Young Writers Society

A “The Little Mermaid” retelling.

Elevator Pitch
When a mermaid princess falls in love with a human prince and impulsively uses a magic spell to transform into a human to try to win his heart, who can save her from her own overwhelmingly reckless (foolish) choices? Despite his misgivings, a grumpy young sea dragon takes on a human form of his own to face the danger and intrigues of the unknown realm above water. Someone has to save her and bring her back where she belongs. (It’s not because she’s his only friend, as much as she annoys him. Not at all.)

!! so excited for this!!

Characters & Locations
Characters:

• Hali: the little sea dragon
• Coreen: the little mermaid
• The human prince
• The Collector
• Villagers/castle workers who find/help Hali
• The human king & queen
• The Dragon King: Hali’s father
• Hali’s grandmother, mother, older siblings
• The Mer King: Coreen’s father
• The Dowager Queen: Coreen’s grandmother
• Guardian of the Sunset Ocean: Coreen’s older sister
• Merman who is one of the Guardian of the Sunset Ocean’s deputies: dislikes Hali (sea dragons in general)
• The Sea Witch
• The human princess of another kingdom

Locations:

• The human kingdom
  
  • The castle
  • The village surrounding the castle
  • The beach
  • The Collector’s residence/storehouse
• The Sunset Ocean
  
  • Guardian’s castle
  • Hali’s cave
• White Ocean: Hali’s old cave
• Other oceans: Mer Castle, Hali’s family members’ caves, the Sea Witch’s cave

I'm trash for a Little Mermaid retelling!! Best of luck this Nano!!

Main Character
Before the beginning of the story, Hali is a one who, though he has not lived for very long (for a dragon), is somewhat apathetic, mostly easily irritable, and he holds many preconceived notions about the world. He learned these ideas from what his father, the Dragon King, taught him. Hali believes merfolk to be frivolous and not worth his time and land-folk to be even worse—they are violent and disregard the ocean (they don’t even live in it). He has also been taught that land-folk would kill sea dragons (and mermaids) without mercy, so he decides to remain hidden, never going to the surface. With all these ideas in mind, Hali is perfectly content to spend most of his life isolated from all others in a cave on the ocean floor, in magical deep sleep for centuries on end.

At the same time, there is a part of him that is lonely. It isn’t until a young mermaid princess, Coreen, wakes Hali from his deep sleep (and doesn’t leave him alone) that he begins to learn what friendship is. He still believes that no one in the world is worth it, but he grudgingly cares for her (though he can’t admit it to himself).

This story will change what he believes because it will help him to see the good in some of those he thinks negatively of, and to realize that there are things worth fighting for in life. He will realize that even if the world is becoming a more hostile and dangerous place for a sea dragon to live, it is not one he should necessarily hide from.

Side Characters
Coreen
There would be no story without the little mermaid character. Because she grew up without a mother, Coreen has been spoiled and denied very little by her family throughout her life. She is kind, friendly, and immensely generous. But she is also curious and wants to discover the things that are restricted to her. Because she takes getting what she wants for granted, these rules seem extremely unfair in her mind and her impulsiveness leads her to a tendency to try to push the boundaries or break the rules. This and her father being overprotective make her long to have a different life, and she finds an escape in things like exploring land-folks’ wrecks or artifacts. She fears her freedom being taken away from her or not being able to pursue her dreams.

The human prince
As the only child of his parents (after many years of infertility struggles) and the only heir to the kingdom, he has a lot of pressure and eyes on him, which often feels stifling and overwhelming. He fears never being able to do anything for himself or his dreams, and he finds solace in the escapism of stories, especially fairy tales and legends. He wishes that he could sometimes run away from all the expectations others place on him and be free exploring distant lands and sailing the oceans at will. He feels that a bit of freedom could give him the strength to do even the things he doesn’t like to do that he has the obligation to.

