Winding Down the Story

One more day left in July and then it's August!

Which means that Camp Nano will end in one more day. 

It has been quite a month. For those unfamiliar with Camp Nano, basically it is the "off-season" of National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) and it is a time for writers to work on projects of their choosing. Participants can also set their own goal for the month, choosing between words, minutes, hours, or even sentences!

I've been working on a new project. A story of fae and faeries, magic and wonder. I've had the idea on my mind for several months, (since last fall, I think). I had come across several stories with faeries. Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series, Holly Black - The Cruel Prince, mentions of the fae in Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices, along with stories and other small mentions in literature. Besides that I have always been fascinated with and enamored by faeries.

Side tangent - Have you ever built a faerie home?

Back when I was below the age of ten, I went to Girl Scout camp and they had a faerie forest with a place to add homes for the faeries. The homes were built from twigs, leaves and everything was natural. You had to construct something welcoming and sturdy. 

The Little Folk are shy creatures but they pervade every natural place. While in England, I told my friend Griffin (as we walked to Stonehenge) that the fun of imagination lay in the possibilities of everything. Including little faeries hiding in the trees and hollows, watching and waiting, and if you polluted their homes - you'd find mud and bugs in your bed!

So you see, my world has been primed with faeries and the idea of them, but for this story, I wanted to focus solely on the Fae. Most stories are stories with faeries and I wanted this story to be about a fairy. 

Also, have you noticed that there are variations on spelling and terminology?

We have faeries, fae, fairies, fairy, the little folk, the little people, fey, fays, faery, the fair folk, etc...

Setting aside all those different ways. My story is about Kira Ragwort. As a teaser, here is the beginning of the first chapter:

What do you think?

Beginnings are tricky.

They are the hooks that draw a reader into the story-world and if they don't add mystery and questions, people may set them down. So for this entire month, I've written and worked on this story. Since I'd put thought into it before hand, I had a general idea of where I wanted to go. I actually had titles and vague plans for the first fourteen chapters. 

Of course, stories rarely go to plan and once I really dove into the world, I discovered more characters and events then I'd originally thought of. 

Before the month of nano even started, I reworked the beginning and order of events. I'd sent a very rough draft to my friend and she'd given me some feedback on how to really get the action moving. It's a habit of mine to go into the mundane before the exciting which can be off-putting and disinteresting to a reader. I tend to over describe the littlest things and gloss over the big which really should be the other way around. Which is why I'm so grateful for my writing friends, I have so much support in the writing community and my buddies help me figure out where improvements need to be made.

If you want to see some quotes from the work, check out my instagram. I go by author.meganwong - not super creative, but it makes me easy to find. I'll be editing and revising the story in the coming months and I'll update on Kira's journey as I go. Perhaps something new shall hit me and create a new twist. All will be revealed in time.

What are your favorite "fairy tales" or encounters with the fae?

I'm a bit behind on my goal, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be furiously typing away now