One Down, More to Go | novel celebrations, considerations, and introductions

Posted on by evelyn

Let’s ignore last week.

Because skipping out on blogging to go on a field trip is nothing in comparison to my news of this week.

Are you ready for it?

It’s kina big.

Just kinda.

Are you ready? Okay here it is:

I have finished 51.

Wait.

Say WHAT

I’m DONE?!?

…and in the meantime all the rest of you are wondering why in the world it has taken this high schooler to finally learn how to count to 51.

No, its not because I’m homeschooled (thank you very much)

It’s because “51” is the title of what use to be my W.I.P. (which work-in-progress for those wondering).

Though to be honest it’s still a work-in-progress, but we’ll get to that later.

For now, confetti! Balloons! Cake!

In order to celebrate I will be ranting, rambling, and well. More rambling. Gifs.

And watching hobbits celebrate my great feats.

All that jazz.

But first, for those lost: 51? The initial seed of an idea was planted last November when I needed a break from NaNoWriMo (you know that thing where you write 50,000 words in a month) and so asked a writer-friend for a short story prompt so… I could write even more…?

I know it doesn’t make much sense, but wait until you are cranking a couple thousand words a day for the same project.

You get kinda tired of it. Especially the end of the second week. (Which is the point you decide that there are dragons in your world.)

NoNaWriMo in seven words:

Well I wrote a couple thousand words of a short story that felt more like a novel. I started plotting. I wrote a couple pages on how time-traveling might work and how it would effect users. By the end of those pages, I had met my characters. They had brought to me their problems, which I prodded and poked and plotted from.

Since then it has grown. It has had its highs and lows. Things developed and changed. Including the method of story-telling.

All until last week. I finished at the personal-award-winning length of over 75,500 words (what a big plump rabbit that plot bunny has become!).

It’s an experience.

Everytime I finish a novel, I sit back and stare as I try to swallow the fact that I just wrote “the end,” and I think, “Wow, maybe I do know how to do this writing-thing…”

And then I close it and step away. An hour later it hits me. When I’m scheduling maybe. Or passing the computer. Or unconsciously hurrying through chore because of those 1,000 words waiting to be written. Suddenly the mindset is shattered.

There dumps that all confusing but amazing sense of joy, sadness, relief, fear, and confidence. And then that renewed energy.

All of a sudden, it is done. I did it and as comma-depraved and pitiful the prose is and as sagging as the plot proves to be with every chapter, it is mine. All the sweat and mental circles I ran, the sleepless nights I poured into it, the long afternoons squinting at the pixels blinking back at me. All the scrawling’s in my school notebooks. All the holes I must have drilled into my wall as I sat at my desk oblivious of humanity and the schoolbooks before me.

But wait…

Done?

Actually done?

And that original fondness and excitement you had for the characters? It was never lost, merely muddled with the day-to-day grind. And you will no longer visit them.

At least not like this. Not like how it’s been.

It will never be the same with them.

All those problems they brought you have meddled away your summer with. And they’re less of a jerk for it too.

Maybe it will never be the same, but I will be returning. After a break I plan to edit a lot, starting with all those filler {ELEPHANT}s and {helicopter flight check?}s that I stick in when I don’t have time to research. And that I forgot about until handing it to a friend.

I always finish a novel with renewed vigor. When I sit down to write I find myself pulling out the upbeat tunes to dance through as I rip apart pages and scribble with red pens. Or something like that. 😉

Well summer is now gone. Fall has already arrived with all its luggage: Shorter days. School. Cold. Flaring colors.

And then another revelation rocks my little universe.

NaNoWriMo is just two weeks away.

And yep.

I’m doing it.

How could I not? Last year was fantastic and after spending almost the past year just on one novel, skipping from section to section, rewriting, and overthinking sometimes, I feel like a good rush of new words and ideas, and that feeling of defenestrating perfectionism and care. Kidnapping a couple new characters and also holding my inner editor for ransom.

Look sometimes you just have to write a random novel and that’s the truth.

*and everyone says amen*

I felt quite lost the other day realizing I have no idea what I was going to write. That since of complete loss. Overwhelming nothing-ness. There is a huge difference between a new chapter in a book, and starting a new book. Facing that blank white page with no history.

Suddenly all that confidence about knowing what I’m doing?

