KNOW THE NOVEL PART THREE: IT IS WRITTEN

by - December 09, 2019

The time has finally come! NaNoWriMo is over, so now...I will share some DETAILS about my novel and how the writing went.

As a reminder:

My book was Pentegreens book 4, the series finale (and the title is under wraps because spoilers).

A blurb thing with no details:

They fight. 
The girl no longer content to be just a pawn.
The boy who found everything--and lost it.
The girl whose darkness yearned to devour her.
The girl who only wanted to live.
The boy who failed.
And the man who stands against them--except he made two critical errors.
He forgot about the strength of pure reckless true love, and he didn't reckon on the girl who could rip the sun from the sky.


My final word count: 119,000 words

Number of major deaths: 2

Number of minor deaths: Idk like 4 probably

Sailed ships: 4

And now, THE QUESTIONS (huge thanks to Christine Smith for those!)


1. Firstly, how did writing this novel go all around?

Well...it was an exhausting experience, let's start out with that.

I spent a significant amount of time screaming internally and dying and wanting sleep, but there was a lot of triumph too. A couple of scenes that came out, even if the rough draft, better than I could've imagined. My characters did some amazing things, some plot twists happened that even I didn't expect, and I had a genuinely good time with this book.

I mean, I'm still catching up on sleep, and I fought burnout a few times with reading and watching Doctor Who and drawing. It was both exhausting...and exhilarating.

I FINISHED MY BOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKK and that makes it all worth it.

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

Well, I've been planning this book for so long that I knew most of it word for word when it came out. But a lot of stuff decided to happen sooner than I thought it was going to, and some other stuff was a quicker turnaround. The climax in general needs to be worked on. But...I don't think we're going to edit it for a while.

Also...the ships sailed that were supposed to ;) The one that was just sort of a side ship that came on because I needed to give someone an excuse for existing was my FAVORITE in the end. And the other side ship was beautiful, and the love triangles got resolved, and Esma and her true love and Derek and his true love are all happy ;) 


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

My characters are, as always, my favorite and my babies. *hugs them* This story is theirs, and they're its heart and soul. Esma, Anna, Derek, Kariana, and Rish are my favorite babies, and the side characters (especially Cilla and the Spoiler Villain, though, let's be real) are my favorites too. 


4. How about your least favorite part?

The PROOOOOSE *sobs* I hate my own writing style so much. It feels so bland and emotionless and devoid of any description (but that may be because I don't have a visual imagination and thus cannot visualize anything). So as always there will be SO MANY edits to do on that but whatever. It's fine.


5. What do you feel like needs the most work?

The REVEALS. Kariana, in particular, has been guarding a bunch of secrets throughout this series, and I need to go through and make sure I actually finally reveal those in a good way. I mean...a couple of the mysteries that I've been setting up for her since the beginning of book 1 didn't even get addressed in this. What's wrong with you, Faith.


6. How do you feel about your characters now that the novel is done? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!

My least favorite character is my villain, Lord Dauthang. When I started out writing this book, I faced  a problem: Dauthang is my main villain, and the guy who's been the main villain of most of the series, Burashna, is just an underling. But Burashna is a HORRIBLE person, absolutely despicable and unsympathetic and all that, and I needed Dauthang to be a worse villain than Burashna so that he wouldn't be underwhelming when he finally showed up. And OH BOY did he deliver.

My favorite amongst the cast is absolutely Princess Esma Pentegreen herself. As I've said multiple times already: she's grown so much over the course of this story. Esma has done so much, gone so far, and she's so strong now. I love her. I appreciate her so much. She's made me so happy.

And in terms of surprises...Miss Anna Woods has been ruining everything for two books straight, doing her own thing and prancing around making decisions that messed up the climax and everything else to do with this story. Like...thanks, girl. Good job. 

The other surprising character is the one who shall only be referred to as the Spoiler Villain. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near as important as he was, especially since he all but vanished in book 3, but...HE CAME BACK and he was NOISY. I swear half the important things that happened in this book are his fault. It figures that the antiheroes are the ones ruining everything.

But overall I'm still in love with these characters so...yeah.


7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?

Let it sit as long as I can before I go back to editing it, and probably wait til I've worked through the major rewrites of book two (TGC) and work on the more minor edits of book 3, which doesn't need quite as much work. But for now book 4 is stewing. And I'm totally okay with that.


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

Publication? A clean draft? At this point I don't even care let's just make this thing presentable.


9. Share some of your favorite snippets!

Esma turned to face her, a triumphant smirk playing across her face. In her arms she clutched a massive swath of black fabric. She walked over to the window and threw it down on the floor below Kariana. “Happy twentieth birthday,” she said. “And don’t ever expect me to go to that much effort again.”

