Archive for November 2018

NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT?

*waits*

No?? Ok. If you saw this post in your feed and clicked its link, you probably ended up right here and didn't see anything new. HOWEVER. I have added/changed stuff in my design and I'm so excited!!

And I really want you to have a look and tell me what you think.

So, I added a FRONT PAGE to my blog which means that if you go to https://thisinkwell.blogspot.ca you will see it first (instead of my blog home). Also, I changed the look of my pages, removing the SIDEBAR so that they look more like professional pages rather than blog pages lol

I did all this cos I SUDDENLY HAD AN OBSESSION TO REDO SOMETHING and I wanted to be a tad more pro XD (and yeah, it took me like three days and reading countless sites and tearing out my hair over html.)

The cool thing is that if you click my header it'll still take you right to my BLOG HOME and not the front page (like it wanted to do at first), so that you won't have to run around in circles.

In essence the only NEW THING is that my front page exists at the front, and my blog is still perfectly intact XD

NOW. ON TO THE ACTUAL POST. aka the shared wip tag in which I talk about my storyworld and side characters ...

Introduce the main antagonist of your book!

GLYNIS - the governess :

aunt to Adam. first female governor of the island. aka tyrannical dictator. never gives up. strong. stone heart. succeed or die. "i carry this island on my shoulders."

when they said to her, "governess meant a teacher in the old days," she replied, "stop living in the past. this is the present. besides which, i'm going to teach you to survive." therefore she has been called governess, because "it's the female version of governor".

she never should have been the ruler. it was meant to be her brother (adam's father). but he died and she got what she'd always wanted.

she succeeded her father and was going to be the best leader that ever existed.

[some people might disagree.]

What do you (the writer) have in common with the antagonist?

obviously I modeled her after myself and my amazing skills at being a tyrannical older sister and making my younger siblings do all the work for me ...

JUST KIDDING. XD

*ponders* Maybe ... I relate to her in the great desire to succeed, to be the best, to keep going and never give up.

Maybe? I mean, I hope I'm not as obsessive as she is *awkward laughter*

What do you not have in common?

BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE.

She lives in a future era where most of humanity has died / I do not

She has raised a nephew / I have not

She's the leader of an island / I am not

She's very harsh / and I am hopefully not

She probably doesn't care much for people other than that they SURVIVE / and I ... do

She's an adult and / I am not

She was a youngest kid / and I am not

What does your antagonist do when he/she is mad? Do they have a soft spot?

When my antagonist is mad she ... yells. Shouts. Screams. I mean ... really. Her temper goes up, her voice goes up. She yells at Adam mostly - about how he's always studying geography when he should be learning to be like *her*.

Her soft spot is any mention of her parents. She wanted to please them so badly but they never had eyes for her ... unfortunately.

Who is your antagonist’s worst enemy? What is their greatest fear?

My antagonist's worst enemy is circumstances that go beyond her control. And that's her greatest fear too. Things happening that she cannot fix, that she cannot change, that she cannot bring back to normal. This must be the reason she is so infuriated with Rae ...

What is your antagonist’s weapon of choice?

Definitely a gun. *nods*

How would your antagonist surprise your reader?

... this sounds suspiciously like a spoiler-divulging question ...

What is one thing your villain would never do?

That would be a long list ...

/ she would never get married,
/ she would never have kids,
/ she would never go visit anyone in town,
/ she would never tramp through the forest for no reason,
/ she would never do anything *just for fun*,
/ she would never give up on anything she's doing
/ she would never hug Adam,
/ she would never let him bring an animal home,
/ she would never let him be a geographer,
/ she would never let him marry anyone she doesn't like,
/ and most importantly SHE WOULD NEVER EVER KILL HIM.

She could and might do a lot of other horrible things but she would never kill Adam.

What lie does your antagonist believe about the MC?

Haha. The Governess believes that Adam ... is kind of useless. So far he hasn't shown any signs of toughness or sternness and no interest in being a leader or an enforcer of the law. All he wants to do is read book and draw maps and tramp through the forest and feed animals and build a boat.

He wants to explore the ocean.

And the Governess thinks he's doing all this just for fun and that he has no idea what he's doing.

