Just in time for the end of mermay here is a group shot of everyone on the Divine Madness crew.
In order from left to right is Galya, Alec, Nerissa, Claude, Quince, Cynthia and Keala.
I hope to color this at some point but I also really wanted to post it before the end of May. It was a lot of fun to draw!
In a race towards the finish line I have abandoned my characters. I drive them on, blind to their own personality as they check off each plot point, lost to the succession of events.
When did they become hollow? Floating along down whatever current I place them in?
Let’s go back to the beginning. Let’s fill them with ideas, opinions and strengths. Let’s give them a mind of their own and take the blinders off. Let’s give them agency and autonomy.
Let’s let them drive the story forward. Let’s go back to the beginning, and see where they take us.
This idea of character vs plot driven stories is something that I have been struggling with for a while. I have a draft of Merrow that is 80% complete and after taking a break I have come to realize that I only have a very vague idea of who my characters are. I know the plot super well, but my poor characters are simply vessels that serve to drive the story forward and make the decisions I want them to make.
This realization has made me come to the decision that I need to go back to the beginning and flesh out my characters. I need to know them like a friend and understand their thought process like they were a part of me.
I think a part of this is caused by the number of edits I have made to this story. There are two different ways to write a story. You can begin by knowing the plot, and then filling in the characters to fit that plot. Or, you can begin by knowing the characters and then let them drive the plot where they would go.
The issue that I have is that I began by knowing the plot and then added the characters. After numerous edits to the plot I kept the characters the same and the more I wrote the more I realized that the characters I had and the plot I was writing didn’t match up. I was in essence trying to fit a square block into a circular hole.
If a story is to make sense then the decisions that the characters make also have to make sense. There must be some sense that the character is capable of making that decision. Part of this is their personality that has been previously established. The other part is what has previously occurred that could drive that character towards either making an in character or an “out of character” decision.
This is something that I am still working on, but now that I am taking a break from writing Merrow to ensure that I have a good understanding of all my characters be on the lookout for more content about each one of them.
As Nerissa is the protagonist I will be starting with her, then moving on to the main side characters, Quince and Alec and so on and so forth.
Creating characters is an involved process that is well worth the time and investment to see someone come alive on the page.
My life has value, and I can prove it.
My family is my life, and I will do anything to be reunited with them.
I define who I am, my past doesn’t dictate my present.
I have loved infinitely and fully, and I would be a fool to sit by passively.
I must live with my decisions, so I shall embrace them.
I work hard because I owe it to myself and to my family.
I am trapped, but that doesn’t mean my personality can’t shine through.
I am the beginning and the end.
So I did it. It was a long month but I actually managed to complete the Nanowrimo challenge. These 50,000 or so odd words I wrote only took me about half way through my story so I’m going to have to keep up the writing so that I can finally finish the rough draft of this story. Hopefully by next year I can move onto the next story I want to write.
This was a big accomplishment for me. It has been a very busy couple of months and I can definitely say that it has reflected on my presence on social media. I have a short story written and in the editing process so hopefully I will post that here and on Wattpad soon.
I hope your holiday season is off to a good start and I can’t wait to get back onto a more normal schedule! See you soon.
I think that it’s only fitting that I wrote the first draft of this post in a unicorn notebook. Here’s to you Quince!
Hello all and welcome to another post! Merrow is a long standing project of mine that I still have yet to complete but still have yet to give up on. Originally a “chosen one” narrative it has transformed into a story of a rag tag bunch that just wants to go home to their families.
Nerissa, the simultaneous joy and bane of my existence, was the first character I created for this story and the protagonist. She is as vain as she is insecure and hides her past as well as she hides herself. The newest member of the Divine Madness, she joined after Rutherford stole her sealskin hood and dumped her back in the ocean to die.
Quince, the captain of the Divine Madness, was the second character I created who survived the transition from the chosen one narrative. He used to be a human, and still is in this version though he wasn’t always. Forced to drink from the Pool of the Mortality as a unicorn, Quince was transformed into a human. He is now searching for a way to become a unicorn once more so he may rejoin his family.
Alec, a kinda useless sailor as he doesn’t have any true marketable skills, does all of the odd jobs around the Divine Madness. Between cleaning, cooking and fetching items, he has quite a bit of free time. The only reason he’s there in the first place is because Quince decided to add him to the crew after discovering that Alec is a human lost in Elocia with no way back home.
Rutherford is the anti-hero of this story. He is shrouded in mystery. It is rumored that he is a species trafficker, kidnapping anyone who he believes might fetch a good price in the mortal realm. A terror on the seas and land, nobody dares to cross him.
Galya, first mate on the Divine Madness, is a newer character that has only made an appearance in the most recent draft. Just as good at managing people dead as she was alive, she now runs the crew and takes on some of Quince’s captain duties so he can focus on other things.
Claude, the second mate on the Divine Madness, is a selkie who joined the crew after his husband Arthur was taken by Rutherford. He serves as the ships navigator, as he knows the sea like the back of his hand. He won’t rest until both he and Arthur are safe at home.
Keala, the engineer of the Divine Madness, has quite a few years of work and experience under her belt. However, with the invention of automatic repair machines her extensive knowledge and experience has become rather useless. That is until she became a member of the Diving Madness. A loving mother of five she will do anything to ensure her children will have the life they deserve.
Cynthia, the last and final member of the crew, is a rescue from Rutherford. She doesn’t really have a job on the ship besides helping to light a fire or two. As a fire sprite on a wooden ship, she can’t really do much. Promised a safe journey home she spends most of her free time dreaming of home.
