The Shared WIP Tag // week one: general questions

November 02, 2018

Hey guys! It is that time of the year again where Julian throws this amazing blog link-up, and I am super excited to be participating again this year.

Now, technically I will not be doing nano this month due to school, stress, and life in general. But I am hoping to write more than I have been, and this tag is so helpful!

So, if you're interested in learning more about my book, come to my blog every Friday this month.

Introduce the story: blurb, maybe a cover or anything else!

A three POV story.

When Piper and Alex Anson's mom is a survivor of a hit-and-run and is left unconscious and possibly paralyzed in a hospital, the two siblings are stunned.

Both Piper and Alex try to cope with the uncertainty of their life, but when Piper realizes the debt their lower-middle-class family will be in when it comes to hospital bills, she decides to take matters into her own hands: by running off to New York to try and sell her art.

Along the way, Piper runs into Josh, a disgruntled homeless young man with a mysterious past. Josh agrees to help her reach her destination in New York, but he has his own skeletons trying to escape the closet.

Meanwhile, Alex is stuck at home feeling helpless and lost. Dealing with his mom unconscious in the hospital and Piper's disappearance, he wants to fade away, but it seems like life won't let him.

Where did you get the idea for your story? What came to you first: your theme, character, premise, setting, etc?

It's strange because I don't really know? I remember I was thinking a lot about art and how I wanted to write a story about passion and dreams, and then one day it just came to me.

The first two things I remember coming to me were my characters and then the themes I wanted to have.

What have you done to get experience for your story? What did you put into the book because it’s something you know about?

I've researched mental illnesses, how people deal with grief, the stages of denial, and a bunch of Psychology things like that.

Two of my main characters have hobbies I've sort of dabbled in, Piper paints and I took art for four years, and Alex sings and tries to write music, something I've also experienced.

What made you decide to write this particular book for NaNoWriMo?

It's been something I've been working on for almost over a year, and it's a story I really want to write.

Do you research before, after, or during your first draft writing process? Have you done any research for this particular book? How do you usually research?

All three! I try to research things I need to know beforehand, but stuff usually pops up.

Yes, I've done a ton of research and I've learned a lot of random facts!

GOOGLE IT!!! (sometimes I find books as well or watch documentaries on certain subjects, but mostly google).

Do you plot or plan your book in any way before you start writing? What methods do you usually use and what did you do this time?

I plan and plot in my head, but I am very bad at writing it out or outlining, it just stresses me so much and I never stick to the original plan.

Do you hand write or type your first draft?

I type it. I can type things WAY faster than I can write them.

Do you have a brainstorming buddy and if you do, who was it this time and how did they help?

Not really? Sometimes I talk to my mom or my sisters about my story, but usually, I'm a lone ranger.

How did you come up with your characters’ names?

Piper just felt like such a happy, sunny name, and it really fit Piper's personality.

Alex just felt like such a sweet, soft name.

And as for Josh, I knew a guy named Josh when I was twelve. He was really rough around the edges and had been through a lot, so when I was thinking about my character he reminded me of Josh, and the name just fit.