Word Count: 11,688 - about a day behind
Mood: Kinda bummed about being behind, but glad it's only a day. Also pretty excited about some things I figured out and kinda emotionally wired.
Surprises: So, my main character decided to go visit her parents and in a too long expository thought block, which will definitely be reduced or completely removed in revisions, she laid out the basic tenets of the society. Now, I knew a number of things already. I knew that it was a rather controlled society. I also knew it was another world. As in not ours. I also knew that this was not going to be a dystopian novel at all. Because it was going to be all about the secret powers and the evil scientists (not that all scientists are evil, but some of the ones in the novel are... not to hurt the feelings of any scientists that randomly stumble across this blog ... okay, writing these posts really late at night is apparently not the best idea.)
Anyhoodles... yeah, so in this expository paragraph I realized that 1) this is TOTALLY a dystopian novel and I started wondering if it's too derivative of Tahereh Mafi, Elana Johnson, and Allie Condie, but deep inside I know it's not - I just happen to have read all of their books fairly recently and it has some sorta similar elements. 2) it totally takes place on earth in the future, which actually makes things a lot simpler and more complicated at the same time. 3) It is about the secret powers and the evil scientists, but it's also about a girl who has to figure out who she is in a world where people are completely defined by their Pair. You basically aren't anything on your own. Nothing. You're a second-class citizen. So even if you're an amazing doctor or a fabulous chef, your talent is repressed. And it's all about how Evva has to find out who she is alone. Not as a girl, not as half of a Pair, but as herself and who she wants to be and what she wants to do, no matter what other people tell her. 4) It feels a little uncomfortable, because it's pretty different than anything I've ever written. But it feels really right. I'm single. I've been single my whole life and it's really hard to navigate a world where people are defined by their relationship status. No matter what people say, it's true. Is it something that's changing? Yes and no. Life in our world is designed for couples. It's natural. I don't have a problem with that. I really, truly don't. But it's hard to be on the outside of that sometimes. So I like the idea of writing a book that isn't a romance.It isn't about who the girl will end up with in the end. In fact, I already know that Evva doesn't end up with anybody, though there will certainly be some cute boys along the way. Because you have to know who you are and what you want and what you have to offer the world before you can truly be able to enjoy that in someone else. And that's a message that I feel often gets overlooked a bit in YA fiction (though I totally love a lot of those squee worthy boys). And I'm totally not dissing ANYONE who writes romance or has a romance in their novel. This is just something I have to write, whether it goes anywhere or not. 5) I totally didn't mean to get on my soapbox there, but I feel a lot better and I'm really excited about where this novel is going, no matter what happens.
Phew. so, any soul wrenching revelations come to you while you write? Do share!
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