JYA Novel – First Drafts and Mind Maps

Today I skimmed over my first novel attempt – Junk Yard Angel. Although I’d written this close to 4 years ago, I’m pleasantly surprised by the writing in this first draft. I see a lot of places where improvements can be made and some places I’m going to delete, but there are a lot of pieces I will definitely include in the second draft. It’s a relief to know I was not a completely terrible writer, and that I’ve improved over the years. It can only get better from here right?

Mind Your Novel

Mind maps are like my thing now. They used to be when I was far younger, encouraged by English teachers to use planning, then I stopped when I found the joy of discovery writing, but now I see the value of them once again and have become an official Plantser. Mind maps allow me to contain all my ideas, plots, characters, and general thoughts into one document, divided into pages for each topic.

• Main Story: Details the overarching theme. Lists all significant plot points and any side arcs.
• Characters: Lists every character, role, character arcs,growth points and anything else related to the character.
• World: Maps out the world and the continent/countries. Detailed descriptions for each location. Points out key locations and how they tie in to characters, main story and anything else significant.
  • Also includes details regarding culture, religion, technology, weather, people, economy, fawn, flora, etc etc
• Technological Advancement: Explains where the world is technologically, and what the current world utilizes in day to day activities.
• Resources: All links, references, pictures etc used to form the novel.

First things First

I’ve been reading the Mammoth Book of Steampunk for a number of months now. Steampunk is one of those sub-genres that fascinate me. It requires a lot of research to keep it authentic, while inventions need plenty out-of-the-box thinking.

For Junk Yard Angel, the first thing I will be tackling is the in-depth research. I’m exploring current trends in technology and wondering how they would work in an alternate Earth where there’s no electricity but steam. How it would have come to fruition. What technology in real life was invented during the pre-electricity era, and what could have propelled those inventions forward had electricity failed.

The story is also set in various locations, which means each place has technology unique to them. Different people and cultures will also have varying needs. Weather and temperature will affect requirements. Weaponry. Living space. Lifestyle. Religion. All of these aspects have to be explored and meted out in order to build a believable living world.

Onward!

I’m genuinely excited. My mind is already creating images and scenery inspiring me forward. Mind maps are starting to shape up. World building is also one of my favourite parts of writing a novel before the real hard work begins.

I hope you continue with me on this journey towards writing my novel.

 

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Back To Square One: NaNo Prep

Last week I wrote a blog post listing some of my fears for NaNoWriMo. Mainly the scope of my novel, the complexity of the story, the worlds where it all takes place, and the characters who would drive the story forward. If you read the post, you will know that I went back to mind-mapping in order to plan out my story. As I write this, I have seven pages of digital mind maps, and one drawn out mind-map detailing almost every aspect of the story. I would love to share images of them with you so you can see the interweaving lines and series of interconnected notes, but doing that would reveal my story; and I’m not one for spoilers.

Story Mapping

So the story involves multiple characters. It involves various dynamics. It is a jumbled mess of genres and ideas piled together to create a story I hope will blow your mind. Figuratively of course. It has been an ongoing desire to write such a story since I read Th3e by Ted Dekker and I’m still reeling from it a month later.

The real problem with the idea in my head was the simple fact that nothing was aligning in a way that made sense. I had no idea who the characters (their persona, looks etc) were. I had no idea how the novel would start. What the middle would be or how it would end. My head was comprised of epic scenes, intense dialogue, and a floating concept. Yet at the end of it all, it had gaping plot holes.

Characters

Out of the characters who will run the story, I have two of them figured out. Something I’m glad I did now rather than during the story as one of these characters suddenly has a bigger role than I had originally planned. Which means restructuring a bit of the novel to accommodate this change; and it’s not a bad change either.

Story

A friend of mine asked me what the story was about. I then proceeded to divulge a convoluted mess that confused me as well. Which means I don’t know enough about my novel yet- also his mind wasn’t blown and that’s a big no-no. The contributing factor to this confusion was not the characters or the story per se, but rather the big WHY in the sky. So your characters do this and that, and your story is about this and that but why. Why are your characters doing that? Why is your story moving towards that goal? I had no answer.

Where to from here?

It’s obvious isn’t it. I need to give some serious motivation to the whole story, get my characters re-aligned to this ultimate goal and guide the story accordingly. Guess it’s back to the drawing board and there’s only 11 days left…