Character Profile
Name: Hali
Age: He doesn't remember his exact age, but probably about 300-500 years old.
Height: Sea dragons can grow or shrink at will, but Hali's maximum length is about 50 ft and his minimum size is about 10 ft. // In human form, he is 6 ft tall.
Eye colour: As a sea dragon, black. // As a human, ocean blue.
Physical appearance: As a sea dragon, Hali is more serpentine, as he is slender but muscular and covered in iridescent blue-green, armor-like scales. He does not have wings, but he has some fin-like structures across his back, tail, and limbs that aid in streamlining as he swims underwater. He has a pair of dark blue horns and long, sharp claws. He has a tapered snout and sharp canine teeth. // As a human, Hali is still slender and lean-muscular. He has an angular face that seems handsome to humans but is also almost unnatural, especially in the sharper shape of his large eyes. He has normal human-like teeth and nails. His long hair is dark blue--it usually appears almost black, but it looks lighter blue under sunlight.
Strange or unique physical attributes: As a dragon, none. // As a human, his eyes and hair.
Favourite clothing style/outfit: Dragons don't wear clothes. // He still doesn't know much about human clothing, but he likes flowing fabrics and blues and greens.
Where do they live? What is it like there? -- Hali was born in the mostly-temperate and tranquil Sunrise Ocean (the ocean where the sun rises first in a day), but as soon as he was old enough to be independent, he swam to the White Ocean (the cold, icy ocean in the north). Currently, he lives in the Sunset Ocean (the more temperamental, violent ocean where the sun sets last in the day).
Defining gestures/movements: Does grimacing count? Otherwise, he flicks his tail when he's annoyed in dragon form. // In human form, this translates to tapping his fingers or toes.
Things about their appearance they would most like to change: As a dragon--What is there to change? // As a human--I want to be a dragon again.
Speaking style: He speaks very slowly when he's calm, but when he's agitated he speaks with a raised voice and quicker.
Pet peeves: People invading his personal space.
Fondest memory: Living with his mother and father when he was still very young. Feeling his mother's warmth as he curled up by her side to sleep.
Hobbies/interests: None, unless deep sleep counts.
Special skills/abilities: Deep sleep (the ability to almost hibernate for centuries--dependent on weaving a magical "sleep ring," which usually takes centuries to gather materials and power for).
Insecurities: Rejection
Quirks/eccentricities: He likes to arrange his bed neatly, "just so" before he sleeps. He likes to decorate his whole cave with pretty rocks and shells, and other ocean-originated things he can pick up from the sea floor. He also does not like to eat whale.
Temperament: Irritable and often reticent around most others, sober and mostly calm when he's alone.
Negative traits: He judges people very quickly and also gets annoyed easily.
Things that upset them: People assuming things about him, rejecting him, or infringing on his privacy/personal space.
Things that embarrass them: Not knowing things that are considered "common knowledge." Being made fun of.
This character is highly opinionated about: Non-dragons
Any phobias? -- No
Things that make them happy: A clean and neat cave/bed. Absorbing the sounds/feel/sights of nature quietly. Whale sounds.
Family (describe): The Dragon King (father) - the largest and most powerful of all the sea dragons. Mother (sometimes called the Dragon Queen). Grandmother, twin older brother and sister (very rare among sea dragons).
Deepest, darkest secret: That he's friends with a mermaid? That he transformed into a human to go on land to save her? Other than that, nothing really.
Reason they have kept this secret for so long: It's really not any secret, it's just that Hali rarely talks to his family anymore since most of them are solitary across the world's oceans.
Other people's opinions of this character: His parents and grandmother think of him as a good child, Coreen thinks he's well-intentioned but needs to get out more often, the rest of the merfolk either fear him or straight-up disdain/hate him.
Favourite bands/songs/types of music: He likes whale songs.
Favourite movies: N/A
Favourite TV shows: N/A
Favourite books: N/A
Favourite foods: He doesn't need to eat very often at all, but probably shark.
Favourite sports/sports teams: N/A
Political views: The sea dragons are basically just one family so there are no politics. Hali doesn't care about mer politics, either.
Religion/philosophy of life: There is a Creator who made the entire world, land and oceans. The constant presence of the Creator can be revealed in many ways all around.
Physical health: Very healthy.
Dream holiday: A very long deep sleep in his cave with no one to bother him for about 700 years or something like that.
Description of their house: It's just a small cave with enough room for Hali to stand up in comfortably stretched out at any angle. He lines alternating rocks and shells against the walls of the cave.
Description of their room: In the back of the cave is a little, perfectly circular hollow in the sand where he likes to curl up to sleep. He arranges pearls, smooth pebbles, and fallen coral pieces (never live ones) exactly in a circle around the hollow. It's very neat.
Any pets?: No
Best thing that has ever happened to this character: He's never thought about that.
Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: He'd say meeting Coreen, but that's not actually true. There's not exactly an answer to this one, either.
Superstitions: Places where human items and ships have landed/wrecked are bad places to go (not exactly like they make an area unlucky, but he would never choose to go to those places on his own).
Three words to describe this character: Grumpy, stagnant, potential
If a song played every time this character walked into a room, what song would it be?: "Across the Raging Sea" by Chloe Agnew

November 1

Daily Word Count: 504
Total Word Count: 504

A beautiful drawing of Hali by @Spearmint! Thanks again for the art

November 4

Daily Word Count: 675
Total Word Count: 1179

November 5

Daily: 447
Total: 1626

I'm considering setting my goal at somewhere from 10,000 to 15,000 words, honestly. Don't know if I can even get close to 50,000 words this year, which is okay.

I'm considering setting my goal at somewhere from 10,000 to 15,000 words, honestly. Don't know if I can even get close to 50,000 words this year, which is okay.

Okay indeed!!
Whatever number you end up with at the end of the month will be more than 0, which means progress

November 6

Daily: 625
Total: 2251

November 7 + 8

Daily: 1336
Total: 3587

November 9

Daily: 586
Total: 4173