A heap of black fabric? Tantalizing. Kariana jumped down from the windowsill and picked up the fabric. A hood tumbled off the back, and several yards of layers flowed through her fingers as she tried to find the top. This cloak was extremely large and thick and would probably be remarkably warm.

But as she turned it over, she found the tiny embellished symbol at the bottom, the red teardrop on the hem of the cowl. She dropped it like a hot coal, cursing. That symbol was for the assassins. This was an assassin cloak.

“Where the grime did you get that?” she hissed.

Esma looked down as though trying to appear humble. “I snuck into Elensha’s room and stole it,” she said. No hesitation.


~

Well, getting arrested for illegal presence in another nation hadn’t exactly been her plan, but Kariana had to admit that it wasn’t the worst way to get an audience with the governor of Southlands.

~

Esma could barely see through her tears and the rain. A lump choked in her throat, and she wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck and let it carry her down the road, sobbing and sobbing until she couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t feel. Her heart had been slashed and destroyed and smashed so many times. She was done. She had to end this.

There was only one way to end it, only one thing she could do.

And she sobbed for everything she was losing, everything she was giving up, everyone who would be hurt. She cried for herself. She cried and cried and cried and she didn’t let the horse’s pace slacken the slightest bit.

~

The hallway was a din of cacophony and shouting; people raced about everywhere, as if trying to identify friend and foe in the hordes rushing to and fro. A man punched someone else in the face and a full-on fistfight began to transpire in the middle of the hallway, with various guards yelling at them like boys at school. Derek had no time for this. He ran, straight out the front door of the castle, and into the sunlight. It stung his eyes. He was turning into some sort of creature of the night, wasn’t he?


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

Not really xD just that I CAN prioritize writing a LOT in a very small amount of time, and that I can live real life on top of it. This was a special year, though--my senior/gap year, and I only had a little bit of school and a very non-heavy job. So I'm probably never going to write 119k in one month again. But that's okay. This was a special occasion. And I'm cool with that.

How did your November go? Did you finish any goals? If you did NaNo, how did you do???? Talk to me in the comments!!!!! 

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11 comments

  1. *screams forever* *really that’s all this comment is. screaming.* *I figured I’d save your eardrums*

    But 119K?? In a MONTH?? *mind explodes* EVERY TIME I think “oh, you can’t possibly top yourself” AND THEN YOU DO IT.

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    1. *also screams* *joins you in screaming* *hysterical screaming*

      I KNOOOOW I DON'T KNOW HOW I DID ITTTTTTTTTT

      Delete
  2. YES YES YES!!! I've been waiting for this!

    I can imagine it was so, so tiring, but soooo rewarding too! And just just just YOU WROTE THE FINALE, FAITH. IN A MONTH. I AM SO PROUD!!!

    *devours snippets*

    “I snuck into Elensha’s room and stole it." <--DYING. LOOK AT ESMA GOOOO. And then Kariana being all, "I mean, I guess getting arrested works. I'll just go with it!" MAH GIRL. I CAN'T. But Esma crying is Not Okay and stop hurting the bby girl, Faith! D':

    Also that whole 2 major deaths and like 4 minor deaths thing is SCARING ME. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE????

    Ahem. Anyways. THIS WAS SPECTACULAR. I loooooooved following along on your epic journey. SO PROUD AND ECSTATIC AND ALL THE THIIIINGS. Now go get some rest, girl!

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    1. *excited hysterical flailing*

      I DIIIIID!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! AND THANK YOU!!!!!

      *feeds them to you maliciously*

      Esma is my GIRL ngl xD and Kariana is just such a mess in this book she really is.

      IT ALL WORKS OUT OKAY. MAYBE.

      *flails screamingly* THANK YOU!!!!!! AND CONGRATS TO YOU TOOOOO

      Delete
  3. I have no words to express how deeply I love this. <3333 My babies get their happy endings and ships are sailed!!!!

    (I am rather worried about the death tally, but I trust those are just the baddies.)

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    1. YES!!!! All the ships ^_^

      (Don't be worried, everything is fine *smiles with way too many teeth*)

      Delete
  4. AAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Nooooo, don't hate your prose! Your style is an absolute PLEASURE to read, and it's very unique. I love it to pieces. <3

    THE SNIPPETS!!!!!! I love them. Love that Esma stole El's cloak mwahaha. That must be even more amazing in context. XD

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  6. I'm so behind on blogs but Ahhh! Congrats!!!
    Love those snippets, love Esma stealing the cloak. XD

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