am still going to talk about it here for Beautiful Books! The link up closed, but it's still November 30th here, so I'm going to post it anyway. HA. And so, we commence with the questions:

1. Be honest: how's your writing going?

I guess I sort of talked about this above, but what about outside of NaNo? Writing is going decently. I've come a long way from when this story started back in June, and my characters have developed most pleasingly. However, if you look at my post-it-note-story-plotting-wall, you will notice a huge blank space between the beginning scenes and the end scenes. I've got about 1/3 plotted out, I'd say, but I don't exactly know how to get from there to where I want to be at the end. So that's where I am right now.

2. What's your first sentence/paragraph?

The beginning of the prologue:
She twirled her little childish fingers through the golden sequins and watched, enchanted, as the moonlight reflected onto her hands. It was the time for fairies.


3. Do you have a book cover, and/or pictures that reflect your book?

Cover:


Though the title might change.

Also, see my pinterest board for more Venice awesome pictures. :-)

4. Do you have pictures of each of your characters?

YES.
First, Zaneta Soranzi, our MC, as a young adult, and a child.

   

Nicolo Dolfin.



Angelo da Vale



Zaneta's friends, the siblings Giovanni and Angelina:

   

5. Which scene are you most excited to write?

I really like the scene where Zaneta and Nicolo meet (I've written this one already). Because it's both dashingly romantic - and super awkward. Simultaneously.

But I'm also looking forward to the scene near the end, where da Vale must judge his father. And he doesn't exactly like his father.

6. Share a snippet or a scene that you enjoyed writing.

I liked writing the prologue and Baby Zaneta:

"Come dance with me, cuore mio," exclaimed Bartolomeo, clasping Besina in his arms and twirling her around his workshop. Zaneta, enchanted, leapt around, arms twirling, in the sort of graceless yet perfect dance that only children are capable of. Besina, with a mother's mind, gasped out, "Don't break anything!" but Bartolomeo only cried, "Dance with me!" and care was tossed to the wind. 

Laughing, twirling, and gasping for breath, the trio made their way out into the fresh and cold air of the Venetian autumn. "Don't catch cold," Besina said, still smiling, and draped her shawl over her daughter's tiny shoulders.  

"The canal drowned the moon!" Zaneta shrieked, awestruck, gazing at the reflection in the water before them. The little canal lapped onward, unknowing of its great misdeed.  

"The the moon isn't drowned," Bartolomeo laughed. "Look, the canal is only its mirror. It wants to see how fine it looks on such a clear night." He knelt down to Zaneta's eye level and pointed towards the shining moon in the sky. "Don't you think it looks fine?" 

"It's a fine moon," Zaneta agreed, soberly. "Moon! You're looking quite wonderful tonight!" 

She knelt down on the cobblestone and peered into the canal before her. "Ohh," she sighed, "I'm looking quite wonderful too."

7. Now that you're writing, have any of the plot details, or the process itself, turned out different from what you planned or imagined?

Da Vale is a deeper character than I could ever have planned. I have to plot out backstory for him, not just regular story!
Also, Zaneta is extraordinarily stupid sometimes. Seriously, girl! It's messing with my plot.

8. Is there a character or aspect of your plot that's difficult to write?

Not in particular (da Vale is intense and multifaceted, but really fun to write), but I have found that it's becoming a bit of a mystery story. And those are always hard for me to write. Middles, people! I've got my beginning and my end, but I can't make them connect!

9. What's your favorite aspect of this novel so far? Favorite character?

Da Vale. Hands down.

10. Have you drawn off of any life experiences or people you know to create your novel and your characters?

What, you mean other than the fact that this whole thing was inspired by my trip to Venice?

But otherwise? No. Da Vale is inspired by a few fictional characters, but no one real.

11. Do you have a playlist or certain song for your novel and/or characters?

No, not really. I don't do playlists or music when noveling.

12. Let’s have some fun for a moment: imagine you are somehow transported into your book’s world. Which character are you most likely to be found hanging out with?

