NaNoWriMo Wrapup: Know the Novel: Words Written

 

*Slides in* Phew! I'm sorry. This was supposed to be out last week, but I got really sick so when I tried to sit down to write this, I almost passed out and had to call it quits. So here we are. The last part of Christine Smith's fabulous Know the Novel link-up.

As per usual, I am still finishing the actual draft, but what I did complete was a blast.

So, let's get to the questions:

Know the Novel Part 3: Words Written

Question 1: How did writing this novel go all around?

A:

Overall, I'd say it went rather well. Yes, there were times it fought me, but on the whole, writing Drop was a blast! 

Question 2: Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome?

A:

Honestly, does anything I write turn out like I expected? No. Absolutely not. My characters have no respect for my outline and love to do whatever they please, but honestly, this story is turning out better than I ever expected.

Question 3: What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)

A:

My darling chaos-loving characters, of course. They continually surprised me, (never stopped eating... Seriously, you guys just had one continuous picnic. I don't know you anymore.), had spontaneous origami contests and random conversations that were the beginning of food fights. My characters don't know how to be serious very often, but when they do, I often have to lug around a giant box of tissues. They're precious, okay?

Question 4: How about your least favorite part?

A:

Well, how about the fact I'm not even halfway done with this story yet? *sigh* Yup. It's another Julia-classic. 

Question 5: What do you feel like needs the most work?

A:

Um... I need to reel the characters in some so that the plot gets moving. Honestly, it's been a lot of fun, and the characters have developed wonderfully, but the plot is suffering because the characters think they can do whatever they want. And by whatever they want, I mean, they think they can just sit and eat. Which sounds fun, but you guys have to do something else too. Like, stick to the plot.

Question 6: How do you feel about your characters now? Who's your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!

A:

I don't think my answers have changed much from the last post. I still LOVE my characters, even though they have little regard for my plot. James. (my antagonist/protagonist) is still my favorite and his bride-to-be, Lady Isabel, is still my very least favorite person. *shoves her off a cliff* 

I have to say, James' servant, Nathaniel Tevins, has been the most surprising side character. He was one of my favorites in the first book, but he's really growing as a character in this book. He has a lot of lines that are very sweet, sincere and wise and I'm loving it.

Question 7: What's your next plan of action for this novel? 

A:

I would just like to finish this book, and then I need to write book 3 and wrap up the trilogy before diving into edits. I figured out that I need to draft the trilogy before I get messy with the edits.

Question 8: If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?

A:

So, here's the thing. Drops of Inspira was always meant to be a trilogy. Before I wrote the first book, I actually designed mock-covers for the entire trilogy. If this ever gets published, I would love for the covers to be something very similar to what I originally intended. Besides getting it published, I think it would be simply awesome if this were made into a tv show someday. I have ideas for the title sequences, some idea for music and just.... Eep! The idea makes me very excited.

Question 9: Share some of your favorite snippets!

A:

Ready for some no-context snippets? Okay. Here we go.

Here. Have another!

And another!

And one more....

Question 10: Did you glean any new writing and / or life lessons from writing this novel?

A:

I learned so many things while writing this. Things like we are never as alone as we think we are, life is meant to be lived, fear is a cage that keeps us from living, and there is joy in the midst of sorrow if we only know where to look for it.

                                                                 

Thank you all for sticking with me for this NaNoWriMo journey.

It's been a blast!