NANOWRIMO: The Conclusion + Learning From Failure

NANOWRIMO: the conclusion + learning from failure

Hello friends!

Long time, no see! ᕱ__ᕱ These past two weeks I have been giving myself a little break from this blog. I have been swamped with final projects in all of my classes and have been trying to balance getting all of them done with middling success. I’m not thriving, but I am surviving. 

However, to make up for my absence, I will be giving y’all some extra content within the next two weeks. In those posts I won’t be boring you with my rambles as I usually do and instead will simply be giving you some content that I have created for my novel! In this post, though, I will be updating you on my novel’s progress and giving you my thoughts on NANOWRIMO.

For those of you who have been here for a bit, you will know that I attempted to participate in National Novel Writing Month for the first time this November. (As always, here is a link with more info about NANOWRIMO for your perusal.) My personal goal as a full time student with a part time job, was to write a 25,000 word manuscript instead of the full 50,000 words. November has ended and I am happy to report that I failed. I failed to reach even my cut down goal. However, I am surprisingly really happy with my progress this month. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and about my process and while I didn’t manage to write even a 10,000 word manuscript, I feel much more prepared to tackle writing this novel.

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So, here are the things that I learned:

Character design and building is VERY important to me

This, I already knew. One of the main things that bother me about book to movie translations or “hot takes” about books on social media or even some fanfictions is that characters, their personalities and development and relationships, are often either misunderstood or sacrificed for the plot or the sake of another character's development. It’s so annoying. I personally belief that every character in a work of fiction should be able to stand on their own, especially if they are a main or secondary character. Characters should be their own individuals with their own motivations and backstories and for goodness sake they should be consistent! (Crappy character development is a thing that bothers me about published novels too. The wasted potential of Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy, among countless other characters, in the Harry Potter novels bugs me so, so much!!)

 So, one of the things that happened everytime I sat down to write this NANOWRIMO was that I would find myself getting “stuck” on this character’s backstory or that character’s personality. I have 13 characters that exist for this story in my head. 2 are the main main characters. The 11 others are also going to have their own plot lines and spin offs. Before NANOWRIMO, I knew that this would make my novel complex. After NANOWRIMO, I realized that I was going to have to organize and map and structure and detail my characters (along with several other things) to the metaphorical gods before I even try to manuscript anything or else I am going to be stuck forever and I will never get this book out of my head.

Worldbuilding is also VERY important to me

This was a bit of a surprise. I am definitely no Tolkien and before I started this blog, and my creative writing journey, at the beginning of this fall, these original characters simply just floated around in my head in a vague fantasy realm with no discernible structure or detail. I expected to be able to just continue with this vague fantasy world and as I started writing let the structure fall into place. Yeah… that’s not what happened. 

As I began to outline character backstories and a basic plot to start writing, I would find myself drawing up short when I needed to insert a detail about the world in which my story is taking place. This month made me realize that I need to also worldbuild to the metaphorical gods before I try to manuscript anything, and in some cases before I try to go deeper into outlining my character’s backstories and such as well. I’m such a detail oriented person that I have no idea why this didn’t occur to me before, especially because I am including a magic system in my book. I hate fantasy books (that are meant to be serious and not just cozy reads) in which the magic systems rely on the “because it’s magic” excuse and the author doesn’t make any attempt at giving at least some sort of structure or rules. So yeah. I really need to worldbuild, which I am going to hate because it is going to take FOREVER (detail oriented person).

I work better on lists and schedules

This I did know, but I didn’t realize it applied to my writing. A lot of the reason why I failed to write anything of substance for the plot of my book is that I thought I could just throw myself in and make it up as I go. Incorrect. As November passed, and I kept getting stuck on details, I realized that I would need to incorporate my penchant for planning and list making if I was ever going to complete a task this large.

Also, side note, but I keep referring to this story that I’m writing as a novel. It will most certainly not be a novel. It will be a whole dang book series. (13 characters!! Who will each get their own POV at some point!! “A novel” my a**.) 

I can throw myself head first into school essays and short writing assignments no problem, but with a story this big, all coming straight from the mess I call my brain, I need to do a lot of planning beforehand. That, above all, is what this failed NANOWRIMO taught me. 

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So! Now that I have torn my failure to shreds and dissected all the little pieces and given yall a short (yes that was short for me - I’m starting to think you guys don’t know me at all ᕱ__ᕱ) summary of who, what, when, where, and why my failure occurred, what’s next. Well, I plan. I outline to the metaphorical gods (as I seem to be fond of saying in this post), and next year, when November rolls around, hopefully I have done enough planning and outlining and detail work that writing a 50000 word manuscript should be a breeze!

