12:01 Has Me Like , I Want To Know More!

12:01 has me like 👀, I want to know more!

i'm glad (young me would be proud lmao).

the short version of it is: about a teen who has recurring nightmares about her father's death a minute after midnight, the time the accident happened

the longer explanation: young me had no idea what to do. i had an interesting premise and ran with it for like 50k words, then got stuck, then never went back.

maybe future me knows better than to follow through with a shiny idea when it won't go very far? 😂

Heads Up Seven Up Tag

Alright, a tag game! Thanks @talesofsorrowandofruin, this is fun.

The most recent seven lines I've written:

My feet drag on. This has to be an omen, there is safety in this structure.  As I draw nearer to the building, its form falls into place. It is impossibly rectangular, a work of perfect right angles. The edges of its constitution look painful to touch. There is a single, circular window that looks more like an eye. A lens, with which to interpret the outside. 

From a project I haven't talked about yet ;)

I'm tagging (only if you want to): @kjscottwrites @bardic-tales @fearofahumanplanet @circa-specturgia @ryan-shepard-writes @leave-her-a-tome @wardenoftheabyss

building your main character

Hello :) I recently bought save the cat writes a novel but didn't have the motivation to read it until I came up with this new fantasy idea.

As a pantser, I really want to learn how to plot, and I thought this book was a good idea to give me some structure as to what goes into plotting (like know the rules so you can break them after pftt).

I decided to take some notes along the way so I don't have to keep re-reading this thing later down the road. It might be helpful, it might not be, but I thought it'd be a nice writing resource to put out to the world. ♥️

I think it's safe to say that most of us don't want to read, nor write, a perfect character - one who's good at everything, and has no problems in their lives.

Creating a flawed character, one that later transforms and learns a "universal lesson" is probably much more interesting to both read & write about (as most authors [like me] like to dump their trauma on characters lmao).

But to do so, your character needs:

A problem that needs fixing.

A want or goal that the hero is pursuing.

A need for their lesson to be learned.

Basically, a character's flaw (though doesn't need to be a HUGE one) or issue should be affecting, at least in their thoughts and possibly others, their world, relationships, and life. This is essentially their "problem," and one they hope to fix. It may also be seen as the start of their journey.

Aside from that, it's important for a character to want something, and be trying to get it. This is essentially what they think will fix their issues, but may turn out not to be true later on. This want should be tangible or specific in some way. And the fact that someone or something is preventing them from getting is, is part of their journey!

Side note: wants can also change throughout the novel. An example used was how Frankenstein goes from wanting to create life to wanting to destroy the very life he created. Not all characters get what they want, either. Take a character who wants to see their mother, for instance, only to find out she died in the end of the novel (sorry for this sad example lmaoo). Though she never gets to see her mother, she learns a few lessons along the way, and her getting to see her mother is what the novel may focus on more.

Characters can also be mistaken on what they think will make them happy, which is another reason why they think they want something.

That leads to what the hero really needs. Delve into their backstory.

Why is your hero so flawed?

What happened to them to make them the way they are?

What do they really need?

Essentially, this internal transformation (character development) combined with the actual plot and external action will create a plot/novel.

In the end, there may be some universal lesson or overarching perception that your character gains. Here's 10:

Forgiveness (of self and others)

Love (self-love, family, romantic)

Acceptance (of themselves, of circumstances, etc.)

Faith (oneself, others, world, religion)

Fear (overcoming or finding courage)

Trust (oneself, unknown, others)

Survival (will to live)

Selflessness (sacrifice, altruism, heroism, etc.)

Responsibility (duty, accepting one's fate, standing up for a cause)

Redemption (atonement, accepting blame, remorse, salvation)

this moment 🥹

Young Woo: Loving me is… hard.

Jun Ho: Yes, it appears so

Young Woo: But are you still going to?

Jun Ho: Yes.

OOOh, hmm, I've just gotta ask about "12.01"! How mysterious, not even an alphabet, just numbers! 👀

oh gosh, we're going back to one of my first wip's...

i think i started this about 4-5 years ago and left it unfinished?

the short version of it is: about a teen who has recurring nightmares about her father's death a minute after midnight, the time the accident happened

frankly, it was a very young me who wrote this, not even realizing that i could write characters who weren't white and could represent my culture instead. clearly, i've grown a lot from there, and while i have a fondness for this wip, i doubt i'll ever go back and finish it haha.

but thank you for the ask!

six crimson cranes

these violent delights

a magic steeped in poison

daughter of the moon goddess

wicked fox

spin the dawn

etc etc.

hope this helps haha <333

I want more women of color in fantasy. If you have any book suggestions, send them my way.