i'll keep mine hidden

[carrot_carrot]

THE GREAT NANOWRIMO SPLURGE POST OF 2008

PEOPLE AND PLACES, TO BE CHANGED WITHOUT NOTICE

major.

rose.
future grandmother and namesake of rose amaranth.
only child.
strict parents.
ends up married, or at least entangled, by the end
nightmares develop
byron.
MOODY. OMG SO MOODY.
blind. specifically magic-blind.
prone to making fun of rose in a specific way.
lives alone with sr. elderling, his room is small and cramped and dirty and cold, forgotten corner of the house.
father tried to kill him when he was a bb.
"i wish i had both eyes and a steady hand with which to shoot my father dead."
excellent chess player. (magic-blind~)
overshadow with death -- diction and tone

rose amaranth augustus.
fourth of six.
troublemaker! tomboy! think robert anne in posh english country.
rides horses
her father's favorite
named for her grandmother -- strange similarities~
j--- (jay?)
stableboy.
stubborn.
both alike and unlike b
refuses to put up with ra's brattiness
deserves a major plot point. no srsly.

minor.

sister elderling
not really a nun.
men in and out of the house.
huge moodswings, happy one moment, sobbing the next.
manic.
b's mom.
would love to expand her -- figure out how
b's father.
never named.
fucking insane. no REALLY.
was turned out of the house by sr. elderling (WHY?)
came back to try to kill b
climbed the tree outside his window, broke in, and cut him across the eyes with a knife.
disappeared of late.
b insists he's still alive, in forest.

ra's mom.
scolding
clucking
no patience for ra
ra's dad
indulging
son of r
often busy, unavailable.
richard charles
ra's eldest brother.
hardworking. honest. prince-charmingish.
bff of p
gay! sekritly. lmfao.
pacifist.
emmeline lily
second mom to ra
mother henish.
engaged to be married.
especially feminine.
henry david.
second oldest.
spare.
war mongerer.
quick temper, fights w/ rc

places.

augustus manor.
picture in pattern flipbook
three stories, gardens, stables, pond, land, woods, road.
clearing
white painted gazebo, chessboard, chairs.
unused for many years, before both r and ra. (r kept it secret after married.)
the elderling home.
three stories.
tall, imposing, red brick.
in the middle of the woods.
large oak tree -- scarred from lightening -- in front yard, twisting upwards
beautiful interior, but everything is old and smells of rot. O HAI SYMBOLISM.

PLOT NOTES THAT WILL NOT MAKE SENSE TO ANYONE BUT ME

prologue.

b is blind, scarred in rose's dreams.
first meeting -- b & r
end with great potential, little forboding
chess moves parallel plot
perhaps. r wanders the forest and stumbles upon the clearing w/ the gazebo and chessboard. b there, 'waiting' for her. who made this stuff? no clue. b is calmer than rose, suggests they play.

one.

p coming to visit rc -- whole home aflutter.
"oh richard charles, i wish you'd be married"
ra is getting into trouble / in the way, is banished from the house
goes up to the attic to hide (and pout?), where in a trunk finds grandmother's old things -- dresses, photos, and diary.
ra named for this grandmother. emphasize and foreshadow -- don't overdo it
begins to read. switch to diary of r, speaking of clearing. perfect afternoon adventure, ra takes diary and runs off to woods. once there, haha silly girl, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. not lost --
ra is always out wandering, rather tomboyish, v.v. unladylike
-- just the woods are dark and scary and hears noises like being followed. suspenseful naopls. surprise! is being followed. j (name?) is, having been instructed by mr(s?) a to keep her out of trouble (?). r has a fit. clash.

untimed. in no particular order.

r begins to suspect b of being demon-ghost-spirit evil thing. fever dream. paranoia.
b accidentally on puprose gets r drunk.
rather than go home and get yelled at, she goes with him to his house. meets sr. elderling. sleeps in a nice big bedroom on second story. TREE OUTSIDE WINDOW. attacked in the middle of the night -- unclear whether dream or real. flees in the night to b's room, gets told story.
r and ra spiral madness together

PRETENTIOUS THINGS LIKE THEMES AND MOTIFS

motifs.

chess
madness
ghosts
old things -- rot

themes.

true love >>> madness
creation and destruction
destiny

THINGS TO FIGURE OUT AND FORESEEABLE CHALLENGES

to do.

figure out a bigger role for j
figure out a real fucking name for j
decide relevance of sibling sub-plots
actually effing right.

potential trouble.

making the descent to madness real
writing ghosts at all
writing a convincing romance
making it scary enough
getting the right antiquish tone
decide on a POV for r's part

SCRAPS WRITTEN

( the tag )

byron had appeared in my dreams

very beginning intro. need to amp up the crazy and weird, but otherwise very good. make sure he is still blind when awake.

"i've done a hundred bad things, and i'll do a hundred more before i'm killed."

continue with byron's suggestion she come home with him so as to avoid trouble. rose agrees. before they leave the clearing, she makes a bad and symbolic, drunken chess move. make sure byron notices.

"sister elderling, your face is cracking"

first intro for sr. e. shortly after, one of the sister's many charities (hookups lmao) comes, and she makes a quick escape. rose naively asks about this, and byron is wry and sarcastic with 'you didn't honestly think she was a real nun, did you?'