#WIPpet Wednesday – Something a bit different

I deliberately skipped WIPpet Wednesday last week because I knew that with my parents visiting, I wouldn’t get a chance to read anyone else’s posts, and I was already feeling bad about two straight weeks of posting and getting lovely comments, and being too lazy to return the favour. I also haven’t really been writing anything, though I think I have found the story I’m going to write for NaNoWriMo and in the last couple of days I’ve started doing some planning.

As I don’t really have any proper writing to share, I’ll share a character interview I wrote with the main character yesterday. As for WIPpet maths, it’s the first of the month and this is the first actual character exploration I put into writing. 😛 It’s actually pretty vague at the moment because I’m still working on exact settings and plot points, and it’s a little inconsistent because I’m still playing around with the character, but I think you’ll get the gist. It’s a little long, but I don’t think it requires much explanation, so I’ll just launch straight in. Everyone, meet Josephine!

[there is a knock on the blogosphere door and it edges open. A young woman with wavy brown hair tied back with a silk ribbon sticks her head into the room]

J: Hello? Do I have the right place?

EW: [skids into the room] Hi! Yes! Please have a seat. Sorry about the mess. I’ve been a bit lax on the blog upkeep as of late.

[Josephine shows no sign of having comprehended anything that was just said, but she sits daintily in the lounge chair provided. She’s wearing a maxi-dress with short sleeves, which she keeps picking at, as though wishing they covered more of her]

EW: So… can you tell us where you’re from?

J: You know the story of Beauty and the Beast, don’t you?

EW: Of course.

J: Beauty was my sister. Our other sister, Christine, and I were always jealous of her. She was the youngest, and our father always doted on her. Christine and I couldn’t stand it. We were horrible to her, and she just took it all with good grace. That’s the type of person she was. When she married the prince, the same witch who had turned him into the Beast turned Christine and me into statues so that we would have to watch Beauty’s happiness until we became better people.

EW: What was that like?

J: I’m not sure it’s something you can imagine without having ever lived it. I couldn’t move or speak. I couldn’t even fall asleep. Beauty used to talk to us – she was the only one who remembered we were there. Even her husband thought she was odd for talking to statues after a while. At first, I thought she was pitying us and I resented her just as I always had, but it didn’t take long for me to start looking forward to those moments.

EW: You were stuck that way for a long time. It can’t have been easy once Beauty and her family were gone…

J: Not at all. I watched my little sister grow old. When she and the Prince were gone, one of my nephews inherited the estate, but after a few generations it left the family and not long after that it was abandoned for a long time. You don’t know how lonely it was.

EW: The witch said that you would be freed when you learned the error of your ways. But you were trapped for centuries… surely it didn’t take that long.

J: Of course not. It’s hard to remain spiteful when you can do nothing but watch someone having a far better time than you and reflect on why it can’t be you. I don’t know why the spell broke, or why it only broke for me and not Christine, but Armand says that my reappearance is only one of a number of strange occurrences lately, so maybe it’s all connected.

EW: As though trying to get used to a new century isn’t hard enough with strange things going on around you.

J: That’s true. I learned some things from the people who visited the castle over recent years – there wasn’t much to do other than watch and listen – but you only learn so much from that vantage point.

EW: Is anyone helping you adjust? [tips head to the side and gives a knowing look]

J: [blushes] Armand has been helping me learn. He’s been very sweet to me. [she sets her jaw] But I can’t stay with him much longer.

EW: Why not?

J: Well, it’s not proper for a start. I’m sure people are already talking. Not to mention he’s…

EW: What?

J: [she is trying to find the most delicate way to phrase it] Well, he’s hardly my…

EW: Your what? Equal? Are you trying to say you’re better than him?

[Josephine is quiet]

EW: You’re no longer the daughter of a rich merchant, remember?

J: [averts her eyes] I know. You’d think I’d have learned.

EW: [relenting] I think you have. We all have our faults. Anyway, look, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other over the next couple of months, but right now I need to go and chop vegetables. Thanks for coming today.

J: You’re welcome. I’ll see you again soon.

~*~

So that’s Josephine. Armand will be the next character I try to expand, and then the wicked witch/fairy character who is my villain. I think you can probably grasp enough of the plot just from reading this. I’m excited to start plotting this properly. We’ve got a long weekend this coming weekend (just had one, too; everyone in Canberra loves this time of year) so some of my writing group, me included, are going for two-day planning getaway. Hopefully I’ll be able to bounce ideas off them and really get a sense of what’s going to happen in the story.

Thanks to K. L. Schwengel for hosting the WIPpet Wednesday blog hop. Join us by posting an excerpt from your WIP (or something like this) that somehow relates to the date, and then join us at the linky. I’m going to go and chop those veges I mentioned now. I’ll see you all soon! 😀

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