Oooh. Maybe Zaneta? We might complement each other nicely. She's more chatty than I am, though not quite so chatty as Angelina. But actually, I might be found hanging out with Nicolo. No, not just because he's handsome and dashing - WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING - but because he's sort of quiet-ish like I am. He might not compliment me the best, but I gravitate towards people like myself.

13. How do you keep yourself motivated to finish your daily wordcount? (Pinterest? Internet breaks? Chocolate?)

I... um... don't? At least not this November, since it's been such a writing flop. But usually I motivate myself with the idea of that shiny new novel. Confession: I've never gotten a novel to the point where I can actually write a second draft. So my motivation is the desire to reach that.

But chocolate helps too.

14. What is your favorite writing quote or piece of writing advice?

"Fool," said my muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write."

~Sir Phillip Sidney

15. How does this book make you feel so far? Are you laughing? Crying? Frustrated?

Right now? FRUSTRATED. Which is why I'm probably going to take a break from this WIP for a bit.

How'd your NaNo adventures go? Did you win? And - more importantly - did you write something you're happy with?

~Sophia

Beautiful Books #1: The Venice Novel

This month (and for the next two months), Cait and Sky are doing something special. Instead of talking about our characters (our beautiful people) we're talking about our novels! Thus:

I will be talking about my novel set in Venice, which is my main WIP currently (as I'm sure you know, if you've been reading any of my writing posts at all).
On to the questions! (Which are, of course, on plot. Oh crap.That's my weakness.)   1. What came first: characters or plot idea? Are you a plotter or a pantser?   Actually, neither characters nor plot idea came first. Characteristcally for me, it was setting that started this whole business. I get inspired by places. In this case - my trip to Venice last May/June.  And I am neither a plotter or a pantser. (Look at me, already breaking the system on the first question.) I am a plantser - which is exactly what it sounds like. I'm basically at the 50/50 ratio for pantser/planner.    2. Do you have a title and/or a "back-cover-blurb"?
It is tentatively called City of Light and Darkness. I don't like that title - it seems too vague right now. But hey - my plot is vague right now, so I guess it sort of fits? I'm hoping it gets re-titled soon. In my head, it's just "The Venice Novel."

As for back-cover-blurb - oh yes I have one!

Zaneta Soranzo has maskmaking in her blood. The Soranzi family has long been known as the best maskmakers in the entire Republic of Venice - it is rumored that they can imbue life into their masks. But when Zaneta's father dies, leaving an unfinished mask and a secret, she is pulled into a mystery that threatens danger to her business, her family, and all of Venice.  

Angelo da Vale has two desires - justice, and revenge. God may be the ultimate Judge in Heaven, but on Earth - or at least in Venice - da Vale has taken justice into his own hands. As the de facto leader of the Council of Ten, the main judicial body in Venice, da Vale rules with a heavy hand. The deserving must be punished, and punished according to the magnitude of their crime. No quarter can be given. 

Two souls, each hiding a secret. Two souls, one young and hopeful, one bitter and full of resentment. Two souls - with paths soon to cross in a way neither could have forseen. 

Masks are not always crafted out of clay and paper. Masks can also be the creation of the heart - the result of fear, and the desire to protect the innermost self. And even as a Carnivale reveler can be unmasked by a clever hand, so can the soul unknowingly reveal it's deepest secrets.

