Though I really do love the sci-fi story I’ve been writing, I put it up on the shelf for a bit while I participated in NaNoWriMo this November. In honor of this, I decided to do another Q&A: this time about my new fantasy story, Written in Stone.
What is NaNoWriMo?
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is the month of November. It’s a challenge for writers of all levels to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I thoroughly enjoyed doing it this year, and I highly recommend it to any writers out there! More information can be found on their website, https://nanowrimo.org/
How did you write so much?
Determination. Though, it honestly varied from day to day. Sometimes the words just flowed out of my fingertips, and I had written 2,000 words in no time. Other days it was a struggle to get 1 page of story done. I learned though that you write a lot more if you’re not being a perfectionist: is this scene slow and the dialogue clunky? Just keep writing. It’s a lot easier to go back and edit then to waste 2 hours on a scene that’s just not happening right now.
What is the setting?
Written in Stone is set in a fantasy world called Arterra. It is made up of five countries, each representing one of the five “Sacred Arts.” Gleadon with Embroidery as their National Art, Lelath with Sculpting, Rirach with Mosaic, Haesful with painting, and Kiran with Illumination. Excellency in the Sacred Arts puts you in a very respected position in Arterra, and the Royal Artisans are some of the most powerful people in their respective countries. Only three of these countries are explored in Written in Stone (Lelath, Gleadon, and Rirach), but I certainly think I’ll revisit this world to explore more in future stories.
Who is the main character?
The protagonist of Written in Stone is Princess Corianne Pyerne, a composed, yet overly cautious 19 year old who was born to a goat shepherd in a small mountain town… only to later discover that she is crown Princess of Lelath.
Who is the antagonist?
The antagonist in this story is Prince Ryall of Gleadon. To Corianne, he seems to embody everything she hates about Arterra’s nobility: pretentious, conniving, and selfish. Her suspicions only increases as he… wait, that’s spoiler territory. Let’s just say their relationship only get more interesting as the story continues.
What was your inspiration?
The very first idea I had for Arterra (Lelath specifically) was a world full of giant statues. Every mountain had great ancient carvings married into the natural landscapes, much in the same vein as Argonath from The Lord of the Rings. Later when my family took a trip to Italy, I only got more inspiration from the many marble sculptures and buildings from the Ancient Roman era. If you’re more of a visual person, I also have a Pinterest board you can check out with a lot of my world-building inspiration.
A big plot point in Written in Stone is Corianne’s relationship with her sisters (particularly her older sister Talynne), and how it changes over time. A lot of these emotions and conversations were heavily inspired by my relationship with my own sisters. Other sources that inspired themes in this story include the movie Frozen and the song, The Cost of the Crown by Mercedes Lackey.
Will you ever publish it?
In it’s current state, no. It needs some heavy editing and probably rewrites. However, I am happy with the story as a whole, and maybe after a bit of story surgery, I would look into publishing it someday.
On that note, if anyone is interested in reading Written in Stone and giving me some constructive criticism, just leave a comment and I’ll find a way to get the link to you. I would really appreciate any feedback you have to offer, whether you are a writer or not!
That’s where I’ll leave it for now. Hopefully I’ll get back on a more regular posting schedule soon, haha! Merry Christmas, and until next time, Namárië!
