The WIP Special is Back! || MORE ABOUT THREE SISTERS

JULIAN'S 4-PART SPECIAL IS BACK.

...But this time, with new, bonus content! Now, for the same low price, you can order four, get one free! 

*coughs*

Basically, this time, we've fit five weeks into the month. So it's actually the-



(Thanks to Lila for making the awesome graphic! <3)

The March 5-Part Special

Part 1: Introducing the WIPs

–{{Give a 1-3 paragraph blurb of your WIP

[INSERT SUPER-COOL BLURB/HOOK HERE HAHA]

[whoops I meant to take that out ahaha]

Billie's the oldest of three. That makes her the one responsible for Elsie and Josie. She works hard to keep their life together - their new life, their life in a little cottage in the forest, the life they've built for themselves. But Josie is caught poaching: not by kingsmen, which would mean death, but by a legendary Beast of the forest, which... also means death. Billie's the oldest. Billie's the one who keeps her sisters safe. What option does she have? She invokes the old traditions to pay for her sister's debt herself.

The Beast must accept her offer, but he knows the traditions more deeply: whatever is offered in free payment of another's debt cannot be harmed. Billie wakes up a manor deep in the forest; her sisters think she's dead, but although he's not happy about it, the Beast refuses to harm her - even after she has several aggressive outbursts involving his tea and his scones and his ferns. She was willing to die for Josie. But she's not sure if she can handle watching her sisters think she's dead while she lives in unwilling comfort. And then her sisters start making bad choices - and she can't do a thing about it.

Josie's on a mission now; she wants vengeance on the monster that killed her sister, and has teamed up with bandits to get it. Elsie is distraught and leaves the forest, meeting a ghost from the past and unintentionally making the sisters' presence in the forest known. As everyone works at cross-purposes, old and new enemies and acquaintances are gathering in the forest. Eventually, for the three sisters, their hiding will be over.

(I made that up on the spot, if you can't tell...)


[BONUS FEATURE: Draft blurb!]

Everyone is working on an incorrect information and is confused and meets all the people they don't want to. Snark is considered a valid fighting style.

[That works too.]

–{{Describe your WIP in ten short phrases.

sisters  || tea and scones || ghosts from the past || bickering || deep down, they care
protecting family || regret || she doesn't trust anyone but herself || can't hide forever || aching

(This was harder than I expected, but I'd love to polish this up as a kind of inspiration for myself as I write.)

(Also I'm not sure how many of those were actual phrases. Forgive me.)

–{{How did you come up with the idea of your story?

I think the first thing was a strong feeling of protectiveness towards my own family. The idea that Beauty/Belle's father would allow her to go to the Beast - to an unknown future - so the Beast wouldn't kill him? That didn't make sense to me. If someone (let alone a literal talking beast) said they'd kill me unless I brought them [in my case] my sister, I hope I'd be strong enough to tell them exactly what I thought of that plan?!

So I suddenly had a family of three sisters - like in the standard Beauty and the Beast story - but I'd taken out the father figure and put the oldest sister, Billie, in his position of responsibility. Then I had her respond to the situation in a way that made sense to me, relying heavily on the idea of her protecting her sisters no. matter. what.

[To my own two sisters: for the hundredth time, no, they are not "you". Billie is not "me". I have taken elements of emotions and used them to create characters.]

–{{Why did you choose to write this WIP? What gave it priority over all the other plot bunnies?

I have a deep connection to Billie's protectiveness, and I think it might be my emotional attachment to the characters and their situation that makes this story seem so much more complex or deep than previous attempts at WIPs.

And I twisted in a few more fairy tales for sub-plots, which helped me put more depth in. (I have trouble making my stories fleshed-out enough to hold up for a whole draft, okay?)

[also why did I suggest this question. *headdesk*]

–{{How did you go about preparing to write it?

I filled out a few character questionnaires for the three sisters. Not the "hair/eye colour, favourite food/colour/animal" type of questionnaire - although maybe I should have, because I still don't know those things [I don't know my MC's eye colour...]. Instead it was more like a list of questions I'd ask the character, and have them reply in first person as though I was interviewing them. The more they'd ramble, the more pleased I was.

(I'm actually currently doing the Character Development Questions: Hard Mode, which I found on Pinterest.)

I found that, through interviewing just my main characters, I discovered a lot more about the plot, the characters' motivations, even the villains. I discovered what my characters stand for, what they'll talk about, what they won't talk about (which is, obviously, where I will be headed...).

After getting to know my characters, I sat down with a piece of paper and started writing. At the start. It has meant I'm going to have to revise the first 20+ pages to fit with the plot I gradually developed/modified, but at least I was writing. I wouldn't have gotten that plot development or improved my character voice without just writing it.

–{{Did you have to do any research for this story? What was the most interesting/funny story connected with your research?

I always love reading writers' stories about research and the whole "I SWEAR I'M A WRITER. NOT A MURDERER" thing. Buuut I don't really have anything?? My research would probably be for the worldbuilding [my weak point], including ideas for fantasy politics, but I haven't done any yet, unless Pinterest counts don't have any stories to tell about the research process. Sadly.

–{{Was this story easy or hard to write? Why?

Well, I haven't finished it yet, so this answer might change, e.g. as I get to the point where I'm supposed to tie all the loose ends into a neat bow, but I'm finding Three Sisters a fairly enjoyable story to write. Sometimes I have to push past writing description (ugh I'm terrible at that) and action scenes (my writing speed really decreases on those), but I like the emotion I hope I'm getting onto the page, so I'd have to say it's more easy than hard to write. I'm invested.

–{{Where was your favorite place to write this story?

...at my desk in my room.

Can't write anywhere else.

–{{What makes your story unique?

I've combined several fairy tales, twisting their elements together in what I hope are clever new ways, and - more importantly - given the characters better motivations and deeper personalities than regular fairy tales.

Also, SISTER RELATIONSHIPS. 

My setting/atmosphere is also almost more like a 18th-century (?) feel (maybe, but I honestly am terrible with "eras" and finding the name for a certain style) than a "brown"-feeling fantasy, which I hope is refreshing. (The capital is all white marble and pillars and high ceilings, not that the story ever goes there [as far as I know...]; the Beast's house has a greenhouse full of ferns with a high ceiling, and white tablecloths and scones with honey and delicate china teacups.)

–{{What do you love most about your story?

I love the characters and their relationships.

And making things awkward.

.... That's the end of Part 1! ....

But, of course, this is a collaborative blogging event. Here are all the other wonderful young bloggers who are also participating:

Time zones make it a bit tricky, but we should all be posting our answers to these questions sometime today. Go and check out these peoples' blogs! They're sure to have some excellent answers, and I know I'm looking forward to reading more about their WIPs. *shoos you away in their direction*

(no, wait, come back, you need to comment first...)

.....

What's your current WIP and why did you pick that story to work on? Do you interview your characters? (and do you know what colour their eyes are??) Tell me your funny research stories! 

As a side note, something I really only discovered through writing this post is that I'm most definitely a character-centred writer. I start with characters, and it's their struggles that drive the story. What about you? Are you a character-centred writer? Or do you create a plot and then insert the characters? (I have also read there are writers who start with a theme instead of a plot or characters. Any theme-driven writers, please check in and tell us how you do it.)