The
First Day of Writing:
So, the novel begins today. I don’t start with the first chapter, but
what may end up being the third (or fourth).
I certainly have ideas for the first chapter or two, but I’d like to
feel my way into the novel a little so that the first couple of chapters
thematically link to the story that will be told.
I mostly followed the outline. The first written chapter mostly just sets
the stage with Princess Éfhelìnye in the Forbidden Gardens and her relationship
with Puîyus and Princess Ixhúja. A few
pages of the outline really expanded.
Also, Éfhelìnye ends up reminding the reader of what happened in the
first two books.
My intention is for each book in the
series to stand on its own, so that a reader can read them in any order. However, it’s nice when the main character
does remind us of things that have already happened.
One day that I create ideas is by
fiddling with the language. For
instance, in working on the second draft of the second novel, Puey and the
Princess and the Mirror within the Mirror, I discovered several lexical gaps in
the language. In the narration, the
characters were clearly referring to things that must be single words or
phrases in their language, since they mentioned them a few times. So, here are a few compounds that I
discovered.
Apenkhamfhàqefhoa (<
àpen + khàmfha + qèfhoa) hope chests, dowry chests, glory
boxes for virgins
Xhmisatrienoîpa,
xhmisatrienoîpu (< xhmìsa + trienoîpa)
podships of the Aûm
Tsijhufhìnejhi (<
tsìjhu + fhìnejhi) seedships of the Qhíng
Tnúkhekhòlpufhang (<
tnúkhe + khòlpufhang) clockwork ships, especially of Khnìntha
Plus there were a lot of words for
toys. Toys are important to the plot and
theme.
Qhimlàqraqa,
qhimàqraqai (< qhìmla + qràqa) ballerina dolls crafted by the
Emperor
Jhotrajhàsqe,
jhotrajhàsqin (< jhòtra + jhàsqin) toy soldiren, toy officren,
toy pedati, toy maquahuiltmen crated by the Emperor
Kulyòqthoa (<
kùlyo + qthoâ) toy trains, toy train sets crafted by the Emperor
Qyoxhakhwátel,
qyoxhokhwátilu (< qyòxho + khwátel) toy blocks crafted by the
Emperor
Finally, there must be a lot of words
for plush dolls in Babel. But which ones
would the Emperor have made? Going
through the lexicon, I figured out how the Emperor would have lumped them
together. Here are a few fun examples.
Xexaumàkhleqoi (< Xèxaum
+ khlèqoi) plush toy insects, plush toy Aûm folk, crafted by the
Emperor
Qoqeqóqòkhleqoi (<
qoqeqóqo + khlèqoi) plush toy atsáya rooster raptors,
crafted by the Emperor
Qweqwekàkhleqoi (<
qwèqweka + khlèqoi) plush toy tlhiîla or kawóni
ducks, crafted by the Emperor
Khyairfhàkhleqoi (<
khyaîrfha + khlèqoi) plush toy fhaîfha or kàmemi or
qemámi butterflies, plush toy fhwúqha fire moths, plush toy Kajúju
folk, crafted by the Emperor
Fhwinìkhleqoi (<
fhwìni + khlèqoi) plush toy dinosaurs, crafted by the Emperor
Khmárnwùkhleqoi (<
khmárnwu + khlèqoi) plush toy Traîkhiim, crafted by the
Emperor
Xhwáwàkhleqoi (<
xhwáwa + khlèqoi) plush toy jòtso or khwàxhya or khwùlefha
or xhwàya coyomeh, plush toy tsùkhrer
and wtsùkhli and qhìtlhatlhi and fhesìmpa
and jhyámun platypodes, crafted by the
Emperor
Axhwìkhleqoi (<
àxhwi + khlèqoi) plush toy tlheîr
and kàpa and káwi
and tiêr and lwàpri
deer, crafted by the Emperor
Thikhìkhleqoi (<
thìkhi + khlèqoi) plush toy snakes, plush toy Dragons or
Phœnixes, plush toy Xhnatàsti feline folk, plush toy wingèd kípil,
plush toy squirrel·tailed khmesùrxhrakh and tyítlhir
and xhmaê and pfhaûlefha
and khwèsai cats, crafted by the Emperor;
Xhuxhaxhòkhleqoi thikhìkhleqoi
And of course the Emperor used to make puppets.
Xhàxhma, xhàxhmat puppets, sock puppets, marionettes,
püp, quocker·wodgren crafted by the Emperor
Qtainaxhàxhma, qtainaxhàxhmat (< qtaîna
+ xhàxhma) sock puppets crafted by the
Emperor
Toxunxhàxhma, toxunxhàxhmat (< tòxun
+ xhàxhma) shadow puppets crafted by the
Emperor
Finally, here’s a version of the rest of the outline for
this chapter. You’ll notice that bits of
it break out into dialogue. Other parts
are more just vague description.
On the first day I wrote: 15, 156 words.
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