Well, she's dead wrong XD

What is your favorite thing about your antagonist?

Hmmmm ... I rather like the fact that she's got an explosive temper and pretty much throws tantrums whenever I need her to. Makes her more exciting than those *calm, cool, and calculated* villains who are annoyingly clever.

If your antagonist was your MC, what would your book look like?

Very interesting, as matter of fact. It would start out when she was young and trying so hard to do everything how her parents wanted her brother to ... and how she grew all cynical and hard and when her brother died, her father was forced to see her for all she was worth. And then she ... became what she is today.

And still she isn't happy.

Then Sammy comes and disrupts everything she built and she goes into a panic and ... yeah. Sammy is still very important in this version of the story.

*is inspired to write a companion novella*

OK, and that's one more week over *SWOOSH* be sure to check out the blogs of these amazing people :

Jules @ Saver of Memories

Nicole @ Legend of a Writer

Ceci @ Ceci Creates

Gray @ Writing is Life

Julia @ Lit Aflame

Jem @ Jem Jones, Writer

Melissa @ Quill Pen Writer

Brooklyne @ Showers of Blessings

Ariel @ Scribes and Archers

Keturah @ Keturah’s Korner

Sarah @ Pen of a Ready Writer

how is nanowrimo (or your other writing projects) going, my dudes? i'd love to know!!

(and don't forget to give me feedback on my blog improvements)

TIME FOR PART 2 of the Shared WIP Tag in which I'll be talking about the main characters for The 101st Human ...

That's all the intro I have for today, and as for how Nanowrimo is going well ... don't ask XDD

Fun breakthrough though - I FOUND THAT SOME OF EDGAR ALLEN POE'S POEMS SUIT MY STORY so it's going to be a theme in here lol

Introduce your MC a little (name, maybe a description or picture, etc,) and tell us something quirky about them.

I have two main characters who have perspectives in the book - Rae and Adam. Rae is the main main character, who gets more chapters, but Adam is just as important.

I don't have pictures for them because ... well, I once saw a guy and thought - I need a character to look like him - and so Adam looks just like that in my mind and I cannot find a good picture of him XD And if Adam can't have a face, Rae won't either :P

Here's something I LOVE doing for characters though - I call it a verbal board (alternative to Pinterest ha!).

It'll probably take you a while to figure all that out so let me help :

RAE :

17. dark wild hair. dark eyes. eye bags. no sleep. nightmares. no smile. her mom used to be the village baker, and everyone still thinks she is, but they don't know who really is. her arms are as strong as her father's from chopping wood every day. a singer who will not let anyone hear her voice. temper. scorns art. a survivalist in every way.

ADAM :

wanna-be explorer and geographer. a genius. but no one knows he's a genius. raised by his tyrannical aunt who thinks he's useless. loves animals and plants. keeps tabs on the island's wildlife. short. sandy brown hair. has a collection of old moldy book and draws maps. on a quest to build his own boat. wants to escape but is afraid to do so.

[and here's a bonus for Sammy, Rae's nephew, who's a major character too:

SAMMY :

7 years old. pale and weak, with a boundless energy and imagination that has been stifled and pressed down. a reader. a voracious reader. a reader who's possibly read all the books there are on the island. memorizes edgar allen poe. sharp mind. good, kind, and a sad, mild kind of kid.]

What does your MC value the most?

There's nothing Rae values like Sammy. And second, her brother Dex, and parents - their comfort, survival, and presence.

As for Adam - he values his books, his maps, his work ... oh and his pet monkey, Ruzzie. There's also this old reclusive religious dude on the island who's his only friend so far, and calls him "son"... And maybe - just maybe - he comes to value a certain other person in the course of this story.

What is your MC’s wildest dream? What is their greatest fear?

Rae has no dream, she thinks, but honestly, deep, deep down she wishes she could live in the past where an unlimited amount of people were allowed to exist. Her wildest dream is that Sammy could live like a normal kid.

Her greatest fear is that they'll find Sammy and that her family will be punished and that Sammy will die.

Adam's greatest wish is that his aunt would not expect him to be the next *dictator of the island* and that she'd let him have a boat and explore the seas that surround the island. His greatest fear is that he'll become like his aunt and that he'll be stuck on the island forever.

