Novel Prep Tag Game
Thanks so much @keen2meecha for tagging me!!!! It’s always fun to do these and get my gears grinding for a project! I’ll be doing this for The Irregulars (I would do one for E & I but I already have akjdvbafjv so here we go)!
First Look
1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences
Arya thinks her life is going pretty well, between her college applications, her friends, and her insanely good ability at avoiding her ex. Although, when a family heirloom starts giving her some creepy dreams she doesn’t think are “just dreams,” she has a feeling she’s about to discover a lot more than she bargained for...
2. How long do you plan for your novel to be?
Mmmmm, between 40-60k? Tbh since this is only my second draft, I’m not really focusing on word count rn.
3. What’s your novel’s aesthetic?
Hmmmmm, think Buffy the Vampire Slayer season... 7? Arya’s one of those who’s pretty sure she’s finally gotten this whole life thing down, and now she’s being thrown for the ultimate loop. Very dark and edgy, and kinda chaotic cause the mc is very “what the hell is going on what is this I don’t understa-” 90% of the time.
4. What other stories have inspired your novel?
Tbh FMAB really inspired me as far as the villians go? Which then sort of drove just what the hell the heroes actually stand for.
5. Three images that get the feel of your novel
Main Characters
6. Who is your protagonist?
Arya Etheridge. She’s seventeen, pan-hellenic wiccan (though her patron god is Apollo), and her use of magic will be in no way sensationalized (sorry Hollywood). She’s a writer, and she’s very unlucky in love. She’s only had one attempt at a real relationship, but the guy kept lying to her and all he wanted was sex. So, she’s a bit scathed by that. She deals with a lot of self-esteem issues, and she’s very withdrawn (even though she doesn’t want to be). She changes her hair color a few times throughout the year, and whenever she gets stressed she does a tarot reading!
7. Who is their closest ally?
Hmmm, well at the beginning of the story it’s her bestie Margeux. They’ve been through a lot together, and though Margeux pisses Arya off on the daily, she honestly wouldn’t trade anyone else for her. Margeux’s very much the prep girl who gets stuck in all the school drama, and Arya’s very much the edgy girl in the back of the room too busy scribbling in a notebook to notice anyone. Opposites attract, for sure, with these two.
8. Who is their enemy?
In the real world? Herself. Definitely. But, once she gets swept up in all the madness of the novel, having to battle this ancient race of demons back to whence they came, she realizes she really doesn’t have to hate herself as much as she thinks.
9. What do they want more than anything?
To get published, to have a stable home foundation. One of these is much more likely than the other, can you guess which one?
10. Why can’t they have it?
Her birth parents are very... tumultuous with each other, at best, hence their divorce when she was four. Her dad got with her stepdad around that same time, and ever since her mother has been very... terse with her, to say the least.
11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?
That she isn’t worth the love that surrounds her.
12. Draw your character.
Oh dear, can I just promise to commission someone later to do this??? Lol. I very much am Not an artist.
13. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?
She has major abandonment issues, so tbh if she loses one of her close friends *cough*Margeux*cough*, she may honestly just go off the deep end.
Plot Points
14. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?
Sooo, turns out Arya’s part of this ancient bloodline to fight back and defeat the forces of darkness. Crazy, right? Well, she stumbles across this old ring while moving some stuff from her mom’s place, and she’s like “bruv, this is pretty and the perfect color I need to represent Apollo on the daily” so she keeps it. However, when she starts wearing it, she starts having these dream visions of epic battles. She prays about it, but the answer she gets isn’t exactly what she expects. She’s swept up in the madness when these visions reawaken the ancient foes, and she has to learn to fight them back, and fast.
15. Do you know how it ends?
Yes!
16. What is the theme?
Learning you are Worth It, and just how much you can handle. Like, learning your own inner-strength and how to utilize it.
17. What is a recurring symbol?
Dream symbolism, 100%.
18. Where is the story set?
Our world!
19. Do you have images and scenes in mind already?
Most definitely! I have the majority of the first novel plotted, and I have the opening scene already written.
20. What excited you about this story?
So, straight-up, this novel started out as a way for me to write about myself and my friends. My friends are some crazy characters, and I’ve always wanted to live one of my novels, so... this is as close as I can get. It’s really fun to navigate the creative nonfiction elements of this mixed with the urban fantasy of it all. It’s a very thin line that I’m excited to balance.
21. What is your usual writing method?
Usually I just sit down and go at it, but I’ve gotten more and more into making note docs and outlining the entire novel before I start. I remain very flexible as I write, but the outlines help me hit all the beats I want in a timely manner.
I’ll tag: @dowings, @celestialbunnistories, @songsofaleria, @milkyway-writes, and @cookiecutterwrites!