That’s all for now folks! If any of y’all are curious as to some of what I did manage to get done on my novel/series over NANOWRIMO then stay tuned for the first of your special content posts which should be up within a few minutes of me posting this. Also, if any of y’all have suggestions about how to store/order worldbuilding content in an easily searchable way that would be fantastic!! Please do let me know. Thanks for bearing with me! ᕱ__ᕱ

And remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

organizing thoughts + setting microgoals (ya know productive people things)

Hello friends!

Happy 2024!!

It seems like my winter break has just flown by and tomorrow my university’s spring semester starts. I haven’t had as much time to work on my story as I would have liked, but I do feel rested after this break, which is always a good thing! ᕱ__ᕱ Despite not a lot of visible progress in my original story, there have been a few things I have been thinking about and attempting to iron out in my brain which I can update you on this week.

World-Building

Before I get anywhere else and make real progress in the plot of my story, I have come to the conclusion that I need to spend some time on worldbuilding. I knew the funky little magic world and my funky little fantasy story is taking place in needed some serious work before I started writing anything, but it’s come to my attention that it needs that work now, before I continue to develop anything else. Which… sucks.

Not that I am not going to enjoy creating my own fictional world but it's going to take A LOT of work before I see real progress and I am going to have to complete that work in very small increments because I have other Important Things™ I need to be doing. Like school. Ugh!

I am very notoriously bad with time management (which is something I’m working on in therapy actually - shout out once again to my therapist who is literally a God-send), so I think my goal for next week will be to create an outline/schedule/list for what I need to get done in the realm of world-building so that I can organize my thoughts a little better and have something tangible to work on. I’ll share it here next week if I have managed to make progress on it. One of the big things I know will absolutely be making it on that list first thing, however, is developing my magic system.

Magic System

As I have mentioned briefly in a previous post, janky magic systems with little-no rules are a huge pet peeve of mine when it comes to fantasy fiction (unless it makes sense within the story, which is rare). So, I know that crafting my own magic system will take me some time because I want it to make sense, be clear, and have outline rules and limitations. 

Another thing that's important to me is that any magic system I create/include in my story, is in accordance with my own personal religious beliefs. NOW HEAR ME OUT IN THE ENTIRETY BEFORE Y’ALL GO JUDGING ME, OKAY?! I am a Christian, so nothing aligning with demons, Satan, or the occult will be happening in my story (on the side of “Good” that is). It may seem like a small or silly thing to some but it’s 100% a priority to me. However, I want to write a fantasy novel that is accessible to ALL, not just my fellow Christians, and one that doesn’t feel preachy or anything of that nature. I’m not trying to push my beliefs onto my readers. I just don’t want to compromise them in my writing. 

This is an interesting article on writing magic systems into Christian fantasy that I have been looking over the past few days if any of y'all are interested in what my magic system may look like. 

Stereotypes

I also don’t want to accidentally write any story of -isms or -phobias into my novel and I know a surprising amount of magical beings and tropes fall into the “developed from a racial stereotype” category (just look up J.K. Rowling, goblins, and Jewish stereotypes if you don’t believe me). So, I wanted to create my own magical beings without the baggage. If, in the following posts, y’all see anything that could be rude or prejudice developing as I continue to grow my story please just let me know. It’s never my intention to cause harm. As I said, I want my story to be accessible for ALL. ᕱ__ᕱ 

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That’s pretty much it! That’s what I’ve been turning over in my head and working on in the past few weeks while in the midst of family and friends and the chaos of the holiday season. I hope to get something more substantial to give to y’all next week, but for now I’ll let you go. For my fellow students returning to school, good luck in this new semester! ᕱ__ᕱ 

And always remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

 ~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

PS. I also finally taught myself how to crochet something and spent 3 days working on a flower garland for the canopy above my bed. It is quite cute and I feel very accomplished!!

i need a fanfic stat

do yall think there is a universe where Jason was given to one direction instead of the wolves

vanquishing finals week + writing prompt

Hello friends!

I hath survived the dreaded beast known as finals week!

I once again, I didn’t do a whole lot of writing this week (other than a 10 page final paper for my US in the 1960s history class), but I did end up asking my friend to give me a writing prompt to try and cleanse my palate with something creative after all that hard work. ᕱ__ᕱ So, that is what I will be sharing with you all today! 

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Write me a story about a journey - a journey that has no purpose but it comes to have a purpose you must determine. What starts the quest? Is it solo? Where are we at?