What is your MC’s favorite food? Can they cook?

YES! Both my main characters can cook because I'm sick of characters that can't.

[^^simple as that]

Rae's favorite food would be bread (that she made) eaten with a kind of vegetable stew (that her mom made). Adam likes plain scrambled eggs ... with ... Rae's bread. (Surprise, surprise? Of course, he never knew it was hers XD). Bread is a very very common staple food on the island.

What do you (the writer) have in common with the MC? What do you not have in common?

Just like Rae I have a) a baking parent and b) younger siblings whom I feel very protective of ...

[^^ or maybe not? maybe I just feel it's my duty to teach them all I know ...]

Currently I really relate to Adam because I HAVE TO STUDY SO MUCH just like he does. Except that he does it because he wants to. (Or maybe not? It's his aunt's fault, because that's all she made him do when he was younger ...)

What lie does your MC believe about himself/the world?

Well the lie they both believe is that --- ----- -- ------------ --- ---- --- --- ------ ----- but that's all spoiler stuff so, SORRY xD

I think they both believe that they are stuck where they are without power to do anything about it and that's just ... not true. Just that doing something about it is very hard and dangerous.

Who is their best friend and why?

Rae's best friend, Kaya, is this writer girl whose family owns the dairy farm. They are best friends because they practically grew up together - went to the same school (as if they couldn't, ha!) and just spent a lot of time playing when they were little. Now, Rae loves Kaya because Kaya is really reserved and reclusive and Rae can escape to her house whenever she wants to.

Adam has no friends ... except the reclusive man who lives all alone on a cliff on the north end of the island, studying ancient languages (that means Spanish and French and Chinese and *gasp* even Latin ... etc.).

[^^ wow reclusive-ness is becoming a theme in this book. actually, kaya isn't that reclusive, she just likes to be locked up in her room or roaming with her cows ...]

What song best describes them in this book?

I'd say ISLAND (by Svrcina).

What is their personality type?

*skips question bc I never thought about it till now*

Why should your readers care about this person?

Good question. My readers should care about Rae because ... as a character she's very practical and caring and I think people will relate to her fears/troubles (of loosing someone she loves) and then she's thrown into a very desperate situation and she acts quite selflessly and smartly - while still making mistakes and taking things very hard. So I'd say she's a mix of relatable human and admirable wits. (I hate characters who do things we readers know they shouldn't. I like those stories where the characters do all the right things and things still go wrong.)

As for Adam, I think people will like him because he's in a relatable situation of struggling with expectations, and while he's trying to figure out how to break away, he has his own dreams and goals, and in the end he does the right thing.

I hope my readers will relate to these characters because they'll be going through the same internal struggles we all do; and I hope my readers will like my characters because they are conflicted and smart and suffering and still try their best.

Ya know?

OKAY MY DRAGONS, we're done here for this week. I hope you liked hearing about Rae and Adam. Be sure to check out the rest of my friend participating in this link up/tag.

Jules @ Saver of Memories

Nicole @ Legend of a Writer

Ceci @ Ceci Creates

Gray @ Writing is Life

Julia @ Lit Aflame

Jem @ Jem Jones, Writer

Melissa @ Quill Pen Writer

Brooklyne @ Showers of Blessings

Ariel @ Scribes and Archers

Keturah @ Keturah’s Korner

Sarah @ Pen of a Ready Writer

speak up, dudes :

what would make you like/relate to my characters?

xx lisa

[acknowledgements to pinterest for pics]

ONCE UPON A TIME in the past, I took part in Julian Daventry's Shared WIP Tag series/link-up and had a lot of fun talking about my first novel ever, Broccoli Queen. That was in October 2017, and since A YEAR HAS ALREADY PASSED I thought it would be cool to do it again!!

^^ plus it's NaNoWriMo already so ...

Introduce the story: blurb, maybe a cover or anything else!

FUN! So my story tells about the last habitable island on earth (set in a futuristic era) and what my protagonist has to do to save the life of her nephew who is one human too many for their population limit.

Mock cover and blurb:

The 101st Human

For seven years, Rae's family has been hiding Sammy, her sister's son, in their basement, never letting him see the light of day for fear of someone discovering him.

