"Leonie, is everything alright?" The man asks.
"Is it over." The girl replies with a soft voice.
"What?" The woman shrieks. "What is over?"
The girl says nothing but hands them a sheet, which says:
WINNER
upon the esteemed novelist
maantje
You know, right before Nov 1 I was like: "I'll get to 25,000 if I'm lucky." All my other stories, which can be found here (my personal fiction page) are all around 1000/2000 words. The longest story I had ever written, before NaNoWriMo, was 5000 words. I never ever expected to hit 50k, that is, before I started writing.
Because when I did, I found it going faster than I had expected. I set a quota of 2000 words per day, so that I had a few days to relax when I had no inspiration. And boy, was I glad that I set my quota like that, because I really needed it! But as I was saying, it was going faster than I had expected. I was even running 3k ahead of my quota and I was thinking: "Wow, I think I even have a chance of making it." and when I hit 10k I was determined not to give up. Then I hit 25 and I felt that I was going to make it, I knew it!
But then the shit hit the fan. Depression found its way back into my head, just like it had done many times. I lost all inspiration and will to write and just wanted to lay on my bed the whole day. Which of course was NOT good for my wordcount, which stuck at 32,000. Then, I began to suffer from insomnia, which might have been my rescue. In those sleepless nights I thought of the wildest plots, dialogues, characters. Then the next day I wrote it all down and I was back on track in no time [okay, maybe not 'in no time', but pretty fast]. By the time I hit 40k I had my inspiration back and felt like nothing could stop me. I wrote 3000 words a day, making up for the days I had done nothing.
And then, the big day.
I was at 46k and normally I would not have gotten 4k words written in just one day, but I had all planned out what I wanted to happen. One last chapter and one epilogue. I wrote all day and for a moment, I was scared that I had too little. 47k, 48k, 49k. Then, the epilogue and KABOOM.
Checked the wordcount. 50,097 words. GO ME! I went to validate the thing at nanowrimo.org, and it said it was 'a-okay', then got myself a winners icon [as seen on the main page] and then printed the certificate. It's lying next to the keyboard, shouting WINNER at me everytime I look at it. Isn't it grand?
The end result of all this is an eighty-five pages novel [in Times New Roman, 11pt, single spaced. When I print it out I'll make the font bigger or double spaced]. Thirteen chapters including a Prologue and an Epilogue. Every chapter is around 8 pages, some less and some more. 50,097 words, 211,933 characters [without spaces, 260,788 with]. I'm quite satisfied, if I do say so myself :D There's probably a shitload of grammatical errors and my English teacher surely would send me back to 7th grade [I'm in 11th], but she isn't here and I don't think much people care. I tried my best, really! You know, Fantasy actually isn't my genre. I usually write angsty stories, see my ff.net account. But when I started to write this it just suddenly turned into a Fantasy story. I liked writing it but I don't think I'll do it again. The fighting scenes were hard! I watched Yami no Matsuei and Dragonball Z for references, maybe you can tell. The Bredon part is written after I watched YnM :D For music, anything by Akino Arai [j-pop singer] was good. Has a magical feeling to it. For fighting scenes I listened to Disturbed.
Now, for some explanations. I think I'll start with the names first, and I'll add a little information about the characters. You probably wonder how I made up such...weird names [probably not, but just work with me, will you?]. Well, I thank babynames.com and namely-yours.com for that. I really suck at making up names so I used those sites for my characters names. All the names are Celtic [although namely-yours claims that some of the names babynames.com gave me were Irish]. And no, the story isn't set place in...wherever Celtic people lived. It's a fictional place. I just started with Shaylee and it happened to be Celtic and I decided to just give them all Celtic names. Names are in order of appearance, I think. Don't bitch when I mix some up. Here we go:
Shaylee means 'fairy princess of the field'. Originally, I wanted to make her a fairy or something like that, but then I thought of the plot I used now and decided to make her a normal human [although...normal?]. The name stuck, though, just because I like it. Shaylee starts out as a normal girl with a crush on Nolen, but every girl in the village she lives in likes Nolen XD No chance, sorry Shaylee. When she leaves with Raghnall, at first she is a very scared [who wouldn't be?] and amazed by all the magic tricks around her. The people in her village don't know magic, except for the druid but even he couldn't do energy blasts and that kinda stuff. He just worked with nature. In my opinion, Shaylee isn't really a Mary Sue, but that could be just me. Shaylee...I don't have much with her, even though she is the main character.
Nolen means 'well-known/high born'. His dad's the mayor and that's what I meant with 'high born'. Also, now that I look at the meaning of his name, I guess the 'well-known' part would also go for him. Every girl in the village knows him, because he's the important figure around, going on business trips to other villages. He's also handsome so a lot of girls [and older ladies] wouldn't mind sharing a bed with him, if you catch my drift.
That reminds me...Shaylee's dad is the kind of man that trades stuff with other villages and cultures. He makes his own stuff, like baskets and pendants and that kinda crap and then goes around, selling it and trading it for other stuff. The pendant Shaylee wears around her neck throughout the whole story is given to her by her dad. He got it from some tribe that lives in a valley somewhere. Moving on...
