Dara:Driftheir Part One is the largest project I have ever worked on from start to finish. Longest in the time frame it took to complete and the length of the project. The novel ended up being just over 100,000 words once completed, and from first ideation to publication it’s been about 10 years.
Over the time of writing this novel, learning more about storytelling and just improving my writing and storytelling skills I have drafted many blog posts and video scripts that I never posted anywhere. Some of which were actually good, interesting, and educational. Because I still have that information and I see how it could be helpful to others I plan to post some of those, in the moment behind the scenes, throughout my time writing about Dara. I believe that it will be interesting to show what I was thinking and doing at different stages of the novel creation process.
For the remainder of this post I am going to give you a quick (sorry it is a bit longer than expected) overview of what Dara is, a bit about how this story came to be and a bit about the time it has taken to finish it.
WHAT IS DARA ABOUT?
Dara is a story about a girl who truly likes to do what’s best for everyone around her. She’s grown up in a low income area expecting to become a teacher because it is the easiest way she knows to help people. But she soon finds that the easy way is not always the way life turns out. After an unexpected meeting with the prince and a mysterious letter to her mother, Dara’s life is changed forever. Not only is she enrolled in the Queen’s Academy and has to leave for the castle immediately, but she also learns more about her own family than she ever knew. The things she experiences and learns during this time completely changes the trajectory of her life in an unexpectedly royal direction.
The story takes place in a fictional world, with some similarities to the real world in modern and historical times. The story has some action, some adventure, and a bit of light romance. It’s a bit more of a slower paced adventure, that sort of flows with the events of the storyline. The plot follows multiple families and groups of friends throughout a turning point in all of their lives.
The goal was to create a story that felt as if it was just a part of the characters lives caught in words that the reader could follow along with. Because of this, it doesn’t always follow traditional story structures or story expectations, but in my opinion it is one of the things that adds character and sets the story apart.
As the title suggests Dara: Driftheir Part One is the first in a set of books. It is the first part of the Xerverian Royal Legends series. However Dara’s story specifically will be told in Driftheir part one and two. Sort of like a duology. After that the story will continue on as the Xerverian Royal Legends Series, still following Dara and Prince Fredrick, but also their friends and families and others around them.
I really hope that you will join me on this journey as I write it down and send it out for you to enjoy as much as I do.
HOW DID THE STORY COME TO BE?
To answer the question above we have to go back around a decade when I was a teen reading The False Prince, watching the new (at the time) live action Cinderella and reading Esther in the Bible. All of that while also talking to others about the stories that they were reading.
One day while laying in my bed at night I put everything I was consuming creatively and even the things others were taking in and started to imagine. What if there was a story that connected all of these things that I liked and was written just the way that I would like it. I mean think about it, an adventure story for girls that took place at a castle. Where the main character was brought in because the prince was looking for a wife. But what if she wasn’t the person he married and was actually more of a side character to that story and she ended up falling in love with the younger more adventurous prince. And what if while all of that took place at a royal academy there were mysterious things happening in the background that affected the entire kingdom? And from that thought the story idea took off.
I’m sure you can see how big of an idea this was. At the time I was an artist working on making comics and improving my art, but this idea wasn’t visual, it was one written in words. I hadn’t spent nearly as much time learning or even thinking about writing as I had about drawing and so the learning and writing process began.
WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO FINISH?
At the very beginning I did write my story out as best as I could up until a certain point, but I eventually lost that very first draft. And after a while I was fine with that. I had learned and grown personally and things happening in my real life were now effecting and changing the trajectory of my story for the better.
Outside of a few scenes here and there I had taken a bit of time away from really writing the story. Until a few years later when I was back at it and ready to start again. The goal this time was to just finish it. Make it to the words The End. And I did. Perfect! Well, not exactly perfect. I knew enough about storytelling to know that my new first draft needed a lot of work. So I got to it.
At this point I was in college studying Art and then Animation and did not have all of the time in the world to write, but I would do what I could. Over the years I switched my focus over from primarily art to storytelling in general and even purposefully added in novel writing (and screenwriting) to my educational endeavors.
Okay okay, let’s cut to the chase. I eventually rewrote my novel and edited it, then wrote it again and edited it again, added last minute changes, read it, had others read it, added a few more minor changes that completely transformed the story and twala. I finished it!
I am proud to say that I have actually finished it.
Is it the best story that I have ever written? I don’t know, I’m sure I write at least five new stories every year. They start adding up over time. There may be a really good one in there somewhere.
Is it the best novel I have written to date? It’s my best finished novel to date, mostly because it is the only finished novel I’ve written to date.
Is it the best novel I will ever write? Absolutely not. Or at least in my opinion. I’m currently working on book two and it’s going to be so good. But is it better? We’ll see (but I think so).
FOR YOU THE READER of This Blog Post
The thing about learning is that it is a constant thing. Even after you make it to a point where you can hold a finished product in your hand or have something to show for all the learning and growing you have already done, there is still more learning to do. Trust me, when a project takes years to come to fruition, you learn a lot. At the end you are years ahead of where you once started, and when you look back at the finished work you may see changes that could be made. That being said, there is a time when you must call it finished and move on to the next. A time when there is no more going back to fix the same thing over and over, but a time to move forward and find out what happens next.
If you happen to be working on a project that has been taking a while or you haven’t even started the project that you’ve been imagining. I encourage you to keep on and just make it to the end at least once. It may not be your best work ever but it will be finished and you will have learned a lot along the way. And those things you learn will help you when you decide to go on to the next project.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9 NKJV
WANT TO HELP BRING DARA TO PRINT?
If you have stuck around throughout this entire post. Thank You. I appreciate it. If you can’t tell by now I am really excited to share this story and the start to a series with you.
If you would like to support the printing of the novel Dara, then you can pre-order a handmade hardback or paperback novel here on ArtofZanae.com on April 1st, or you can purchase the E -book version, also here on the site. All pre-orders and E -book purchases help to bring Dara to print!
Until next time, have a wonderful day!
-Zanae