Know the Novel Linkup//Part Two: Within the WIP

Welcome back to part two of the Know the Novel linkup, hosted by Christine Smith!

I'm so excited to share more about The Last of the Lambs (and probably a little bit about Rumors).

1. How’s the writing going overall?

While I had a bit of a shaky start to NaNo, writing is going pretty well. I'm managing to find the time to balance writing both The Last of the Lambs and Rumors without going too crazy. Is this going to continue? Who knows.

I also think I have hit the "ah-ha" moment for tLotL. It took a little while to get into the story. At first, the words came, but I didn't care too much for them? Like, they were fine, but I just didn't know if I liked the story or not. But I hit one of the first conflicts and I started getting into the story.

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

I've enjoyed learning more about my characters' personalities. Those always surprise me because I tend to do next to nothing about characters before I start writing. I usually like them to develop organically throughout the story. 

Londiwe's father was the first to surprise me. His kind personality was so refreshing! He's gentle and soft about his family and his flock. It was so sweet to learn about!

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

I'm liking them so far. Londiwe is an interesting character. It's fun (in the most painful way possible) to watch her slowly take on the weight of the world day by day. Seeing her come into her own is very cool.

I really enjoyed her family as well. While it's a bigger family than I originally planned, so I don't know all of them super well, I really like the ones I've gotten to know. 

I've only recently gotten to the "big bad", so I haven't gotten to spend much time with him. However, I think he plans on being a very interesting character. 

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Uh...I think Londiwe's family surprised me quite a bit. I didn't realize just how big of a family she had and now I've got to come up with names for them in edits. That'll be interesting. 

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

I've realized that, despite the research I did prior to writing, I'm still lacking in details. There's a lot of cultural stuff that I want to learn about so I can add it in later, instead of just making stuff up.

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

I don't know. I guess the fact that I've been able to write it at all. I was so nervous going in that I wasn't going to have what it takes to write it (which has been the norm for every single book in this series). 

While it might not be perfect by any means, I'm glad that the words haven't been too sticky.

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?

I would probably be Warrick Mason. At least, I think so. He hasn't yet appeared in the book, but from what I know about him, he has a similar personality to me. 

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

'[Ewe’s name] took her last breath in my father’s lap.'

~~

'There’s something about the simultaneous passing of one life and the beginning of another that leaves onlookers unsure of what to feel.'

~~

'“What were you drawing?” my father asked as he gently urged a nervous sheep along. 

I motioned to the surroundings, the vast rolling South African grasslands with the mountains in the far distance. “Home.”'

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!)

I did consider changing projects part-way through the month. As I mentioned earlier, I was struggling at the beginning and almost felt like this wasn't my story to write. I wasn't happy with the story at first and I just had a hard time figuring out my voice for the story, so I thought about dropping the project altogether. 

However, I pushed through, telling myself to get at least a quarter of the way through, and that turned out to be a good idea. I hit a moment where things began to click together and I started to actually enjoy the story. 

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!

I typically get up, go about my normal morning routine, which involves drinking some lemon water, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting down to do my prayer time and Bible reading. Once I'm done with my reading, I usually watch YouTube or listen to music until my coffee's gone. Then I clean myself up for the day and tidy up my room.

Once that's done, I make myself a big bowl of my special oatmeal (or some other kind of breakfast, but oatmeal has pretty much been the only thing I've wanted to eat for breakfast, so I usually just stick with that) and head up to my office around 9. I'm also armed with my quart of water, which I fill up several times during the day. Refilling this, plus the nearly constant urge to go to the bathroom because of all the water, motivates me to get up and walk around throughout the day (otherwise, I'd probably never move at all). 

When I'm settled in my office space, I pick out an authortuber's writing sprints video and which ambiance I want to listen to during the sprints (I've really enjoyed Ambient World's Hunger Games one). During the first sprint, I usually shovel my breakfast into my mouth and check email. I also try to figure out what order I'm going to tackle my projects because I have two or three each day. 

