Young Writers Society

Syrin is a very old idea of mine. I came up with it in the summer of 7th grade, and it's first draft was written a year later during the first round of LMS. It was the first novel I ever attempted to write. And I've put it aside a long while ago, and maybe even trashed it once or twice, but I've since decided that it's something I want to see to some kind of completion. Sure I've got like a six book series planned behind it (7th grade Wolfe was ambition and likely delusional) but I at least want to give this section of the story a real ending.

Recently, I lost a flash drive that contained all my old drafts, my old ideas, tons of world building, info about the magic, character profiles, and more. I think a completely clean slate is exactly what this novel needs, which is part of the reason I decided to pull this back up as I start my quest as an LMS IV Rogue.

I figured if I made this thread, it would be the first step to starring any planning for this novel, so here I am. I'll at least drop a crappy, "brief synopsis" of which I think this novel might be. We'll see where it actually goes.

--> "Due to its association with [insert disease name here] and the worst epidemic in human history, magic, known as Syrin, has been outlawed for centuries. The only punishment is death. Unfortunately, Samuel Meaklim was born with it. As the son of one of the most infamous Syrinists and [insert city name here]'s most hated woman, Sam is an outcast. But he lives his life, causing havoc along with his Syrinist friends Carsten, Ashley, and Harrison. One day, a new girl comes in town, Marian Brendan. It wouldn't be much of an event if she wasn't the daughter of the city's new Head Guard. To commemorate their arrival, the king and Ashley's power hungry brother, Calvin, are scheduled to arrive in a few months. Calvin has it out for Sam and he has to figure out how to keep living his easy, "flying under the radar" life. If it's even possible."

Wow. This synopsis doesn't even sound interesting to me. And I'm writing it >.<

(Also, at this point, I don't know if this is an urban fantasy novel or not? What even is the difference? When does one cross into the other? I know they're not mutually exclusive but I don't know what is criteria for urban fantasy.)

Girl. Lady. I never read draft 1 but I pledge to you I will try to read draft 2 and scream at you about it because this kind of magic is exactly what I love. Love love love.

Also, I wouldn't worry about if it's urban fantasy or not. Figure out your world and story first! Urban fantasy (among all others) is just a marketing subgenre, so you don't really need to think about that until you start querying. Which is probs gonna be a while with this one. Lol.

Character List

main characters and relations
Samuel Meaklim - main protagonist
- Mother: Julia Bernard
- Father: Emerson Meaklim

Carsten Mencer
- Mother: Nancy Mencer
- Father: Jackson Mencer
- Younger Sister: Amelia Mencer
- Older Brother: Caleb Mencer
- Oldest Brother: Drew Mencer

Ashley Tukan
- Mother: Melanie Tukan
- Father: Liman Tukan
- Older Brother: Calvin Tukan

Harrison Vendi
- Mother: Gabriella Vendi
- Father: Johnson Vendi
- Younger Brother: Marshall Vendi
- Youngest Sister: Ruby Vendi

Marian Bremdan
- Mother: Emily Bremdan
- Father: David Bremdan


[more will be added later in the planning process]

I love this already, Wolfe! I think I've heard you talk about it before, though I don't think I read the first draft either. I love that there's a really interesting reason for the magic to be outlawed (the disease) and hope you explore the connection there eventually so the readers can find out how that all happened.

My question reading the summary is simple: why does Calvin have it out for Sam?

@Mea I'm so glad that you're interested already ^^ Having other people reading definitely helps in the motivation to write and keep up with the project. And thank you for asking questions -- it helps a lot with fleshing out of stuff

So, there's a lot of complexity surrounding Calvin's character that I don't want to quite reveal all of yet, but it essentially boils down to the fact that Calvin is a lot of an elitist and thinks very highly of himself and his family. On the flip side, he sees Samuel as of a lower status and on par with scum because of his father (who is, again, a super infamous criminal for his skill with Syrin) and because Calvin /knows/ Sam has magic but can't prove it. Calvin absolutely despises Syrinsts and he is one of the more cruel guards, so he really wants to see Sam executed. As the last straw, it really angers him when Sam and Ashley are together, since they're basically best friends, since he feels he could negatively influence her and fears he might "convert" her in some terrible way or lower her status.

(When I get the chance, I definitely want to put up some character profiles and world building for the country they live in. I've had some setbacks recently but I'll pull through ^^)

I intended to start back with LMS this week, but because I'm already a rogue and some more emotional stuff happened that prevented me from writing or doing anything, I'm just going to hold off until next week to really "start." I'll try to write for two weeks for the next three weeks to catch up some.

It's just been a rough time.