Out the window.

And suddenly I’m sitting at the computer wandering what the temperature is outside.

Where is inspiration when you need it?

Well, after waiting for a sudden creative revelation to hit for a week I gave up only to be most pleasantly bombarded by Eden.

How can you say no to her inspiring bubbliness? Or the prodding by a couple other people I had kinda convinced to do NaNo in the past hundreds of flocks of other eager writing friends. Well she came up with some ideas, which I absolutely loved and twisted together into something I hope will be digestible.

And so now the minor dumping…

Short Teaser

She was born without wings. He was born deaf. And the man was cursed, but he was not born that way.

Hopefully that mini dwarf blurb left you with a couple questions. (Or at least made you want to know more.)

Winged people a norm?

…and now thinking about it, I’m starting to grow extremely excited, scared, and about ten other emotions.

Want to hear more?

What else this novel will include*

  • outcasts
  • fog monsters
  • towering treehouse mansions
  • old maps
  • pirates
  • locked sea chests and riddles
  • angry mobs
  • a quest (to what though I have yet to discover)
  • magical ship with no crew

{*Disclaimer: This is by no means a complete list and is in fact only a list by the author. It has yet to be pitched to the characters. It is very much subject to change. Thank you. 😉 }

Extra Fluff

I tried my hand at making character collages/inspiration-boards…

Cora:

Salar:

And Azo:

And with that I think my introduction is complete-

Wait… I need a title?

You’re saying most books have titles? And ones not just randomly pulled from the number of playlists I have on Spotify? *cough51cough*

Okay confession. I’m terrible at naming books especially when I have no idea what they are about especially out of thin air.

I promise 51 is firstly: not about aliens. And secondly: relates to the story. And thirdly: no I don’t have 51 playlists anymore.

(Don’t look at me like that. You go count your playlists. They multiply like rabbits.)

Well, we will work on that one.

WELL

And that’s that.

You think the party is done though? Never. 😉

Chalice tagged me for this really cool music tag so return next week for another dose of ramblings, this time about music.

Prepare to be drenched.

Until next time, let the joyous hobbits dance!

~ evelyn ~

**all gifs extracted by my personal crew of dwarves from the mines of giphy**

Published by evelyn

heyo! my name is evelyn and i like things like stories, people, elephants, hot tea, chocolate, dancing in the rain and reading poetry out loud in the dark and also driving with the windows down and music up. i name my plants weird names.

46 thoughts on “One Down, More to Go | novel celebrations, considerations, and introductions”

    1. THANKS ISN’T IT CRAZY?? I’M MERELY JUMPING UP AND DOWN OVER HERE
      Your enthusiastic support is priceless!! ❤
      Read it?? *laughs nervously* It needs a lot of edits.

      Like

  3. I have no idea why it took me so long to find this but…hi! Remember me? I’m Elisha from Parimi Alca! *awkward silence echoes into the cyberworld*

    Ahem. Congratulations on finishing 51! The soonest you release it for readers, let me know because I WANT TO READ IT. And that new story of yours sounds deliciously amazing!

    Good luck with editing and NaNoWriMo!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. HEY ELISHA! You have a blog?? I just checked it out, and it is awesome! Now I want to go back and catch up on all your adventures. 😀

      Thanks! I’ll probably put it out for beta readers on Story Embers after editing it. I’m hoping for a lot of feedback and thoughts, so I’ll let you know if you want when I get to that point. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Ahhh congratulations on finishing!!! And oh my gosh your teaser is really cool I NEED to read this!!
    Agh yessss I am SO bad at naming books to, I’m still trying to even figure out mine 😳 Anyways…congratssss!*throws confetti and hands out cake* and good luck with NaNoWriMo!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hahaha thanks. I try to work a lot on my teasers to get them to that point of intrigue. 😂
      Eyyy it’s okay then. We’re in the same boat. 😝👍
      Yay! Thank you! *dances around in confetti* Oooh I love cake I should finish books more often. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  8. It sounds like you have run the gamut of emotions while you completed your book. I hope you are celebrating and dancing! Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Congratulations on finishing 51! That’s such a wonderful achievement, coming from somebody who likes to start many but never finish any. Best of luck on NaNoWriMo – your novel sounds fascinating, by the way, and I would love to learn more. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hahaha, who says I don’t have hundreds of started projects in my closet corners?? *laughs nervously*

      Finishing it is worth it though. It’s such an amazing and satisfying thing. Just… augh. There is so much in finishing. I guess that’s what this post was about. So I guess take it from this from one procrastinator to another, fight to finish that WIP. 😛

      Yeah, who knows. Maybe snippets from the story will begin to launch themselves into my blog posts. 😉

      Thanks Enni! 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hehe, don’t we all?

