Who Was Your Character at the Beginning? At the End? How Much Are They Like You?

All right, y’all.

3 days left of National Novel Writing Month 2020.

Anybody else feel like this is the month that will never end?

Whether you’re in NaNo or not, let’s take one final opportunity to look at our characters.

Here at the end of the journey — whether you’ve finished your manuscript or just your 50,000 words — how has your character changed?

Did anything happen with them that you weren’t expecting?

Did they follow everything you had planned down to a T?

Are you two still friends at the end of this journey?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our characters are the only ones who understand our novel writing journey just as much as us.

So spend one last section of time with them during this NaNo to reflect on everything you two have been through together, then get write on in to finishing up that manuscript!

See you tomorrow.

My Response

Vaeda has had me guessing from the start about who he is and how he works. There’s been so many ups and downs on this journey with him, but now that I’m moving toward a week out from finishing, I’m appreciative of him. He taught me much about myself on this journey, especially in regard to self-awareness and inner truth. I felt him during the writing process, and I feel his absence now that it’s done. I look forward to returning to him in an editing manner one day.

For once, I think I’d actually say we wrote this story together. So often, I feel at odds with my characters over who’s in charge of the story. Being a stubborn person myself, I tend to attract stubborn characters who think they’re just as right as I am. Vaeda has always felt differently because Vaeda has had me analyzing him instead of showing himself to me. There’s also the whole lack of sight thing that adds to his lack of physical characterization, and I don’t think that was unintentional on his part.

Although this story was constructed and oftentimes forced, I’m happy with what it’s turned out to be, as well as what it might become. Vaeda and I are certainly still friends at the end of this journey. I’m almost scared to introduce him to any of my other characters out of fear they’ll notice our closeness. I got some jealous characters in there, and they’re going to want to keep Vaeda quiet for a while. But Vaeda, just like the rest of them, will come back to me when he’s ready to finish off the remainder of his story.

Home Stretch! How's Everybody's Mental State?

We are closing in on the end of National Novel Writing Month 2020 everybody.

Like, almost down to the seconds now.

The completion of a manuscript is always exciting, whether it’s during NaNo or not. 

If you’re looking for some extra wind to push you through the last week, let’s bring our focus back to our characters once again.

On the home stretch of the journey, how are they feeling? 

How might they feel by the time this is all over?

Will they reach their goal, or are the rest of us going to have to wait until a book two?

Your characters are probably just as tired as you, and it’s been a long journey for all of us.

Check in with their mental state — perhaps even your own — and then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

Vaeda

I am tired and weary from this journey, but for me, it is over. There were so many times when I wondered if I would be successful or not. Times I wanted to quit and never give another thought. Anytime things got difficult, I worried about the probability of my success. All I had to do was think of the people I did this for, and that kept me going.

There are times when that brings on a pressure on its own. It isn’t as though I chose to be a leader; it was a role assigned to be at birth. I suppose there are times I would shed that role, if I could. There’s no point in sitting here and wondering what things may have been like, for they’re not any different than they are in the present. No amount of wishing I could be somebody else would make that matter a reality.

I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything, though. All of the ups and downs it came with have proved worth it, in the end. Now, there is happiness and peace. Everything I strove for when I started this mission has seen its way all the way to the end. All of these experiences now exist as nothing more than a memory — and one I hope I don’t forget.

Check in With Your Character's Mental State with This #WritingPrompt

If you’re entering into the last week of National Novel Writing Month 2020, you might be feeling like your fingers are about to fall off.

Same statement could be true if you’re writing a book in any type of sprint fashion.

Whether your story is coming to a close or not, we’re going to kick off the final week of NaNo by revisiting the first prompt:

Character journals.

The first journal had us checking in with the character at the beginning of the story. 

Potentially before they even knew anything that was about to happen to them.

So check in again with them now.

Write out a journal entry in their perspective to see how they’re feeling.

How has this journey changed or shaped them?

Is there anything they would change, if they could?

Do they have any predictions as to what might happen to them before the end?

Spend some time as inside of your character’s mind as possible, then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

From Vaeda

Everything has been… crazy, to say the least. There’s so many thoughts and memories flooding through my head, but I seem unable to focus on any of them. Even the memories I do remember seem blurred and confusing. I know there’s a power and a strength in me, and I’m grateful that it’s coming more full circle. I know I am standing on the edge of success in my journey.

