Snoink's PlanMo 24
4 posts in this topic.
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....woo! Better late than never!
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OH LOOK! I already did the elevator pitch on my novmo page! XD
Ta da!After a golden bird comes to his kingdom and nearly destroys his mother's beloved tree, Prince Tristian goes on a quest to find the golden bird -- and finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime.
An adventurous fairy tale retelling starring...
... the youngest prince who has always lived in the shadows of his older brothers, but now it's his time to shine.
... a snarky talking wolf who is totally not a sorcerer.
... a jaded sea witch who perhaps isn't as jaded as she pretends.
... a golden mermaid with a heart of gold.
... villainous kings and princes who totally get what's coming to them. -
Spooktober stuff!
1. What does the setting of your novel look like in the fall? Does it even have seasons?
It does! And it's actually set partially in the fall? The apples have just ripened at the beginning. Then you have this scene...When they led him outside, Tristian couldn’t help but weep when he saw the light again. After being in the darkness so long, even seeing the horizon glow with light was more than he could bear. It was a cold autumn morning and the cobblestones sparkled with frost and a light lining of snow. They sparkled as morning light touched them and gleamed so much that even the jewels of his father’s court seemed to pale in comparison.
Winter was coming soon, Tristian realized, but he would miss it all. He had seen his last spring and last summer and hadn’t even cared, and suddenly he regretted so much. He had lived his life as if each day was a certainty and now that he came to the end of it, he realized that he had taken each moment for granted and had squandered it all.
Poor Tristian... IT'LL BE OKAY I PROMISE YOU.
2. If your main character existed on Earth in a place that celebrates Halloween, what would they do? (Ex: go trick-or-treating, give out candy, hide in the house with the lights off...)
No, he would not. He would have other people get candy for him, hahaha.
3. How do each of your side characters feel about horror movies?
Honestly, they're in a place where horror movies would seem magical. However, if they could watch movies...
- Tristian wouldn't really want to watch it because his poor eye would get tired and he would rub it and get tired. The action gore would probably seem tame to him because he is a prince who has seen actual public executions, so it would only be seen as entertainment, but without a really compelling story, so he would probably be kind of bored.
- The wolf would critique EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER'S ACTION with awful sarcastic commentary. Like, "Oh yeah! Go towards the scary noise made by the person who is about to kill you! GOODNESS GRACIOUS. Don't humans have NOSES to keep them out of trouble??? Or are they just this stupid usually?"
- The Sea Witch would get very bored and start rooting for the villains, because the main characters "probably deserved it."
- King Dimus would get impatient and be like, "There's no time to sit around and watch this nonsense!
ALL IN ALL. It would probably be not fun to watch a horror movie with this set of characters, hahah.
4. Choose a character and describe a fall outfit of theirs, or how they would dress up for Halloween.
Poor Tristian's fall outfit...While the clothes that King Dimus gave Tristian were warm enough, they were servant’s clothes a size too big and Tristian found them itchy and uncomfortable. Nor did he have his silken undergarments on to offset the discomfort any.
5. Pick two characters with some kind of relationship (family, partners, enemies) and describe an activity they'd do in the fall.[/quote]
Prince Tristian and the wolf would probably go leaf peeping together.
[b]6. Are there any spooky or suspenseful moments in your novel? Share a line with us if you have one!
UM. Maybe not spooky, but suspenseful for sure! And it involves the moon, so yep!He set the golden bird next to him — the bird remained asleep — and then looked over the golden cage in trepidation. The wolf’s warning still rung in his ears. Tristian shouldn’t touch the cage! He knew that. And yet, when he looked at the cage and saw how strong it was and how beautiful it was, he realized that this was the only cage that could fit such a beautiful bird. Still, he was afraid. If he touched the cage, then everyone would wake up.
But what else could he do?
Tristian took a deep breath. “Lord give me strength!” he muttered under his breath. Then, very cautiously, he went to the cage — and touched it.
Nothing happened. The bird remained asleep. The castle was quiet. Everything was still. The only one who saw him touch the cage was the moon, which gleamed down on him.
