APPARENTLY I WON NANO?! (A repeat of Know the Novel, part 1...part 3 coming later xD)
by
R.F. Gammon
- December 07, 2018
You guys.
I won NaNoWriMo.
Remember in my last post I was all like "Well I'm not even at 15k but that's alright I've made my peace with the fact that I'm not winning"? *cackles evilly*
I WON ANYWAY.
Granted, I won at 11:58 PM on November 30, two minutes to spare, and then proceeded in my exhausted and desperate state to copy-paste the entire text of my novel not once but twice into the NaNoWriMo website, so that it thought I'd written about 60k words in one day and gave me credit for a 100k novel. Thus all my word counts and lifetime stats are forever ruined. *cries*
But I WON.
I won with 50,015 words, and I'm probably 2/3 of the way through this story? Most of it is trash, it has next to no plot, and it's really depressing to read back through it. I have a fluctuating love-hate relationship with this story, but I won't be going back to it until I've got the Pentegreens Book 1 done. :P (Edits are starting now and I'm in chapter 3 and it's going remarkably well.)
I'm going to be doing Part 3 of Christine's Know the Novel Linkup when it comes out next week, but for right now...well, I never gave you a proper intro to my NaNo WIP Watched, so I figured I'd give that out now. And what better way than to go back to part 1 of that lovely linkup?
Here is a mockup cover for my lovely little novel--the whole running thing hasn't happened YET but believe me when I say that it will. Mwahahahahaha.
Questions
1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?
The weird thing is that the characters of Watched--Mel, Lucas, Bryce, and their familes--all started out as side characters in the Pentegreen series. I might argue that my weird brain had Mel as more of a protagonist than Esma in the original incarnation of that series. *is confused* But one day while walking through Washington DC I started thinking....what if some of my characters ended up here, but in the future?
This is where Watched came from--some of the Pentegreens lifted out of their own story and deposited in dystopian Washington DC.
2. Share a blurb!
Okay, this blurb is atrocious...but here ya go.
A world at war. A nation divided. And a group of people caught in the middle...
America's war with the rest of the world has dragged on for nearly a decade, and soldiers willing to fight grow scarce. After doing away with the draft nearly thirty years ago, it becomes clear that if homeland defense is to be maintained, more people must be sent to the front.
It's a perfect way to both win a war and deal with the Christian problem.
Mel Alltote wants nothing more than to live her life for Jesus and escape the boy at her school who seems hell-bent on torturing her. But when the new edicts put not only her but her family into unthinkable danger, she must make a choice: does she stand for Jesus, or does she run for him?
With the help of Jeannie, her relentlessly optimistic best friend; Bryce, the genius boy torn between his promise of a future and his faith; Opal, Mel's quirky and fierce older sister; and Lucas Burns, the school's resident heartthrob, she may just be able to make it out of here. But the government is closing in.
And soon, it may be too late.
3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects about the setting?
I love writing the grunginess of the city, the darkness and murkiness and the nightlife. This is the suburbs of DC--they've never been to the downtown/Mall within the story itself, at least not yet--and the kids spend most of their time either at school or out at night, which is a ton of fun. The aesthetic of this story is also neon purple lighting, which is probably going to play a pretty crucial role in the story later on (and needs to be brought out slightly more--this is a first draft that will NEVER see the light of day xD)
4. Tell us about your protagonist.
5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?
The main antagonist of this story is all the people who are out to take the Christians down. The government, the terrorists they're fighting a war against, the people of America who hate them. Everyone anywhere could be a villain for this story, and that knowledge haunts Mel.
But then there's also a kid named Mitch who bullies all the Christians at their school. Bully is a light word. He's a literal monster and makes all of them, especially Mel and her friend Bryce, as miserable as he humanly can. I really, really don't like him.
But then there's also a kid named Mitch who bullies all the Christians at their school. Bully is a light word. He's a literal monster and makes all of them, especially Mel and her friend Bryce, as miserable as he humanly can. I really, really don't like him.
6. What excites you the most about this novel?
Not writing fantasy for a little while! :/
Seriously, though, as I mentioned in the last post about this book...I'm just so grateful to have had a brief break to really focus on writing something that wasn't Pentegreens! xD They're my sweet precious children and I love them, but I needed a break from them, I really did.
Seriously, though, as I mentioned in the last post about this book...I'm just so grateful to have had a brief break to really focus on writing something that wasn't Pentegreens! xD They're my sweet precious children and I love them, but I needed a break from them, I really did.
7. Is this going to be a series? Standalone? Something else?
Trilogy, probably. For a while I thought it was going to be a trilogy but then didn't know what I was going to have to do to get it to that point. Then this incarnation of it gave me several huge subplots that I can run with for at least two more books, and that excites me. Finding the actual plot of my stories is super fun and I appreciate it more than I can say.
8. Are you plotting? Pantsing? Plansting?
Pantsing. Hardcore pantsing. I have a couple of ideas about where this story is going, but when I've been writing it I've been sitting down to just vomit words and ideas onto the page. (That was graphic, I'm sorry xD) I need to have some vague ideas of where I'm going but...pantsing is my true love.
Technically, I'm pantsing the Pentegreens too, but that story is basically just transferring the epic in my head to paper. So there's a difference there :P
Technically, I'm pantsing the Pentegreens too, but that story is basically just transferring the epic in my head to paper. So there's a difference there :P
9. Name a few things that makes this story unique.
-Christian dystopian
-It's pretty dark
-Purple neon lighting!
-Sibling relationships of all sorts
-Friends
-A jock who's also a nerd
-It's pretty dark
-Purple neon lighting!
-Sibling relationships of all sorts
-Friends
-A jock who's also a nerd
10. Share a fun “extra” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).
Here's the story playlist:
(language warning on the song "What Would You Do") (also I bet you can't tell which album is the aesthetic of this entire story)
And the Pinterest board: (click to find the rest of the board:)
And the Pinterest board: (click to find the rest of the board:)
I hope you enjoyed this post, and learning a little more about my crazy WIP that will probably never see the light of day! How did your NaNo go? Are you amazed that I pulled off the victory I did? (Heaven knows I am.) Chat with me in the comments!
