How this novel came to be.
I actually first started writing my story in 2011. I was in a Faulkner class and reading Absalom, Absalom and fell in love with a quote by Faulkner regarding the philosopher Camus... I was also watching a lot of Spartacus at the time and thought that it was just... dandy. Also, some Avatar: The Last Airbender but then I thought: how could I make that extra?
So I shook all those things up and tossed in a romance.
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Advice?
I'm more about flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to ideas for stories. Sometimes, I'll just have a single scene in my head that I latch onto and won't let go of. Most of the time, though, I know what my story is going to feel like, and I go from there. I knew I wanted my story to be twisty and somewhat dark, but I also wanted this aching, all consuming love story. Since I typically lean into romance, I always want to make sure that the interpersonal dynamics between characters is at the fore-front. Once you get the idea for a character, or a relationship, then start building the world around that. Hot or cold? Magic or Nah? Ask really, really big questions and then narrow down from there.
Most importantly, though, you just gotta start writing.