Beautiful Books: “Aesthetic”, This Year’s NaNoWriMo Novel

Note: A little bit in this post, but mostly in future posts, we’ll be playing with the post formats a little.  So don’t be alarmed if anything seems bizarre or different or if there’s a little bit of “Morgan, are you sure you slept last night? Because I’m not sure you did”.  We’re just experimenting, trying to find something more interesting and fun, so anything you see isn’t a guarantee, and we’ll happily listen to any feedback you may have.

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“Kivessa here, hi.  Beautiful People this month has a focus on, instead of a character, a book, which makes it quite nice to use for NaNoWriMo.  So today, you get to see a brand-new character you’ve never met—the protagonist of this year’s NaNoWriMo novel.

“Without further ado, here’s Percy Arrington.”

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Hi, I’m Percival—Per—er, Percy, the, um, p—protagonist in this year’s Nn…NaNoWriMo novel.

I guess you knew that.  This is a little odd.

Kivessa interrupts Percy’s awkward stuttering. “Don’t worry, Percy.  The author-lingo gets easier the more you use it.”

I see.

What inspired the idea for this novel, and how long have you (er, your author) had the idea?

Well, I don’t know a d—date, but it has been a while since Morgan had the idea for my novel.  I do know that she put the story together using several images and writing prompts she found on P—Pinterest.  She found a d—dozen or so, and found a connection between them all that resulted in my story.

This image is what actually inspired my character:

Describe what your novel is about!

Um…

In a world of black and white, he grew up in color.  Almost since birth, Percy Arrington has had the unique ability to draw in colors no one has seen before, especially for a world where color is only seen when linked with emotion.  He’s become a celebrity, the single most famous artist alive, and still at the young age of nineteen.

When Percy decides he’s tired of living under his parents’ watchful, even tyrannical thumbs, he attempts to strike it out on his own.  His parents are unwilling to let go of him, and the media follows him.  He ends up near-penniless with only one skill he can call his own—painting.  No life survival skills to speak of.

As if this isn’t bad enough, Percy starts to find odd drawings—childlike doodles that are eerily similar to a few of his own childhood drawings.  He dismisses them, but the drawings appear again and again—until he starts to get the sensation that they’re followinghim.  But how could drawings be following him?

“That’s the summary?” Dazant asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Nobody ever accused Morgan of being good at writing book blurbs, that’s for sure,” Kivessa says.  “She doesn’t even mention any real conflict!”

Percy seems to be blushing.

W—well, there’s not so much a—any plot yet.

“Typical of Morgan,” Dazant mutters.

What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!

The closest the story has to an aesthetic at the moment is its Pinterest board, which…is lacking.

https://www.pinterest.com/duskydragons/aesthetic/

Introduce us to each of your characters!

There’s…me, and J—Jolana and Saidra.

You already know my name, and sort of a little about me.  I’m an artist.  Jolana is a girl living in the apartment above me, and Saidra is her roommate.  Saidra’s quiet, always reading a book, and I s—suppose Jolana is quiet, too, in a way; she likes to talk mostly when she has something to say.

I’m not very good at talking about other people.

How does [the author] prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)

I…don’t know.  I’m still not sure how this…breaking the fourth wall…thing works.

”I know this,” Kivessa says, peeking in over Percy’s shoulder.  “Morgan in fact does hoard chocolate.  She never researches—we scold her for this on a regular basis—and she doesn’t so much outline as babble incessantly to her writing buddies.”

What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

Not really anything?  I don’t know.

Possibly drawing something, or maybe meeting J—Jolana.

List 3 things about your novel’s setting.

It’s a variation of modern-day Earth, with a few alterations.  As far as most people are concerned, it’s a low-magic world, with the exception of myself.  What you all call synesthesia is very common on my world.

Most people (meaning everyone but me, as far as I know) see things in black and white, until they feel some kind of emotion, and then it sort of sparks a little color in their vision.

I’m not sure if that’s three things, but that’s the extent of the world-building so far.

What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?

My goal is to be m—myself, and destroy the perfect mask I was forced to wear for so many years.  Everything that made me create it in the first place stands in my way.

That sounds cheesy.

Ceveth snickers in the background; Kivessa rolls her eyes and says, “Authors like cheesy things.  Ours does, anyway.”

My goal is to figure out who I’m supposed to be, I guess.

How does the protagonist change by the end of the novel?

I…hope I reach my goal?  But there’s also… Jolana… and… well.  Things change because of her.

Ereinne, who’s supposed to be staying out of this blog post, jumps in, flailing and squealing something about a ship.  Percy looks very concerned, and Kivessa leans over, whispering, “Don’t ask, don’t encourage her, don’t say anything at all.”

What are the book’s themes? How are the readers theoretically going to feel when the story is over?

Well, there seems to be a theme of exploration and adventure?  Theoretically, I don’t know, some kind of satisfaction, I h—hope. 

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Kivessa eyes the post over, frowning her little frown.  “Percy,” she says, “you didn’t give much information, you know.  You didn’t even mention that your drawings talk to you.”

Percy’s face is decidedly pinker than normal.  “I—I don’t like to talk about th—that.”

“You also didn’t tell anybody what you or the two girls look like.”  Kivessa pauses.  “Wait, Morgan hasn’t even figured out what you look like, has she?”

“Not yet.”

Kivessa sighs.  “She’ll get to that, I promise.”