Novel Prep Exercise #1

Theoretically I was supposed to do this at the NaNo meeting this afternoon, but I got off on the inconcrete randomness of happenings instead of staying focussed on my main Character, so for anybody who wondered: Yes, I am doing NaNoWriMo again this year, but it will be to finish the novel I started last year.

(Competition is good for me– and I like to get this 1st-draft stage over with quickly).

Main Character Exercise

  • Main character’s name: Linnea
  • One-Sentence Summary of MC’s storyline: A crippled weaver finds out after she marries her prince that a powerful djinn holds a grudge against her new family and is working to destroy them.
  • MC’s motivation (what she wants abstractly): Peace and security
  • MC’s goal (what she wants concretely): to protect her children and confirm her husband’s innocence
  • MC’s conflict (what keeps her from reaching this goal): miscommunication and the djinn’s active interference
  • MC’s epiphany (what she learns/how she changes): Action and inaction are both choices, and learning who to trust can mean the difference between life and death.
  • One-Paragraph summary of MC’s storyline:
    • Linnea marries her prince and begins “blending” a family, but her happily ever after is disrupted when her husband leaves to help rescue a kidnapped family member. While he is away a letter with his seal orders her execution. Escaping with her children she hides in the forest and meets the djinn who arraigned the kidnapping, seeking to eliminate the royal family. In a series of confrontations Linnea must decide whether to get involved, and how to destroy the djinn’s threat.

2 thoughts on “Novel Prep Exercise #1

  1. Hooray for NANO. I hope you finish your book. I considered doing it because, like you, I love competition. Sounds like a great storyline–and protecting your child is a strong line that so many people can identify with. You’ll have to keep us posted.

  2. Pingback: Character Songs

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