 Okay, that's sort of long for a back cover.    3. What wordcount are you aiming for when your novel is finished?
50,000 for now. Possibly 70,000 by the end of the whole process.    4. Sum up your novel in three sentences.
Female maskmakers are not appreciated during the Renaissance, and Zaneta learns this the hard way. She also learns that falling in love with masked strangers is probably not the best method of entering into a healthy relationship. Thirdly - severe men with daddy issues should not be put in charge of doling out justice to a large group of people.   5. Sum up your characters in one word each.
Zaneta Soranzo - overflowing Nicolo Dolfin (Zaneta's friend/love interest) - hesitant Angelo Da Vale - ambitious Franciso Caravello (steward of the Doge) - earnest Caterina (daughter of the Doge) - composed The Doge [sadly unnamed as yet] - avaricious Bartolomeo Soranzo (Zaneta's dad) - huggable Besina Soranzo (Zaneta's mom) - constant   You won't believe how quickly I did these - except for Zaneta's. That one took me forever. It just seems to work.   6. Which character are you most excited to write? Tell us about them!
Da Vale. Totally da Vale. I've been writing his backstory over the last week or so, and I could literally write a whole novel just about how he got to where he is, and why he is this strange and mysterious and ambitious and desperate and revengeful and twisted man.  I am going to have SUCH fun writing him. I already am having such fun.    7. What about your villain? Who is he, what is his goal?
Uh - see #6? Da Vale is my villain. He is a member of the council of Ten, the main judicial body of Venice, and sees it as his duty on earth to bring punishment to the guilty. There's all this stuff about his dad and bad family dynamics and desire for revenge that practically guides his life.  (If you are interested, da Vale was featured in two Beautiful People posts, here and here. Note that these were written before I discovered his backstory.)   8. What is your protagonist's goal? And what stands in the way?
THIS is where my plot fails me. I've been working so hard on characters and da Vale's side of the story that I haven't really figured out where my protagonist fits in. (This is not a good situation to be in, let me tell you.) So. She has a few different goals, right now. Firstly, she wants to run her mask shop. By herself. And the customs of the times dictate that women can't run artisan businesses alone. So that's one issue. Another goal is to get out of being accused of murder. So yeah, that's a pretty big problem too.  But the murder is something I'm currently working on. It popped into my story so conveniently, but then was like haha you thought I was going to be EASY, huh? NOPE. It has many issues of it's own, particularly who the heck was the murderer?   9. What inciting incident begins your protagonist's journey?
It's not just one. It's two loaded on top of each other. (We writers like to make our protagonists really suffer.) First of all, she meets a really chill guy who unfortunately has a mask on (not creepy - it's Carnevale) and won't tell her his name, even though she told him hers (sorta creepy). Then, her father dies. Not a pleasant turn of events.   10. Where is your novel set?
Duh. Antarctica. (It's actually Venice, if you haven't been paying attention.)   11. What are the three big scenes in your novel that change the game completely?
~Zaneta realizes whom she's really in love with. ~A murder is discovered. ~Da Vale must judge his own father's trial.   12. What is the most dynamic relationship your character has? Who else do they come in contact with or become close to during the story?
Hm. Obviously, with a star-crossed kind of romance going on, Zaneta and Nicolo are going to have to work through some things. But I really want to develop Zaneta's relationship with her mother - their personalities are just similar enough to make them close and loving, but just opposite enough that they have quite their share of conflicts.
13. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?
Eh... we're working on this. For now, let's aim for less quick judgments, more thinking before acting, and less bias towards people unlike herself. I'm guessing we'll probably see the most progress in the last one.
14. Do you have an ending in mind, or do you plan to see what happens?
I don't have an ending in mind just yet. But I also don't want to just see what happens. I'm hoping at least a vague ending will reveal itself while I plot during this pre-NaNo week.   15. What are your hopes and dreams for your book? What impressions are you hoping this novel will leave on your readers and yourself?
Well, I want this sucker to be published.    Never mind, let's start small. I want to actually edit it and obtain a second draft. Then we can think about sharing it with... a very small and select group of people? As for impressions on readers? A deep and unshakable desire to go to Venice.  The sort of lightheadedness that comes from reading that kind of book.  For myself? Gosh, I've already got that desire to visit Venice, and I was there just six months ago! Wanderlust is always fun.    Are you writing a novel (for NaNo or otherwise)? Try this linkup! And if you are doing NaNo - buddy me! I'm Philomena in the NaNoverse.   ~Sophia