Ashley means 'from the ash tree' and is bullshit. I just like that name and was too lazy to bother looking on babynames.com and search for a name. I think it's actually English, not Celtic.
Raghnall means 'strong' according to namely-yours and 'wise and powerful' according to babynames. Hmm. Both would be right, I guess. Raghnall does know a lot, because he is such an old guy :D I think he's also quite strong, he at least proved that by fighting Daman. I think he is the character that evolves the most in the story. He starts out as Witty!Raghnall, then gets more and more attached to Shaylee and starts to turn into Sappy!Raghnall. I really really don't like Sappy!Raghnall. I still don't know if he is in love with Shaylee, because he won't tell me. He has a very closed personality, lol. Between me and you, I hope he isn't. That would just be boring and would make Shaylee into an annoying Mary Sue, in my opinion. But anyway, then when he meets up with Daman, his evil tormenter from the past, he turns into Angsty!Raghnall, or Grumpy!Raghnall. You know, last night when I couldn't sleep I realized that I never revealed what really happened between Daman and Raghnall. But I think the reader can figure that out for him/herself XD Maybe, just maybe, I'll write a side-story about Raghnall's past someday. Although I think that would be NC-17 rated, then :D And no, he is NOT my favorite character. At first he was, but then...nah.
Lacuna's forest means nothing. I was just typing a name for the forest and MS Word said it didn't know the word and suggested Lacuna. I liked it so I used that.
Emacho's forest comes from my keyboard, which is made by emachines.
Teagan means 'attractive' *lol* He was supposed to be the playboy, damnit! But then he went all mushy and blergh. My characters never do what I tell them to do ;_; I don't have much with him, he was just...there. Then I killed him off, kinda mean but oh well. Poor Edana, though ;_;
Derry means 'red head' which suits her well, because, well, she is one :D
Edana means 'tiny flame'. I mentioned this to a friend and he said: "So she's small, then?" and I thought 'Hmm, that'd be right'. So yeah, she's a small dragon. Not very old yet. AND NO SHE DID NOT GET KILLED BY A GROUP OF KNIGHTS. She got killed by Cahal ;_; He needed a way to let him join them so he killed him and they didn't have a way to go around anymore. Hence the ship and so they could go to Morvyn with him.
Rafer means 'wealthy', which I think is a good name for a king. He hasn't got anything to do with the plot.
Aislin means 'dream', and I have to thank babynames.com for my plot. I was just browsing the site for a good name for a Goddess, when I saw 'Aislin'. Dream. Then the plot became clear to me and I figured she was the Goddess of the Dream, keeping the world balanced. Kinda like what the pillar of Cephiro does in Magic Knight Rayearth [no, I did not take the plot from that. I noticed the similarities AFTER I had written everything]. Aislin is actually a happy, kind person but I don't think anyone would be happy when they are kidnapped by some ugly dude. I like her, especially in the later chapters.
Keir means, according to babynames, 'black'. And that is what I originally went for. Then I searched for Keir on namely-yours and it said it meant 'black skinned'. That is WRONG, ALL WRONG. Keir is pale, kinda like a vampire. He scares me but I think he is cool as well, in some weird twisted way.
Kael means mighty warrior, which is exactly what he is. No one knows exactly how he died, but there are rumors that say that he was killed by Keir, or at least Keir ordered someone to kill Kael. He roxx my soxx, which means that I like him. He's a tough dude for those who don't know him but softens up when he's with Aislin. Aww, how cute *molests*
Kayne means 'intelligent', because well, he is! He's the smart guy of the group, although Raghnall has good brains too *g* Aww, he's cute. I think it would really suck to be stuck in a 14 year old body forever...you're not a kid anymore, but not yet an adult *huggles Kayne* I rather like Kayne, he's the calm guy of the group but sometimes he gets upset as well, when he gets called short. I can see his frustration when he is called 'little', I wouldn't like it either if I was really 200 years old! :o
Shea is a faerie place, actually a hill but I have too many mountains/hills in the story already and besides, I didn't know it was a hill until later. I made it a swamp because I felt like the story needed one. Kind of. And yes, Aina is right, if you eat in a faerie place you can't leave. Hence they drink outside of Shea.
Aina means 'joy'. Waaiiii how cute, I like Aina. I know most faeries aren't that friendly and flittery and cute but she is, so don't bitch. Aislin made Shea, don't ask me how, probably by dreaming the whole thing [man, I wish building houses was that easy]. I think the name 'Aina' suits the Faerie well, because she is so hyper and well, full of joyyy! Everybody be happy! *dances*
Bredon means 'sword' and those of you that still don't know why I called him that way need to get their IQ checked. BREDOOOON! I like him. He ish cool :3 I want to pet his hair *pets it* I wish I could write more about him but I can't see where in the story what would go. Maybe I should write about Kael and his loyal sex slave, I mean sword, Bredon. Yes, good idea.