The light looks very pretty shining though the leaves and branches of the trees onto the forest floor. If I were more poetic I would compare the patterns to those of lace or something of the like. I’m not poetic, so very pretty will have to do.

It’s around 8 in the morning. I don’t care enough to cast a tempus charm but I left home around 7:30 and it’s been a bit, so 8-ish. 

I had the last of the rhubarb cake Colin made for me last week for breakfast. It was delicious. He made it in exchange for me fixing up the binding on his grimoire, which honestly wasn’t that hard. Making the cake was probably harder. I wasn’t going to say anything though. His cake is fit for the gods. 

I also had tea, which I brought with me, which has probably gone cold by now. No matter. A warming charm will fix it right up. Yes, that is quite nice. Hibiscus tea is one of my favorites. It’s tart and it doesn't taste like I’m inhaling a flower like lavender tea does. I hope it lasts me until I get to town though, because I hate the stale, sticky taste that tea leaves in my mouth when I’ve gone too long after drinking it without drinking anything else.

I suppose I could visit Rosalie when I’m in town, and thank her and Penelope for fixing up that hole in my roof. I’ve always been terrible at repairing charms. It’s why I live in the woods where there are no nosey neighbors gawking at my house or my mismatched furniture and kitchenware.

It’s settled then. I’ll visit Rosalie and Penny. Oof! If I can make it town without tripping over a root to my death.

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I had a lot of fun with this writing prompt! I loved the idea of a character setting out to do… something? Not knowing where they are going to end up or what they will be doing, but just seeing where life will take them. Sometimes the best trips are those that we don’t plan! ᕱ__ᕱ And of course, I had to add a fantasy element to the story, otherwise it just wouldn’t be me!

Next week I hope to give you all something a little more substantial when it comes to the original story I am working on but for this week I hope this will suffice!

Always remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

 ~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

Percy Jackson is the best book boyfriend and one of the main reasons my standards for relationships in both fiction (my own original work and work I consume) as well as real life are so incredibly high

We do not talk about this passage enough, this is so sweet

worldbuilding!!✨

Hello friends!

I’m back and better than ever!! ᕱ__ᕱ This past week I have felt much, much better and, while I don’t want to jinx it, I think I should be looking forward to sunshine and clear skies for the next few weeks in the mental health department so that's always good news. I don’t have very much commentary this week, and I don’t want to keep y’all for longer than I need to in light of last week's heavier post, so I figured I would keep this one short and sweet. The main thing I have made progress on in the last few days is world building. Now, keep in mind that all of this is still in it’s beginning stages so things may likely change in the future, but for now here is a basic outline of some of the fantasy races and magic system in my story:

Lore

Elven Kind - the Atharenel

Names come from celtic, russian/slavic, germanic, french

Ailidh’s people have celtic names

Ruslan’s people have russian/slavic names

Two other main groups of Atharenel

one has germanic names 

one has french names

The Atharenel are fully mortal and have normal lifespans much like humans

However they have a highly increased ability for magic

Along with a deeper connection to the natural world

And they have slightly enhanced abilities

Naturally mildly faster

Stronger

More flexible, etc.

Humans

Names come from misc languages

latin, hebrew, spanish, japanese, chinese, arabic, african dialects etc.

Some have ability for magic but at a much lower rate than the atharenel

And naturally powerful magic users are rare

Often use objects of power to help channel and amplify magic

Staffs, wands, rings, etc

Often utilize spells to help direct and shape magic specifically

Magic system - STILL NEEDS QUITE A BIT OF WORK 

Magic is highly connected to nature

Magic enhances nature and follows an extension of most natural laws

There is always a reaction to an action

Something can’t be made of nothing

Stuff doesn’t just happen because

Light magic (or Life magic) refers to the magic of healing, growing, creating

Dark magic (or Death magic) refers to the magic of aggression, death, destruction

NONE OF THIS TYPE OF MAGIC IS “BAD MAGIC”

Life and death magic exist on a balance, they are yin and yang, there simply is not one without the other

However there is such a thing as “bad magic” and that is corrupted magic

This is the type of magic that creates things like the shadow army

It tilts the balance between light and dark out of balance

It twists nature itself into something unnatural and seems to come with no cost

Shadow Army do not have names

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That’s pretty much all I have for y’all today. As you can tell, this is a pretty basic outline and some of the details are still vague and wishy-washy, but as I devote more time to this project I hope my vision becomes more and more clear. Only time will tell I suppose. Next week I will hopefully have some more characters developed for you all as recently many have been fighting to be released from my brain. We shall see. Until next time!  ᕱ__ᕱ 

Always remember to dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