Know the Novel | Part Two

And here’s Part Two of Christine’s fun writing tag, Know The Novel. The tag originates on Christine’s blog, Musings of an Elf. Check out her post for more details.

So this time, I get to yak about how the actual writing is going, gush about my Characters, and sundry what-nots like that.

AntonArgentos:

Characters who, oddly enough, haven’t made it to Peanut Gallery* status.

Perhaps because I didn’t intend to get as emotionally involved with them as with you lot? :-P This *was* going to be a “nice little bit of fluff to play with while I take a break from Prince Nácil,” after all. *Eyeroll*

OK, enough rambling. On to the Tag!

* Peanut Gallery = The various and sundry Voices in My Head/facets of my complicated psyche, whom I’ve personified as several Characters from my many WIPs.

QUESTIONS

1. How’s the writing going? FINISHED!!! I got to the end of the book on November 23^rd with an official wordcount of 32,231 words (62 pages in Open Office). It was kinda weird, finishing an entire book in a little over three weeks. It’s also a little sad that I didn’t make it to the 50,000 words goal...but I’ve told all of the story I wanted to tell (that would have fit without feeling dragged-out or shoehorned in), so continuing to write woud just be so much excess fluff at this point. I think my brother said it best: “It’s just not a 50,000-word story.” Besides, my main reason for doing NaNo this year was to get into the habit of writing each day, which I’ve done, so that’s a win, aye?
As far as the actual process went, it felt like it took me f o r e v e r to progress the plot (especially the Party Scene, ’ikes!), yet writing basically all day, every day got me to the end of the book before the month was out. Crazy! But cool, too.

2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far? Combining two very dissimilar “fairytales” into one story, and weaving in dances from the Ballet, plus bits of live performances I’ve seen over the years.

3. Has your novel surprised you in any way? Mainly in the area of organic development. Despite writing out a list of main/important plot-points I wanted to include in the book, detailing how those events unfolded within the story just...had a mind of its own still. :-P
On a pleasanter note, the Magic Mirror spouted a pretty cool Prophecy out of the Blue (see snippets below), which I think gave the story a bit more depth.

4. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about? ’On the whole, I like them. They’re basically how I envisioned them. Princess Starflower is sweet and encouraging, with just enough initial bashfulness around Liam to be believable. Liam himself...wow, what a sweetheart. <3 Herr Weisskopf ended up with a smaller role than I intended, but perhaps I can fix that in the next draft. Fritz is the perfect fop that you love to hate, and the Queen of the Night turned out deliciously crafty and...well, evil.

5. 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 totally be Princess Starflower. When I myself was twelve years old, I still enjoyed games of Let’s Pretend...and was horribly shy of boys! (Still am, actually, although it’s gotten a bit better in recent years.) Don’t think I’d do anything different than Starflower does in the story—nothing positive, anyhow. I’d probably sulk the rest of the evening after Fritz broke the nutcracker, and my twelve-year-old self for sure wouldn’t get over being afraid of Liam that quickly! >_<

6. Give us the first sentence or paragraph and then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

First sentence: The Kingdom of Ardonia had enjoyed many years of peace and prosperity, ruled by the wise and fair Moon King and his beloved Star Queen.

~Favorite snippets~

The Queen jumped and threw a saucy grin at her husband. “Ah! My lord, I did not hear you approach. Fie, for shame, to startle a woman with child.”

“I’m certain you shall come to forgive me in time.” He kissed her tenderly. “As for our Small One yonder”—patting the Queen’s belly—“I would be very much surprised if it looked aught but how you’ve described, considering our own complexions.” He gave her dark locks a playful tug and pinched her rosy cheek as he spoke. “The real question will be whether God shall bless us with a fair daughter to inherit your soft curls and dark eyes, or a strapping son blessed with my manly physique.” He struck a heroic pose, meriting a laugh from the Queen.

[Author Intrusion: In which the Moon King suddenly channeled Anton Argentos. XD]

Fritz looked a bit foolish, turning the lever over in his hands. Then he gave a nervous laugh and shrugged his shoulders. “What a lot of fuss over a silly toy.” He dropped the lever and began to walk towards Starflower. “Come, now, Cousin Starflower; let’s finish the dance.”

Starflower glared up at him. “I don’t want to dance with you, you great bully.” A tear slid down her cheek, and she hugged the nutcracker to her heart.

Fritz began to reply, extending his hand to her in a way that made her anxious.

Liam stepped protectively in front of her. “The Princess says she doesn’t want to dance with you,” he growled.

Fritz stopped short, eyes wide in astonished outrage.

Liam gulped, but stood firm.

“Hold your tongue, little man,” Fritz sneered. “You forget yourself. Or do you not realize whom you are addressing?” He looked down his nose at Liam, head held high, his whole being radiating hauteur.

Liam lifted his chin. “I may not be of noble birth, mein herr,” he retorted, “but I’m more of a gentleman than you are.”

“Magic Mirror,” she intoned, “tell me if there is any danger to this plan of action, and how I may prevent it.”

Again the Mirror growled and turned black, answering in the same low tones:

“True Love’s Sword shall be thy bane,

True Love’s Call shall wake the slain,

True Love’s Kiss shall win the fight,

And Love United sets it right.”

The Mirror showed an image of a young couple in splendid clothes, with crowns on their heads, facing each other with clasped hands. A bright light shone behind them, and a kind of fog shrouded the image, so Frau Ratzenburger couldn’t make out their exact features or any other details that might point to their identities. She asked the Mirror to tell her more about them, but it only repeated its previous answer. To Frau Ratzenburger, it sounded like a prophecy of doom....

7. Have you come across any problem areas? Mainly figuring out how to incorporate the dances from the Ballet and make them interesting. Too little detail, and it’s like, “What does this even accomplish?” Too much detail, and my readers might as well just go see the Ballet, LOL. I also had a spot of bother fitting in the Magic Mirror...until I realized Frau Ratzenburger/the Queen of the Night’s reason for hating Starflower wasn’t jealousy of her looks....

8. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point? Besides finishing a whole book in three weeks? ;-P Probably the fact that the two stories really did mesh pretty well.

9. Be honest, have you killed any characters off yet? Anyone who’s read Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and at least seen the Nutcracker Ballet knows there’s at least one death involved. Anyone who’s actually read E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker and Mouse King knows there are at least two (we won’t count Snow White and the Nutcracker because they either weren’t really dead or came back to life).
I did kill off one other character besides the villains...but...ehehe, spoilers, sweetie.

10. Take us on a tour of a what a normal writing day for this particular novel has looked 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! A typical day of writing for R.R. Goodwill generally began around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m., after I’d done the usual morning things and what-not...and OK, yeah, gotten distracted by YouTube videos, e-mail checking, Pinterest rabbit-holes, and/or jewelry projects that suddenly decided to inspire me. :-P I have my laptop (affectionately christened “Batman” due to its black and silver exterior) set up in my room, where I can shut myself away from the rest of the house for a while.
No coffee for this little monkey (can’t handle the Caffeine Buzzzzzz), nor tea (too expensive to drink casually), nor cocoa (don’t have mix, and I hate making it from scratch because it turns out bitter)...however, I did nosh on at least a roll a day of Smarties (leftover Trick-or-Treat fodder) while writing this book. Oddly appropriate, actually....
And while I generally don’t listen to music while writing, I found it helpful to play parts of the Nutcracker Suite and Waltz of the Snowflakes, to help get a feel for the mood of the scene I wanted to write.

I don’t tag anyone, because the only two people left on the Blogosphere that I actually know have already done it. :-P Eagerly awaiting Part Three!

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~ℛ~