ONCE UPON: Know the Novel Part 2!

HELLO EVERYONE. I come to you on this very random day like I said I would, because NaNoWriMo has kept me Very Distracted and I didn't get this post up earlier. BUT I wanted to make sure to do it, because today I bring youuuu: part 2 of Know the Novel!!

I just love this linkup by Christine, and I loved answering these questions for Once Upon! I love this story so much, even though it's a mess and has made my life a mess this month. xD I do want to say that while the book's not finished, I'm not writing at the moment. (I decided to take a break after winning NaNo to relax and focus on Thanksgiving and other things.) So these questions are in present tense, but I answered them while I was still writing. Mmkay. Probably not necessary to point that out, but there you go. xD

I'll spare you any more rambling, and lead you right into: Know the Novel: Part 2!

1. How’s the writing going overall?

So much better than I expected! I went into this with NO PLANS, guys. And at 20k I still hadn't gotten stuck. That's amazing for me. It's pathetic but it's true. xD

2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far? 

Trentley and Jynnia's relationship!! I keep bringing this up, and it's probably starting to get really old, but SERIOUSLY. I just LOVE them. Also just all the fairy tale aspects. It's seriously so much fun playing around with all that.

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I absolutely love Trentley and Jynnia. They're the sweetest little babies. Jynnia gets on my nerves a teensy bit at times (I mean, girl. Don't break the law. You've been warned. Stop it.), but I still love her. And my side characters are SO MUCH FUN too. I didn't think this story was going to be sassy but there's sass. Lots of sass. In the form of fairy sisters. A whole slew of them.

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?
Um, yeah, only every time I sit down to write. XD When you don't do any planning whatsoever, your story basically tells you what to do. My writing is pretty much the equivalent of when you're running too quickly down a hill and your feet start going too fast for you to keep up with. Things are happening and you're not sure how they're going to end but there's no going back now!!

5. Have you come across any problem areas?
Not really. :o The only "problem" I would say (besides the awful writing lololol) is just that I'm hardcore pantsing (like, more than EVER before) and I don't know if I'm going to keep ANYTHING I'm writing. But I'm okay with that, because I've adopted the term "discovery writer" for myself, and I think it describes me really well. The first draft is just like an experimentation, if you will. A meet-and-greet where I get to know my characters and the setting.

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?
In story terms, being able to keep writing without stopping, and pushing through to the next scene even when I don't know what's really going on! In NaNo terms, staying ahead of my word count and breaking my records from previous years.

(For the record, I just want to clarify that crushing a ridiculous word count and breaking records does
NOT determine whether you're having a good NaNo. It's just my goal for this year.)

7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?
Well, HOPEFULLY I'd be Jynnia, so that I could have Trentley all to myself. *pathetic fangirl giggling* *over my own story* *wow what a mess I am*

But in reality, I'd probably be Trentley. He's awkward and unsure and doesn't talk a lot when he's around people he's not comfortable with.

I think I'd pretty much take the same actions he has... he's quiet until he has something to say, then he gets out of his comfort zone and says what he has to say when it matters. (Except let's be honest, I don't say everything I should. So, I guess Trentley's doing better than me. xD)

8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets! 

The first paragraph/lines!

I'm not going to lie, I adore sharing snippets that make absolutely no sense out of context and hopefully confusing you guys. xD

9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!) 
Lol.

Typos.

I think I already mentioned this in one of my NaNo updates, but if you somehow missed it: I was writing late one night, on I think the second day of NaNo. (lol didn't take me long did it?) And apparently I was a lot more tired than I thought. I didn't THINK I'd done anything out of the ordinary.

But then the next day when I went back to my story to write... I saw this sentence.

"She continued to mutter indecipherable words as she smoothed her napkin in her lapkin and went about her dinner."

Her napkin.

In her lapkin.

I just... I can't. There's no hope for me.

Anyway. Enough about that. I suppose an interesting tidbit would be that I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING. I don't know why I do this to myself. "Derailed from my outline"? LOL WHAT'S AN OUTLINE. I literally started this story knowing the main characters and the inciting event. THAT'S IT. I have pantsed literally EVERY scene since then.

But you know the weird thing? I've gotten farther in my NaNos since I've started doing that. When I try to outline and plan (which I never do that much of, anyway) I've tended to drop off around 30-35k words. But this pantsing thing seems to be working out pretty good for me. *shrugs*

10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

Well, since I work most days, my writing doesn't usually start happening until around 5-6 in the evening. I sit at my desk, light my candle (I got the idea from Nadine Brandes to choose a special candle for my story, and I'm loving it!), and usually have a cup of coffee with me. Sometimes I play music, sometimes I don't. Earlier in the month I listened to my playlist for this story quite a lot, but as the month went on I just abandoned that and started listening to Christmas music. xD I actually searched "fairy tale christmas music" on YouTube and found some festive yet fitting music to listen to while I write this story.

I actually haven't been getting all that distracted when I'm writing! Usually the distractions happen BEFORE I start writing. Which is why it often takes me so long to sit and start. xD

And that's it! I'm having fun writing Once Upon, even if it is being totally annoying and sassy and not wanting to tell me where to go next until we're RIGHT there on it. I think this is one of my favorite stories of mine just for the classic fairy tale-ness of it. I am LOVING writing fairies and magic and all that jazz.

Thanks again, Christine, for the linkup, and I hope you all are having a fantastic NaNo! (It's almost over. :o)

CAN YOU BELIEVE NANO'S SO CLOSE TO BEING OVER?? And have you done this linkup? Because if not, you totally should.