        I will try my best. The attempts may be performed quite a few times before I reach success, and that will probably be a very long time, but I shall still try. 😛

        Ooh, I love that idea…

        Liked by 1 person

  10. EEE so exciting!! Don’t you just love how it feels to finish a book? ❤️❤️❤️ And also, this new novel sounds amazing!! I hope you have a wonderfully adventurous time with it. I think I need to add a bit of spontaneity to my story. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yesss. It’s the best. ❤
      Thanks! I'm sure you can find some spontaneity to add to that novel. Just don't let it get in the way of all the sarcastic comebacks. 😀
      In fact…. if something spontaneous happens it gives the perfect stage for that character to say something sarcastic and drop the mic. 😉

      Like

    1. THANK YOU
      *dances around*
      Isn’t it so fun to finish a project?? 😆
      Demand to read it? *gulps* Um about that… *coughs* Well er…
      OH LOOK OVER THERE
      That’s a weird place to put a piano.
      *dashes out*
      😉

      Liked by 1 person

  12. You finished your BOOK, congratulations!!! That is such an amazing accomplishment and I know how it feels to be in total shock, like, “Wow, what, I DID that, really???” It’s awesome. Great job! Best of luck with NaNo, and I think your idea sounds really neat!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS POST MAKES ME SO HAPPY. 😍

    First off, congratulations on finishing 51! HUZZAH, HUZZAH, HUZZAH!! 🥳 You did it, Evelyn! Celebrate and have some cake! 🎂 (The assistants back home sent their congrats.😄)

    Secondly, you are doing NaNo and I AM FREAKING OUT!!!! I can’t wait to write with you in November! Girl, it’s gonna be AMAZING!! 🤩

    Thirdly, THAT STORY. It sounds so absolutely fantastic!! How do you come up with this stuff?! That blurb and the collages and fog monsters and tree houses and PIRATES and aghhhh, it’s sounds so wonderful! Can’t wait to hear more. 😍

    And all those gifs: perfection.

    P.S. I got way to much amusement out of the fact that 51 was titled from the number of playlists you had on Spotify. 🤣

    Liked by 2 people

    1. YAY *throws confetti*

      Cake? How wonderful. Is it chocolate cake? Please say it’s chocolate.

      I KNOW IT’S GOING TO BE CRAZY INSANE
      Or maybe I’m crazy insane. 😉
      *coughs*
      BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT. How awesome is it going to be??? (The correct answer is SUPER AWESOME)

      Hahahaha, you want to know how I did it? I stuck a bunch of fun random things together. Pirates? Fun. Winged people? Fun. Winged pirates?? YES. Let’s go with it. 😆

      Thanks for the crewless ship idea. I’m so excited about it. ❤

      Yep. Well that’s where I got the title. 😂 I promise it works into the story though. 😜

      Also I think you might get the ward of longest comment on my blog hehe. Congrats! *showers you in confetti* 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, it’s definitely chocolate cake! 😄 *hands you monstrous piece*

        About that…I think it’s going to be insane and I think you’re crazy. 😜 Than again so am I. BUT regardless of whether we possess sanity or not, it is GOING TO BE SUPER AWESOME!!! 🤩

        Winged pirates?! I LOVE IT! 😄 Your welcome…glad to be of assistance. *tips hat*

        Umm, longest comment. Heehee. I suppose that’s a compliment? 😉

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Eliza! Your comment made me smile so much. 🙂
      I love how supportive and understanding and super enthusiastic other writers are. We’re a fun bunch aren’t we, despite how crazy we might be. 😉
      I know! I wish I could live in a tree house mansion. Like… how cool would that be?? I don’t know how safe it would be though. 😆 I guess the mansion would have to stretch amongst many trees…? Except when trees sway apart. Hmm. I will have to figure out how that works….

      Like

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