Cahal means 'strong in battle'. AAAH I did not want to make him a traitor. I wanted him to be the playboy when Teagan turned into such a wussy, but then I needed a verbose person and I thought: '>>; Cahal?' and THEN he appeared to be a traitor. Not a bad traitor though, he really got beaten up by those bullies and Daman said he owed him now, and then forced him to be his sex slave and- oh wait, scrap that. That's just my perverted imagination >>;; He forced him to come work for him. Cahal fears water because he knows he'll die when he touches it. *huggles Cahal* I know you're not really evil!
Morvyn means 'lives by the sea' and is actually a name, not a city, lol. Oh well, it worked either way. Poor inhabitants of Morvyn ;____;
Keene means 'wise' or 'learned' according to babynames, and namely-yours says it either means 'tall and handsome' [LOL!] or 'ancient'. Riiight. I went for the 'wise' part though, but now that I see 'ancient' I guess that could do the trick as well. He's calm and smart, kind of like Kayne, but Kayne really looks up to him. He's his mentor, and all.
M'Kahless means nothing, I think. I borrowed him from my friend Richard [WHEEE THANKS A LOT] so I'll have to ask him. Oh, he says it's a combination of his last name and a Klingon name, Kahless. From Star Trek. Well, okay, I'll just have to believe that one, since I don't watch Star Trek. I LIKE HIM! M'Kahless, I mean. He's cute and sad and aww *huggles him* Nobody likes him. His mom was Elven and his dad was human and usually, Elves think of the human race as a lesser race, and the humans were like: '>>;; go play with your Elven friends, would you?' By the way, if you must know, I got the word 'abomination' from Richard :D HE ROCKS! HE KNOWS BIG WORDS!
Daman means 'demon' and I don't think I have to explain why. Daman is cool even though is he evil and did naughty things to Raghnall. I especially like his wings, bat-like wings [BATMAAN TUNUNUNUNUH BATMAAAN! *ahem*] and his eyes. Beautiful moon eyes. I want his eyes *claws at them* Daman is the kind of guy you don't wanna encounter in dark alleys, cause he'll beat the shit out of you if he doesn't like you. I have NO idea what happened exactly between Raghnall and him, but it wasn't pretty [or maybe it was, depending how you see it]. Too bad he died *cries*
Carey means 'the dark one'. Ooooh, spooky. She was Keir's daughter that he had with a mortal woman and was stronger and lived longer than the average human. She lived in a castle, kind of like Keir's but not as impressive. Anyone who passed by in a 50 miles radius was invited to have 'dinner' with Carey. I think you can guess what the main dish was. Kael killed her when a few of king Rafer's knights became her victim's, which angered Keir so that after Kael died, he kidnapped Aislin.
Llewelyn means 'ruler' and I REALLY HATE THAT NAME. It is really hard to spell when you just wanna type fast. Llelewun. Llewylun. Llelewyn. AARGH! He's kind of like Zeus in the old Greek myths. I like old Greek myths, maybe you can tell. By the way, the reason why I didn't describe what he exactly looked like, i.e. what he was wearing, is because I have no idea what those kind of Gods wear. Really. First I was thinking something like a toga, what the Romans and Greek wear, but no. That'd be weird. Couldn't think of clothing for him to wear so I left it in the middle. Oh well. I still hate that name.
Kevan means 'gentle' and HE IS NOT A PEDOPHILE. I think I made him sound that way, talking with Aigneis. He's not. He's just being a cutie. I like hiiiim...so kind *pets him* And...can you guess? Yes, he is Raghnall's reincarnation! :O Doesn't remember a thing but when he sees that lady walking in the forest, he's like @_@ I've seen her before...By the way, what was he doing at the cliff? Wanting to jump? Trying to make himself blind by staring into the sun? MASTURBATING???!!
Aigneis is a form of Agnes and it means 'pure'. Aww. The name is hard to type when you wanna go fast, damnit. Oh well, I think it suits her, she's so cute and fuzzy. Okay, maybe not fuzzy but you get the point. By the way, who could that wizard be that fought a God :O Why, none other than our dear little Kayne! But I suppose he is not little anymore now that he has grown up to a studly man figure. GO KAYNE! Then, who is the mother? Who is that bitch that was so stupid to loose sight of a 5 year old girl? Hmmmmm? Shaylee, of course! I think the violet eyes were a BIG HINT. But, yeah. Kayne and Shaylee. Why, you ask? I thought they would be cute together, cause Shaylee like Kayne 'just the way he is' [I know she said that somewhere. I think. Can't be bothered looking it up]. And now that he has grown up, she surely likes him the way he is! [who wouldn't? I like the red eyes~] But anyway, I like Aigneis. Just not the name.
And I think that was it. I think we have all names by now, forgive me if I've forgotten one. You know, it's really weird saying 'I'm, I've and it's' again. Throughout the fic I've tried not to use those, just because 'I'm' is 1 word and 'I am' is two. Adds up to the wordcount, yo. Oh man, rambling like this was fun. I hope people actually read this, but if they don't, too bad. I needed to get all of this off my chest and go on with my life, maybe write a few side stories, maybe not. If someone still has any questions, just email me, adress is on the main site. Too lazy to make a link now.
I'M DONE NOW!