As excited as I am about this story it is still very much a work in progress, and I still have a long way to go before I am ready to share even a draft of what I have written. That being said I also want to acknowledge that none of these characters are set in stone and there is a good chance that they will change as I continue writing and editing. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to see you again when I upload more about Merrow.
Hello! I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve updated my Wattpad stories. Originally I had planned to make each short story its own story but I quickly realized that this wasn’t the best idea as it would be too easy for people to read one and then not realize that there are others. So I now have three different short story collections each with their own new cover.
Soon I’ll discuss Merrow and the map that is on this cover. However, for now I’ll simply discuss this short story collection.
Elocia is a continent located in the Northern Atlantic ocean. It has been there since the dawn of mankind but it is only accessible, tangible and visible to a certain few. These certain few are mythical and legendary creatures who have found refuge away from the overpopulated world of humanity.
These stories will serve as an interesting way for myself to world build and establish some of the legends that make up the world. Some of the stories will take place in the past and others will be based in modern day.
Stories that I am currently working on that fall under this collection are The Adoption, Phoenix Dancer, and The Shawl of a Mother. All of these are working titles and will most likely change before I post them.
This story collection is a little more free for exploration as it doesn’t take place in the same world as Elocia. This will be a much broader exploration of the fantasy and possible science fiction genres.
I already have one story posted under this collection which is Villainous Friend. Some other stories I have been working on in this genre is The Awakening, Pulled, and Storage. Once again, all of these are working titles, but I hope to really take a different angle on each of these stories and hopefully delve into a different sub-genre of fantasy each time.
I won’t lie, Fantasy is my main genre. I enjoy delving into worlds and events that can’t possibly exist in this one. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy writing a contemporary fiction piece every now and again. This one will probably be the one I will update the least as I have the fewest ideas for this collection. But it does deserve its own group as I do have stories that don’t fit into either of the previous categories.
When I do write contemporary fiction I prefer to focus on little events and happenings that occur in day to day life. Little events that get looked over or are forgotten as we get older.
I already have one story in this category: Knotted Strings. The only other story I’m working on for this collection currently is Barbershop.
Sooo… yeah. Hopefully I’ll get some more stories up in the near future. I’ve been working a lot on Merrow recently which is good but that means I’ve been neglecting the short stories I’m supposed to be posting here. Look forward to more in the near future!
There’s a lot of work that goes into writing a novel. There’s the creation of characters, the rough draft, and the editing, editing, editing. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. All this happens before it even begins to take a rough shape of what you want it to be. There are some people who can take an idea and jump right into the rough draft. As long as they have that one idea, they can take it and run with it for the entire length of the novel.
I am not one of those people.
For me one of the most important stages of the novel, or even short story process, is the planning stage when you define who your characters are and will become. The outline, oh my goodness the outline takes forever. It breaks down every individual scene I want to have happen. This is a step I cannot skip and cannot overlook if I want to be remotely happy with what I am writing. This is also an important stage for me so that I can stay on track. Without my planning stage my stories tend to ramble and to focus on things that aren’t as important or interesting.
This brings me to my blog. My meticulous planning doesn’t stop at my writing. I have, for a long time, been the owner of a planner that broke down my day into tasks that I needed to complete. I have recently moved onto a bullet journal, or bujo as they are also commonly called and I am in love with it. It’s the perfect balance of creativity and organization for me. So what does this have to do with my blog?
I made the grave mistake of entering into this blog the exact opposite way I typically begin writing my stories: without a solid plan. I had a vague idea. I had read the recommendations for how to have a good blog that you can find a dime a dozen on the internet. I know it’s important to post on a regular schedule and to ensure quality over quantity, among many other things.
This is why I haven’t posted in a while. I decided I should take the time to plan a schedule for this blog that will work for me and my schedule. I broke down my upload schedule into two categories: upload dates and steps to take to that upload. This will help me to stay on track and ensure that I am not leaving everything until the last minute.
Just like writing, I’ll make edits to my upload schedule as I find things that work and don’t work. I hold the belief that nothing should be set in stone. Having a plan can help with staying on track, but the ability to be flexible with this plan is key. The plan is there as a guide, not as law, and should be altered as needed. Whether you need a plan like me or love immersing yourself in your writing with the barest hint of an idea, enjoy the writing process and the steps it takes you to get to the end product. Happy writing!
Villainous Friend follows Olive, who is best friends with Clement. Her friendship is tested when Clement becomes one of the city’s most notorious villains.
Finally finished the cover for this story. I’m in the final stages of editing it so hopefully it should be posted later this week. This cover took me quite a bit longer than anticipated, most likely because I couldn’t come up with an idea that I liked. I still greatly enjoy drawing the covers for these stories, even if they are super short. It’s a fun way for me to combine my love of writing and drawing.
Well, I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally gone and started this blog and what is the first thing I do? Forget about it for a couple of months. Forget isn’t the right word, more like left to the wayside. I thought about it constantly, things I would say and posts I could make, but obviously I never actually posted anything. So here’s to the beginning! Where I’m actually going to get myself on a schedule and hopefully have a weekly update and/or blog post.
As we are all new to this blog and the blank slate that it is, I’m not sure if I can fully tell you where everything will land. I have ideas of posting short stories while I work on my full length novel and drawing covers and characters from these stories. But that may evolve the more I work with this website.
Bear with me as this blog grows, as I am just as curious as you to see where it goes. Look forward to updates in the near future and I look forward to meeting and hearing from all of you.
Which Hannah Smith 