Hello, lovely readers!! I’m back with the second post to the Know the Novel linkup! It’s been fun working on Galien’s story (my Cinderella Reimagining and NaNo project) all month long, and today, I’m excited to share with you how it went!
(Click here if you’d like to join the linkup as well.)
1. How’s the writing going overall?
Good, but not as good as I had hoped. I’ve made good progress in my novel, which is better than nothing. But I didn’t reach 50,000 words. I didn’t even make half that! So, I am sad that I didn’t reach my goal, but I’m not angry with myself. Like I said, what I have is better than nothing, so I’m happy with myself for doing something.
2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?
Actually writing it! (Course, now that I say that, I feel like that was the answer I gave last time I did Know the Novel. XD) But seriously, writing it has been the best! My last novel I had been working on for two years, and I was getting tired of working on it and ready to move on to something else. So doing this Cinderella reimagining has been fun! It’s a fresh, new story for me, and the even better part is that I can already see my improvement as a writer!
3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?
Okay, so I know I haven’t gotten super far into the novel yet, but with what I have I like my characters pretty well. They feel like they have more depth and are better written. Their emotions make more sense rather than feel random. My favorite to write about is Galien, but I guess that’s a good thing since he’s the main character. XD During the “creating the concept” stage, I fell in love with him and new the story had to be told from his perspective.
4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?
Yes. This novel was plotted with an official outline in October, so I already had the main things planned out. But while writing Chapter 1, something just came out in the story that I didn’t plan. And after I wrote it, I realized it gave Galien a better motivation to do what he was going to do in the chapters that followed. Basically, Galien’s motives turned out to be better than what I had planned. I think I was mostly surprised that it wasn’t planned and yet worked better than what was, lol.
5. Have you come across any problem areas?
Again, yes. I’ve been sticking to my outline, but after some things got written, I realized that a couple of scenes in the beginning were too boring and either need to be made more interesting or cut completely. And the second thing I realized is that the plot twist is happening a lot sooner than it should. I haven’t yet figured out how to fix this, but I’m working on it.
6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?
Writing scenes that actually feel like they move the plot forward rather than feel like they were randomly thrown in. (See, I told you that I could already see my improvement as a writer. 😉)
7. 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 might would become Thaddeus (name prone to change). Thaddeus is Galien’s cousin and is kind of a fun character. If I were him, however, I feel like the moment I found out Galien’s secret I would tell the person the secret was being kept from rather than keeping quiet like Thaddeus did.
8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!
This is the current first sentence: I entered the stables where [insert name] was unsaddling horses I didn’t recognize. (Sorry, it takes me forever to name a character. XD)
And this is what I want my first sentence to be if I can make it work: Being king means being cursed.
***
Now, here’s a snippet: “Princess Edlynne has been in search of husband, and to our luck she has come here!”
A husband? He was talking crazy. Did he even see me sitting in front of him?
“But look at me. You know I am not the prince she came looking for.”
He waved his hand. “Nonsense. I actually think you have a pretty good chance.”
Was this really Dryden standing in front of me?
“Why is that?”
Something seemed to be turning behind his eyes. Was he happy about something?
He lowered his voice to answer. “Because the princess was adopted. No one knows of her origins, but it is rumored that she has fairy blood.”
Was that even a thing? I didn’t bother questioning him on it, though.
He continued. “No one is going to want to marry a princess with fairy blood, so that gives you an excellent chance.”
This wasn’t sounding good. I couldn’t marry a princess. I intended on leaving the castle soon, not be tied down to it.
“I don’t want to marry Princess Edlynne,” I said.
His facial features turned hard, and he glared at me. “It’s not up to you. That princess might be our only chance to break the curse.”
I froze.
***
And here’s another snippet: I continued walking, but Edlynne screamed behind me, grabbing my arm. Picking up the nearest rock, I spun around. But the minute I saw the man facing us, holding up his hands, I lowered my arm.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said in a deep voice. He was an older man, probably around Dryden’s age, and with little facial hair. His clothes were scraggly and dirty and probably smelled earthy too, but I didn’t get too close to tell for sure.
Gritting my teeth, I raised the rock again.
“No, please don’t throw it,” the man said. “I promise I mean no harm.”
But I meant harm, and I wanted to throw that rock.
9. 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!)
Um, well. *scratches head* The only thing I can think of is that Thaddeus’ name was originally Pavel, but I changed it because Pavel didn’t seem to fit him. I’m still having a hard time adjusting to his new name, though.
10. 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!
I’ve had a somewhat regular writing routine for Galien’s story. First off, on the days I go to school, I arrive 15-20 minutes early and write before class. Then for the most part, I sit down in my dining room at night to write from 8 to 10:30 (though most days it was 9 to 10:30). During this time, I join a sprint at the King’s Daughters Writing Camp. I focus pretty well during the sprints, and it’s fun to have a mini break in between each one to share with the other sprinters what my word count and last sentence were. Doing these sprint are motivating for me to keep writing and get me excited over writing during this crazy big NaNo challenge.
***
And that’s how my NaNoWriMo experience went for Galien’s story! How has your NaNo been? What’s your favorite snippet or opening line that I shared?
Thank you all so much for reading! God bless!
~Katherine Perry
Katherine Perry 
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