As hard as it’s been, there’s so much about it that I appreciate, in a weird way. This challenge has forced me to look inward. It has made me realize there is more to myself than even I knew, and I cannot be angry about that. Anytime I doubted myself, I faced myself. Anytime I faced myself, I found that I came out the other side even stronger than I’d expected.

The end is near, but I do not know what that means. Although part of me welcomes to the idea of death, another part urges me to keep fighting forward. I know I must at least find succession saving the others. Their lives are worth more than mine, and I can’t forget about that. The moment they’re free, this whole fight becomes worth it.

#GetWriteOnIn to Your Character's Living Space With This #WritingPrompt

We are well in to National Novel Writing Month 2020 now, so hopefully you’ve done some good connection with your characters, plots, and settings.

I hope the same for you even if you’re not doing NaNo 2020.

Today, we’re going to do a bit of a double-dip and increase our character connections through a focus on setting:

Describe your main character’s bedroom.

Are they clean, or a total mess?

Do they even have a bedroom?

Are they one to settle, or do they bounce around a lot?

This is another place to let out some expository information.

Sometimes, you want to include every little detail within the actual manuscript, and it can take you away from the actual story.

So detail out one or more of your character’s personal spaces, then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response:

Vaeda’s room is absolutely nothing like mine. Granted, he doesn’t exactly have a room in the story as it is, but back in his hometown in Hardmoure, he kept things tidy. Dark, but tidy. He didn’t have much, really in the first place, because he liked to keep things simple and neat. He’s never been one to put much thought into material, and outside of the necessities like a bed and a place to cook and eat, he didn’t need much.

His living space is also not the biggest. It would be akin to a studio that hardly fit the bed, but he felt comfortable in his little shell. There was always some part of him that wondered what it would be like in a place much larger, although a cave wouldn’t have been his first choice. He didn’t have many windows as it was back in his home, so the darkness of the cave doesn’t bother him in and of itself. He just had a very simple and plain existence.

His unit was one of fifteen in a subregion of Hardmoure, and it wasn’t known to be the richest portion of town. Hardmoure itself wasn’t too interested in the ritzy glitzy life as seen in the larger cities. There wasn’t even any carpet on his floor, just dirt like he lived in a tent. None of it ever bothered him, and he always appreciated his additional connection to the earth. He never realized how much he’d miss it until it was already gone.

You'll #GetWriteOnIn to Setting Development with This #WritingPrompt

Week one of NaNo might be coming to a close when this video comes out, but who knows when you are.

November 6, 2020 or anytime thereafter, today’s writing prompt will bring us back to our settings again.

You may have developed a history or researched events based in fact, but today we’re going to have a little more fun.

Today we’re just going to pick one of our favorite locations, and do one of two things.

Either describe why it is your favorite location, to yourself, and elaborate.

Is it because there’s a memorial from the character’s deceased grandparent that brings forth its sentimentality?

Is it a place you know more of only as the author, but wish you could share it more in the story itself?

The other option is to detail it out in as much expository detail as possible.

Describe every color, every building or room or drawer, or whatever.

Spend so many words describing it — or just fifteen sentences — so you don’t have to worry as much about some of the expository information.

Picture the story, then get write on in to your descriptions.

See you tomorrow!

My Response:

I think my favorite location here is, or at least will be, Hardmoure. This is where Vaeda, our main character, is from, as well as Go’Ranashu, who is the only person he can trust. Hardmoure is a beautiful city that, quite frankly, reminds me of where I am from. I grew up in the foothills of Yosemite, and I thrive when I am among the trees and the mountains. I had to give Vaeda a similar home setting, because I think that’s what helps him connect so well with his inner self.

Everyone knows I’ve been reflecting on my own journey during the writing of this book. Hardmoure reminds me of the mountains of New Zealand. Those bring about multiple bouts of nostalgia, both because of the fact I had the fortune of seeing them for myself, as well as because of movies like Lord of the Rings. There’s a peace out there that’s hard to explain. Those who have seen it or experienced it for themselves know all too well what that’s like.

The cave is the total opposite of that. The stark contrast of everything in Vaeda’s life is represented by the darkness of the cave. In a lot of ways, the cave of course is a representative of darkness in general. Vaeda is also on a search of self-discovery as he tries to find and hold on to any memory that will present itself. Hardmoure is the root of all of that, a place he may never see again, but one that has molded every aspect of who he is, all the same.