Tristian sighed in relief. “The wolf was wrong! I could touch the cage.” Then he glanced down at the sleeping bird. “You will not wake up for anything! I can see that. I will put you in the cage that you belong in.”
He opened the cage — how easily the door swung open! — and grabbed the sleeping bird. Then, very gently, he put the bird in and shut the door.
The bird’s eyes flashed open.
All at once, the bird cried out in a loud squawk that echoed in his ears. Then it thrust forward through the cage and pecked at Tristian’s eye.
7. Is there a special food that people in your novel eat or a drink they drink in the fall?
...I mean, if Tristian were in his palace confines, perhaps they would have cider. But. He's not. He spends his autumn either wandering around hopelessly or in prison. So. I guess water is his autumn drink? But he's not really excited about it, hahha. -
Most Challenging Character
Describe which character you think will be the most challenging to write. Plan how you will rise to that challenge! Do they need extra research? How might you tackle the scenes they are in differently to other scenes?
OH. Definitely the mermaid!
Listen, I love the fairy tale sooo much, but let me just say that the mermaid in the tale is flat and disappointing. She falls in love with the prince after he takes her out of the ocean without a fight and then spends a lot of her time just clinging to him because she's in love. Then, even though she's supposedly this beautiful mermaid that the king has long coveted (which is why he sends the prince to take her in the first place!), he just... gives her away to the prince... for reasons??? Then, when the prince's brothers are rescued and then betray the prince, she is either 1) weeping by the prince or 2) abducted by the brothers, depending on the tale (my story draws from several similar tales).
SO. I need to breathe some life into this character because right now she only exists to love the prince and that's it, but she's like... a person whom Prince Tristian eventually marries, so like... I want to make it so that their relationship isn't completely codependent and it sounds like she actually likes him. So, instead of being ripped from her home forcibly, which honestly sounds traumatic, I want to make sure she has agency. She leaves because she wants to help him and continues to stay with him because she wants to stay with him. (Otherwise, I would lose respect for Tristian, honestly... like, I have no problem with writing problematic relationships -- most of the relationships in Swans are problematic in some way, haha, but I want this relationship to be an okay one, lol.)
So, some thoughts...
- Tristian just stealing her out of the sea, where she belongs, is just... problematic. There needs to be a REASON why she leaves and chooses to be with Tristian. Also, I want to make it certain that she has a way back to the sea.... like, she needs to have freedom to choose Tristian. This is NOT to be a coercive romance!
- Once she gets on land... it almost sounds like she isn't a mermaid anymore??? Like, she rides on the horse with Tristian, which makes it sound like she turns into a human. So maybe make that more clear... like what happens to her? The king asks Tristian to bring him the golden mermaid... does the king expect the golden mermaid to transform? Could it be that the golden mermaid will only transform into a human when she falls in love, so when the mermaid turns into a human, he realizes that he's lost her and that's why he freely gives the mermaid to Prince Tristian without fuss?
- OMG, wouldn't it be cool if Tristian brings her to the castle as a mermaid and the king tries to take her away, but Tristian draws his sword and threatens to fight him, and the sea witch is backing him with magic, so it looks like it's going to be an epic face off, but then the mermaid kisses him and becomes human, and then the king realizes that he's lost and he concedes everything.
- Maybe the mermaid threatens the king if he threatens Tristian? Like, if the king gets mad, the mermaid promises that her father will drown everyone in his kingdom if he dares touch Prince Tristian? So like... when Prince Tristian is initially threatened by the king, he thinks to himself, "OH NO NOT AGAIN." But then the mermaid promises retailiation and the prince realizes that she cares for him and wants to build an alliance with him and realizes that she even loves him and that gives him courage to stand even taller?
- When he frees his brothers, she can't stand them and is absolutely certain that he is making a mistake, even though she doesn't try to stop him, other than telling her doubts.
- Uh... on the point of whether Tristian's brother abduct her or whether she stays with Prince Tristian... I'll have to think about that. I sort of want her to stay with him though because she's shaping up in my mind as more of a feisty character and I want her to fight for him.
Anyway! I want to make her an awesome character who is WORTHY of Prince Tristian, since Prince Tristian grows into such an awesome character.
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