He's one human too many on the last habitable place on earth.

When things go horribly wrong and the family's dangerous secret leaks out, Sammy becomes a hunted child. Rae must hide him fast, but there are only that many hiding places on an island.

Facing blackmail, murder, and a suspiciously helpful boy named Adam, Rae must brave her fears and find a way to keep alive the one person on earth she'd be willing to die for.

Where did you get the idea for your story? What came to you first: your theme, character, premise, setting, etc?

So, I was inspired by my friend, Abi, who once had a series of writing prompts on her blog. This one really grabbed my attention, so I wrote a short story based on it! (I actually submitted it somewhere but it wasn't accepted.) I played around with the idea some more and IT GREW INTO A NOVEL.

What came to me first was obviously the premise, and then the setting. The characters and theme and plot took longer to compile, and they are now vastly different from the original short story. All in all, I've been plotting this book in my mind for about ... a year. Now finally, I've got most of it sorted out, and am ready to put my pen to paper!

What have you done to get experience for your story (like watching knitting YouTube videos)? What did you put into the book because it’s something you know about (like if you’re a martial artist, and put that in)?

So, for question number one - I've done nothing. ZERO. That will come after draft one XD

And for question two - I put in a wanna-be writer, a painter, modern day musicians, baking, and looking after younger kids because I know about all those things XDD

What made you decide to write this particular book for NaNoWriMo?

I'd already started the first few chapters in the summer, so this was the logical second step. This is the most ready of all the book ideas I have so that's why I'm writing it for NaNo as my primary project (I have a few things on the side as well haha).

Do you research before, after, or during your first draft writing process? Have you done any research for this particular book? How do you usually research?

I have not researched anything for my books. Ever. Yet. I want to do it after draft one is done because I feel like I'll get carried away in research if I do it before. But I haven't actually gotten to the point where I'm ready to research and incorporate that research into any book ... so... yeah.

How do I usually research? I type the same thing into the Google search bar in about ten different ways and read all the articles that pop up.

Do you plot or plan your book in any way before you start writing? What methods do you usually use and what did you do this time?

Do you hand write or type your first draft?

I have found that planning a book is actually very important. My general method goes something like this:

i. get a story idea
ii. write the idea down so it won't escape
iii. combine the idea with some other story idea I had a long time ago
iv. let the combined ideas stew in my brain for as long as possible
v. write down important details and plot points
vi. attempt to organize happenings in order
vii. attempt to organize happenings into chapters
viii. let the ideas stew some more in my mind until I have the holes filled in
ix. make sure I have a title
x. START THE WRITING

AND THAT'S WHAT I DID FOR THIS BOOK TOO

In this case, I'm handwriting the first draft.

Do you have a brainstorming buddy and if you do, who was it this time and how did they help?

So, my sister and my mom are the ones whom I always try out my ideas on. Usually I just do all the talking and they listen and sometimes offer helpful tips (and sometimes, crazy and fantastical tips that won't help).

But if I really need a fellow writer to think with I'll out to my faithful brainstorming buddy Karyssa Norton and we'll have an absolute blast!!

For this novel though, I did most of the work myself ;D

How did you come up with your characters’ names?

I cannot remember. I just ... did. Usually I have this little list of "names I love and want to use" in my brain and just refer back to that XD

Do you know what your story's theme is? If you do, how did you find it, and if you don't, how do you plan to find it?

Well ... it's hard to explain what the theme is in this case. It's kinda about fear, and facing it, and overcoming it, and about doing the brave thing(s) ... *shrugs*

SO! THAT WAS PART ONE of this five part tag. Below are the other participants, so check out their lovely blogs and find out more about their wips!

PARTICIPANTS

Jules @ Saver of Memories

Nicole @ Legend of a Writer

Ceci @ Ceci Creates

Gray @ Writing is Life

Julia @ Lit Aflame

Jem @ Jem Jones, Writer

Melissa @ Quill Pen Writer

Brooklyne @ Showers of Blessings

Ariel @ Scribes and Archers

Keturah @ Keturah’s Korner

Sarah @ Pen of a Ready Writer