When I won NaNoWriMo, it was incredible. I’d written 50,000 words in only a month! Insanity! I’d never guessed in a million years I was capable of such a feat. I suppose in a way, that’s why I pledge to do it annually. But sadly, I’ve only won one NaNoWriMo in its given month. But that’s not to say that I haven’t won after the fact!
NaNoWriMo is good for getting words onto the page. I look at it as my New NaNoWriMo Year’s Resolution. Much like people try and get fit come January 1st, come November 1st, I like to get back to my writing fitness levels. Not only that, but it’s very encouraging to know that whether you win or lose, you are most certainly not alone!
This year I want to do something different.
I want to blog my process not only for those of you out there in the digital ether but for myself, so that I may look back and laugh and then learn from it. So, as the title says, follow the white rabbit…
This is Day One of official planning. I’ve managed to flesh out my idea which actually has started from the concept of vision and sight. Apparently, there’s a Native American myth that says people who have two different coloured eyes can see both Heaven and Earth. I thought, wow, how beautiful! Now… what if it weren’t Heaven? What if focusing on one transported you into that world? What if that world were also full of risks? What if the landscapes were different? What if time didn’t pass as quickly inside one compared to the other?
OH, THE QUESTIONS.
So from there, I began thinking about my characters. Who would be my antagonist? My protagonist? What do they both want? Why are they in the positions they’re in? When is this happening? Why is this happening?
My mind spilt forth into the blurb, and the first one is always SUPER rough.
A failed assassination attempt on the King has him out for blood. When it is found out that the assassin is one who can shift between the demon realm and the mortal realm, he is branded a heretic and tried for his crimes. The court magician severs his link between the two realms and he is put before the people for execution. Although those who can shift are adept at thieving, infiltration and assassination, many are just regular people who want nothing to do with those risks.
Carvella Masters, a young woman of twenty and two, watches in horror as the man is beheaded before the crowd. The king proclaims these absconders are trying to sow chaos and discord among the monarchy and order, thus requiring them to be persecuted, branded and magically severed from the demon realm. The crowd begins to examine the people around them, comparing them to the headless man atop the execution block. As they all look like the plain everyday commoner, accusations begin almost immediately and widely.
Escaping the crowd, Carvella seeks refuge from the insanity in her family’s home. She listens closely to the town criers over the next few days to hear that the King has begun an inquisition and has already apprehended dozens of absconders who have been branded, some executed, some released back to the world with their link severed.
One day a woman bursts in through the front door, demanding to be hidden. The raw glow of her right cheekbone wears the branding of the absconders, a small rightward arcing hook with two dots alongside its curved far side, while tears fill her wide blue eyes as she trembles against the wood frame. Knowing she only has seconds before the Inquisition is upon her, Carvella drags the young woman through and into the demon world to hide. When the Inquisition arrives, a man with slicked back, jet black hair and piercing eyes seemingly stares directly at the pair, his eyes narrowed as if wondering if he should reveal them to the world or not.
From here, Carvella begins her life on the run and trying to save others from the same fate as the man who was executed or the woman she hid who clearly was not actually an absconder. Slipping further from the safety of her home, she begins to reach out to others like herself in the hope they can dismantle the Inquisition and put an end to the persecution of people with her abilities.
The concept is there in short.
- Who – Carvella Masters
- What – Escaping/Dismantling the Inquisition
- When – Medieval Times
- Where – Fantasy Setting
- Why – Because it’s the right thing to do.
- How – Finding others like herself and forming a group against the monarchy.
From here, every time I flesh out a detail, the story begins to take shape. I am however torn whether or not to start at the execution or the branded lady bursting into Carvella’s home.
The plot points will be quick (if I do what I did for Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse and form a loose plot for where I want to be at every 10000 words):
- Carvella has begun trying to unite the Assassins’ and Thieves’ Guilds in the hope that together they can take on the Inquisition.
- A revolution has begun, the slick haired man infiltrates the group.
- Carvella is magically severed from the link between worlds by slick, but stuck in the demon realm.
- Her link fully recovered, Carvella leads an attack on the monarchy , shifting in and out of the demon realm to drop knights and guards to their demise in revenge.
- Carvella doesn’t end up assassinating the King as he nearly mortally wounds her with a bolt to the eye. Without being able to focus on the demon realm, her life means more than ever before, however she cannot travel between the two any more.
Anyway for now, that is where I’ve begun to fall asleep, but I’m happy that I’ve got this plan starting to take shape! Talk soon and I’m open to questions!