A Sky Full of Secrets Preptober

Task #1: Make a Plan

What ideas do you have? Think about organising them in some way so they create a coherent storyline (e.g. a synopsis, a timeline, etc). There are a few different structures you can use to help with planning, Freytag's Pyramid and The Hero's Journey being some of the more well-known ones, but you don't have to use those if you have another you think fits your storyline better.
[Word Count minimum: 400 words | Rewards: 2 HP]

Synopsis

Nothing comes easy, nothing comes without a price. That's seventeen year old Natalia Grant's motto. Friendess and alone in a country where powerful connections are everything, she's stuck in the worst possible position to be in the Paliscades. Her parents? Mysteriously disappeared overnight and never came back for her. Her fortune? Evaporated with her parents and their family's power. Her life? Flashing before her eyes.

Kicked out of her childhood home without a person in the world to care for her, Natalia is forced to seek shelter in the cheapest, and most dangerous, section of Parliament City. Without realizing it, she is neck-deep into a rebel organization working against the corrupt government of the Paliscades. Not only is she a crucial operative in the rebel's upcoming plans, but she's also fallen for a boy working for the organization.

Working undercover as a government official's daughter, Natalia only learns. And they're not facts that she wants to know. The country's questionable ethics and morals. The founder's chilling secrets. And, worst of all, the backstabbing and betrayal that led to her family's demise.
What if this boy isn't who he says he is? What if Natalia only managed to get herself into a deeper trouble than before? WHAT IF LOVE ISN'T THE ANSWER AFTER ALL?

A heartbreaking and hopeful novel designed for middle grade fantasy readers.

Plotline

Prologue - Natalia is going to be going to sleep the night before the Incident, which will be what she's going to start calling her parent's disappearance. She'll describe her love for her parents, even though she knows about the monstrous things they do for the government. Before she actually falls asleep, she's going to hear a noise. Its cause won't be specified clearly.

Beginning - Natalia gets kicked out of her home by government officials without a clear statement as to what actually happened during the Incident. She's given one bag full of coins to start her off and is left alone. She lives in Parliament City, which is the capital of the Paliscades. Not being able to afford a stay in any of the higher class hotels which she's used to, Natalia is forced to take up temporary residence in a dingy room that someone was renting in one of the lower class/poorer sectors of the city, the parts that are more dangerous. There, she meets Olivia, a rebel commander who introduces her to the organization.

Middle - Natalia is pulled into the secret organization and rises quickly in ranks. Because of her past and upbringing, the rebel leaders decide to make her an undercover agent in the powerful world of government leaders. She poses as a dead government official's daughter and they quickly believe her lies. While doing this, Natalia meets a rebel boy by the name of Grayson and they fall in love.

End - As Natalia is discovering more and more secrets, she is learning about more than she can handle. Much of it is useless to the resistance, but priceless to herself. Information like the whereabouts of her parents and the true story of her boyfriend. Maybe Grayson had something to do with her parents' disappearance? In the end everything is explained and everyone is happy. The end.

Task #2 - Create a Character/Setting

Who do you want to be in your story? Where do you want it to be set? You have a choice of either developing a character for your story or the setting of your story (or both if you can), but I'd like to see as much detail as possible for either. If you are creating a character, you can describe their appearance, their backstory, any strengths or weaknesses or character flaws, their motivations and maybe even why they are significant to the plot. If you are creating a setting, you can develop the area's history, describe its current appearance, mention any significant characters that are located there and again include the location's significance to the plot.
[Word Count minimum: 400 words for either character or setting (not both) | Rewards: 1 HP for 1 completed, 2 HP for both completed]

Character Ideas

Natalia "Talia" Grant - a quiet girl who's always known to count her blessings. Sarcastic and angry at this stage in her life. (age 17)

Grayson "Gray" Merritt - (personality when Natalia meets him) the shy boy that Natalia falls in love with. Speaks little of his past, but has plenty of plans for his future. (age 19)

Olivia "Livie" Bennett - the young but strict commander of Natalia's patrol unit, also her recruiter. They bond over both having lost their family and become a lot like sisters. (age 20)

Aleksei Fedorov - the boy Natalia meets during her spy time. Son of a government official and extremely nice to her. (age 18)

Setting

The novel is going to take place in a fantastical country called the Paliscades. Filled with hilly country land and raging rivers, there isn't much area to farm in this beautiful nation. Therefore, most food and crops are imported from nearby countries.

The Paliscades are a combination of three large islands to form a country, each one its own state. Each state has its own capital city and representatives. Out of all of these cities, the largest, most populous, and capital of the country, is Parliament City, which houses most of the government officials for this country. Though government officials are elected into office, there is one election every ten years, and only one candidate for the people to vote on, making the same families stay in power for decades on end. This is how Natalia's family is... until the Incident happens.

The Paliscades have a history of ruin. The islands were first colonized by the Alysthan people. They native islanders weren't treated very well and eventually they rebelled enough to set up their own government. Though the nation's government was first set up to be a fair democracy, it quickly turned from what it was supposed to be into something entirely other. An evil man who everyone is presently forced to call a hero started this power grabbing technique and none of the families in power have let it go. Eventually, the people became oppressed enough that they didn't speak up, and their freedom was history. While there isn't only one person in charge, the Main Cabinet makes all of the decisions.

Because of the unfairness of the government, many small revolutionary groups have popped up, but the one that Natalia stumbles across in the story is one of the larger ones. While this is a normal part of everyone's lives, civilians are still afraid of these groups not only because they were taught to feel but also because these groups symbolize violence to these people.

The government in the Paliscades does not have an adoption or child service, which is the reason why Natalia was let go to roam free as an underage fourteen year old.

The story is set in a long ago setting for us, since it this world doesn't have any of our modern technology, including electricity, TVs, iPads, cars, and many other things that we consider essential. However, the people in this story are advanced in their own ways with architecture that we could probably never match and insanely good artists.

Task #3 - Make a Schedule

How often will you be able to work on your story? Set a daily/weekly goal to reach, and hopefully it can help to motivate you, or make it seem easier to complete 50,000 words in November. To reach 50,000 words, you will need to do at least 1670 words per day, or 12,500 words per week, but you are welcome to create a schedule that fits your availability.
[Optional]

My Plan

To get the most out of NaNoWriMo, I'm planning to write as much as possible everyday. To accommodate my goal of 50,000 words written in a month, I would have to 12,500 words per week. My plan is to write as much as I can from Monday to Saturday. Anything that I don't finish after that shall be what I finish on Sunday. I'm hoping to write about a chapter a day, if my chapters are on the shorter side, and half a chapter a day, if they are on the longer side. If at all possible, I'm hoping to go over the goal by a lot, so I might try and write more than 12,500 words per week.