The lovely Cait and Sky are organising a new three month event/link-up called Beautiful Books. I'd tell you all about it but since I'm absolutely terrible at explaining things- I'll just link their posts here and here. Today I'm going to be answering the fifteen questions about my NaNoWriMo novel which currently doesn't have a proper title...
1. What came first: characters or plot idea? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Usually I get plot ideas first for my novels, but for this one the characters just attacked me one day and wouldn't leave alone until I wrote them down. I'm definitely a plotter- almost my entire novel is already planned out.
2. Do you have a title and/or a “back-cover-blurb”?
No and no. I usually leave these things until last because I'm really, really terrible with coming up with names and like I mentioned...explaining things isn't really my forte.
3. What wordcount are you aiming for when your novel is finished?
I have no idea - it could be anywhere between about 70,000 and 150,000. It's a big story.
4. Sum up your novel in 3 sentences.
A girl and her family move to a new country and the main girl discovers sometimes you can't just run anyway from your problems. She also learns about friendship, love and fitting in. Oh, and a REALLY old curse.
5. Sum up your characters in one word each.
I have quite a few characters so I'll just do the main few. Coralie - determined. Kiki - wild. Bria - sweet. Nathaniel - marvellous.
6. Which character are you most excited to write? Tell us about them!
This is sort of a hard one to pick. I love Coralie- she's probably my favourite character of mine ever, but I also really love Nathaniel (who is just beautiful) and Sarah (Cora's friend) because she's based on one of my best friends.
7. What about your villain? Who is he, what is his goal?
His name is Leo and I cannot tell you his goal because then that ruins the entire book. I can tell you this - he's really not nice, and in a way that means nobody could ever actually like him. We're talking like Umbridge level of dislike here.
8. What is your protagonist’s goal? And what stands in the way?
Cora's simple- she just wants to be happy and for her family to be safe. Obviously, Leo doesn't exactly want that.
9. What inciting incident begins your protagonist’s journey?
Incidentally, it's Leo that forces Coralie on her journey.
10. Where is your novel set?
Copenhagen in Denmark, because I love Europe too much.
11. What are three big scenes in your novel that change the game completely?
Oooh, this is a hard one. I can't really mention any of the big scenes without ruining the whole story!
12. What is the most dynamic relationship your character has? Who else do they come in contact with or become close to during the story?
Cora has some really great relationships with her family - they are definitely some of my favourite scenes to write, but I also really love me some Cora/Nate or her friendship with Bria and Sarah.
13. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?
She's much more confident, more determined, more fierce but I just love her a lot already.
14. Do you have an ending in mind, or do you plan to see what happens?
After the characters, the ending was pretty much the next thing I planned. There's also going to be a sequel, but I don't know whether it'll be a duology or series yet. I don't have endings for those.
15. What are your hopes and dreams for your book? What impressions are you hoping this novel will leave on your readers and yourself?
My main dream for this book at the moment is to actually finish it. I have a track record of starting novels, getting a few chapters in and then never touching them again. Ultimately, yes I would like to be able to publish it but that's a long way off. I'm hoping that any readers I may have would see Cora as an interesting character, but also as a good role model - I think that's very important for a YA audience.
So that's the basics of my unnamed story. Since I haven't actually written it yet, it's kind of hard to describe everything in detail as of right now. I will actually be doing updates here throughout the whole of NaNoWriMo, if you're interested :) Thanks for reading!
