Remnants is a post-apocalyptic science fiction project that started as a writing exercise. I was planning on sharing the story on Wattpad, as using it as an example as I worked on my editing skills. Somewhere along the way, it grew from a single short story to something more, and I decided I needed to give it some more attention. So, it became my Nanowrimo project for 2015.
Since then, the first draft has been finished, and as of November 2019, the first draft of the sequel has been finished as well. More on that later though.
The Dreaded POV
Remnants is written in first person. I used to hate first person. I wasn’t a fan of reading it. I definitely wasn’t about to start writing in it. Then the first words of this story manifested themselves, and I realized that there was only one point of view that would make this story work.
“I have memories that aren’t my own. Of crimson rain, and burning skies. I have memories of her. With golden eyes and pitch black hair, standing at the edge, looking down onto the scorched earth. Gun in one hand, someone else’s blood running down the other. She stood then as she does now, looking at something beyond my own field of vision. Without saying a word.”
The words themselves have changed a little since I first wrote them down. The original is above, to show where it all began.
The Characters
For a long time, my main character didn’t have a name. Heck, none of them did, except for one. Then his name came to me, and with some help from a friend another name came along. As this was first to be a short and fun project, I spent more time thinking of awesome names for spaceships than I did thinking of my main characters.
The spaceships have awesome names by the way. I’m somewhat paranoid so I don’t want to share too much. But two names can’t hurt. My main character is Tryg Morgan, and he’s pretty awesome. Even if he might not always agree. There’s also a spaceship named The Spaceship. Because why not.
The Three D’s
Not as dirty as it might sound like, I promise. The D’s came to me back during NaNoWriMo in 2010. I needed to name three mercenaries, only one which actually matters much to the story. So, I had his name already (Dylan). And his two friends, well, they ended up being named Darling and Duke.
I quickly realized, they cannot all have names that start with D. So Dylan got to keep his name, and the other two did not. But I loved my group of D’s. So I always kept those two last names in the back of my mind, waiting for a time when I could use them again.
Along came this story, and they just fit right in. I needed another D though, cause in my head they have always been the three D’s, not two. Except, I also didn’t want to re-use Dylan. So, Darcy came along.
The Series
As Remnants went from a 20k short story to a nearly 100k novel, I realized this new world of mine was a lot bigger than I originally thought, as were my character’s stories. So, as I wrote Remnants, my head started planning the sequel, and it’s sequels. Long story short, this is currently a four-book series. Major plot points planned and done.
Book two, Unleashed, I finished the first draft of during NaNoWriMo 2019. The third book already has an outline, and the fourth I know how will end, just not quite sure how to get there yet. It’ll come to me though. I may need to split the fourth book into two books, depending on how the outlining goes. As of right now, I don’t think that will be necessary though.
The Prequel
You read that right. See, my brain also wants to write the story of what came before. A way to explain what happened to create the world Tryg now lives in. It’s mostly in my head, and may just end up being several short stories that I may or may not even publish in the end. Only time will tell.
I am excited to explore what came before though. So have a better grasp of my own world I guess. Or maybe I just haven’t learned how to tell my brain no yet. It could also be that.