Then, during the next sprint, I start knocking out whichever task I decided to do first. I repeat until I've completed everything, stopping for lunch around noon. I'm usually burnt out around 2 or so, though sometimes I try to push through anyway and go until 3. Just depends on how I'm feeling.

At that point, I usually go and get a snack and do some reading, quilting, or watch a YouTube video. Around 4-ish, I do a yoga session to stretch everything out and get some good movement in. Side note: if you're looking for some good online yoga classes, I highly recommend Bad Yogi or Yoga With Adrienne. They're both good, though I usually lean towards Bad Yogi. 

Normally, there would be at least one large cup of coffee to go along with the water that I drink while writing, but I've had to cut way back on my caffeine consumption. Now I usually only drink less than a cup during my morning routine. That seems to be my limit right now. While I'm sad, because I love coffee so much, I'm thankful that removing the coffee wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I'm thankful that I can at least have a little. The idea of going through fall and winter without coffee was absolutely horrifying to me.  

I guess the weird thing I have to have while writing is my heating pad. I almost always sit on it while I'm writing. It helps keep some of my back/hip pain down. I also have my compression fingerless gloves, which are awesome! They hug my fingers, so they don't slow down my typing too much, but they still keep my hands warm. 

Well, there you have it! That's how NaNo is going for me so far. Lord willing, next month, we'll see if things continue to go well!

Onto y'all! How's NaNo going for you, if you're participating? Anything interesting happen during your writing? How's life in general? Do you have to have something weird around when you're writing? Let me know all the things down below!

Comments

  1. EEP. I was so excited to see this pop up!!! This was a treat getting a little peek into your NaNo! That makes me really happy to hear you hit that "ah-ha" moment and you've gotten into your story. It just sounds SO GOOD! I adore that the protagonist has a big, loving family! We totally need more of those in fiction. But I feel you on trying to keep up with children's names. I have two characters with a bunch of younger siblings, all of which who are constantly together, and I'm just like, "I cannot keep up with all these CHILDREN." I keep forgetting their names and such. XD SO YES. The struggle is real! Haha.

    Okay but that opening line. :O What a way to start the story with a PUNCH. SO SAD. BUT SO GOOD. And the other snippets tooooo! I can just FEEL the emotion! <333

    I love the way your structure your writing days! That looks like such a healthy approach. My days are all over the place. XD

    Thank you so much for joining the linkup and sharing how your NaNo is going! I cannot believe we're halfway done. :O WE'RE GONNA SURVIVE THIS THING!!!

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    1. Ahh! I'm glad you enjoyed reading a little bit more about my process!

      LOL, I do really love those snippets. Of course, that's just a small sampling of the book. Most of it is a mess and will really need cleaning up.

      Thank you! I try to keep things healthy when I can, though of course sometimes life happens and it's just not possible.

      It's so crazy to think that NaNo is almost over!

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  2. I am so glad that you can write your story well now! I know how hard it is to start a story and keep up the momentum. It took me forever to do the first chapter of my current WIP.
    Bigger family than expected is fun. They are fun reading so I imagine that they are fun writing!
    It is terrible but also fun to see your main characters go to ruin, isn't it?
    *heart-eyes* I love that the father is like that! There are not enough sweet and kind and gentle fathers out there in the book world. Not many that I can think of anyway.
    Ooohh, those snippets are beautiful! I love them. <3
    I hope that the writing continues to go well!

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    1. Yes! It's tough. Sometimes, it can be a challenge to figure out if a story is even worth writing. I'm glad I've gotten a least to a point where I'm enjoying things! Also, I hope you are able to find your rhythm for your WIP!

      LOL, yeah...sometimes I feel bad for them, but usually I enjoy seeing how they grow through the situations.

      Aww! Thanks. I really like him. He's such a nice character.

      Thank you!

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  3. I loved this inside look at your WIP!!! I'm so glad you were able to get into the groove of your story and continue writing it!

    I loved those snippets!!! ^_^

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    1. Thank you!! I'm glad you liked hearing a bit about it!

      Aw, thank you! I was glad to finally have snippets that I wanted to share. I often struggle finding bits that I like enough to put in a blog post.

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