Know the Novel 2024 - Part 2

 

It's official! More than Conquerors is a cursed book that will never be written and will probably never see the light of day! 

In other words, am I about to scrap the 5000 words or so I've written in the past month? Yeah. I am. Very, very sadly. ONE DAY we will figure out how to write this thing, but it is not this day.

So what will this Know the Novel post be on? A story I have mentioned many times on this blog but have never actually elaborated on. I have been editing it for a rather long time now, but I'm getting pretty serious about it over the past few months because I finally decided how the series was going to go and I got it into my head to start researching self-publishing a bit more in depth... although that's a beast I'll tackle a different time.

For now, put your hands together for my very late post discussing To Die is Gain!

A little bit of background that I didn't share in part 1 because that was on a different story, To Die is Gain (TDiG) is book 1 of my series The Martyrs Saga (which might be news, considering how the order has flip-flopped every other day). It is also the first full length story I ever wrote, even if the first draft makes me very angry that it ended at exactly 99 pages. (A bit short for a full novel, yes, but it has grown in the past few years).

Anyways.

Diving in.

Some of you may be asking, "What is Know the Novel?"

Know the Novel is a 3-part tag for writers, one for each of these last three months of the year. Each part features ten questions you can answer on your own blog (or anywhere else on social media!). The questions focus on different parts of your novel and how the writing is progressing. 

Check out the wonderful Christine Smith's blog to see other posts and to get a bit more info on the tag.

Ze questions.

1. How’s the writing going overall?

As it is currently being edited, and this particular section I'm working through does not need a whole lot of changes, it's been going pretty good! So happy to be working with my babies again.

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

Working with my babies again 🤓Have I ever mentioned I love these characters????

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

Once more, I have fallen into the trap of answering questions before they are asked...! Maybe? 

I adore my characters, and they have reached the point where they are a little less problematic about each other because they are problematic with each other. TDiG only really features one "chaos child" for the whole book, and that's Lyra, but by the end, the others are starting to figure it out a bit more. Especially Wilson. Wilson is learning chaos like a pro. 

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Some of the changes I've needed to make have been... unexpected, I should say. Taking advice from my family who has read TDiG already, the two plot twist characters had a bit of a personality change, which surprised me that it worked a little more but also surprised me that it was actually kinda tricky because I didn't want to reveal the twist... anyways, the editing of TDiG has been much more straightforward than some of the others.

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

The section I am currently working on has been a little tricky, but I wouldn't call it a problem, so to speak. It's a very emotionally and spiritually tricky scene that I really like my original version of, so I just have a few continuity things from this draft that I need to tweak. It is probably one of my favorite sections I've ever written, but I'm not sayin' nothin' because SPOILERS hehehe.

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

Biggest victory is just getting to this point! When I first started editing earlier this year, I was pretty upset to realize I had to cut several chapters and rewrite a bunch, not to mention learning one of my favorite characters was insanely f l a t. So, last week when I realized I had three chapters left to edit, and everything I had rewritten and cut and all was coming together, yeah, that was a pretty big victory!!

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?

Oh dear. I'd like to say I'm Ariel or Wilson, but realistically... I'm not? I'd have to be Maximus, which means I'm the sidekick who knows nothing, is always being teased by the friends who adore him (and vice-versa), and tries to help save the day but is really along for the ride. I love Max, and he is probably going to get his own side story soon-ish (as in twenty years from now), but he's not quite the most awesome character in this particular episode of the Martyrs Saga.

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

OOOOOHHOOOHOHOHOOOOO this is the part I was excited about for TDiG!!!! 

first line/paragraph: 

The shadows hid Wilson, but they also hid the patrolling soldiers. 

He strained his eyes for any movement and crept farther out on the tree branch he was perched on, wincing as it creaked quietly. In the distance, faint lights blinked from the small house that was his destination.

and now a few more... (i'll try to do one for each of the main foursome [Ariel, Wilson, Lyra, Maximus])

Ariel burst out before she could contain herself, “Silas, they sent me to betray you. ‘Get you to trust me and then hand you over to them’ is what Sanders said.” She bit her lip and stared at him, anxiety rising in her chest again.

No way he would want to help her now.

He lowered the Bible and regarded her for a moment before he nodded slowly. “And if you don’t, Israel will die.” He didn’t sound surprised.

~

“He picked a fight with a street rat,” Lyra announced, also peering into the pot and inhaling deeply.“A street rat who won’t be ratting anyone out anytime soon.” She carried herself with an air of satisfaction as she grabbed a spoon and scooped out a bite of the broth. 

Martha’s eyes widened and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You didn’t punch them, did you?” 

Lyra put on a look of utter innocence. “Of course not.” 

~

“Well, there’s more to it than that.” Wilson picked at the grass again. “When I became a smuggler, the first thing I learned was how to act. Not how to be sneaky. Not code words. I had to learn to convincingly lie.” He glared down at the ground as if everything was its fault. “By now, acting is basically second nature. It just… happens. Sometimes without me planning what my story will be.” He ripped a few blades of grass out of the ground and began absentmindedly shredding them. “That can’t be right, can it?”

~

Maximus shook his head at them. “You guys are so obvious. I mean, so so obvious.”

Ariel grinned at him. “Did we get you in trouble?” 

“Nah. But next time, Ariel, don't stand right in front of a giant window when you know there’s a price on your head.”

Her grin drooped, and her gaze drifted back to the open window. “Sorry.”

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!)

If SOMEONE had died, I would not say who. BUT. If three people were getting ready to die in the next few chapters.... I still would not say who. As for changing projects entirely, I mean... whaddya think? As a funny note, there have been times that I've reread what I just edited and realized that sections where I switched who said what still had the previous character's name in the action tag... such as Wilson saying something about how ridiculous Wilson was being (it was supposed to be Lyra speaking, btw.) I've also just accidently inserted the wrong name many many times.

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 DON'T HAVE NORMAL WRITING DAYS 😭😭😭😭 I BARELY WRITE AT ALL LATELY. WHO KNEW TWO WEDDINGS BACK TO BACK COULD KILL YOUR WIRTING STREAK THAT QUICKLY???

ahem.

IF I write, there's literally no routine I follow. I write whenever I finish school, so generally after lunch, but even then I sometimes do other stuff because yeah. So. I don't have anything interesting.

Anyways, that's the end of this post. If you enjoyed this little snippet of To Die is Gain and you want to hear more about it, as in the questions from part 1, let me know and I'll throw together a little something ✨extra✨ for these precious children of mine. Thanks for reading!!