The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is a attempt to write a complete (and very rough) draft of a novel by writing for fifteen minutes each day. I have taken a timed writing from one of the daily prompts done in 2021, cleaned it up a little and used it as my jumping off point into a story. Each day I will take the last line of the story written the day before and use it as my sentence starter and write for fifteen minutes, growing the story as the year progresses.
Day 79: That they were stored here in books that anyone could open was surprising.
That they were stored here in books that anyone could open was surprising. The guilds jealously guarded their secrets, yet here, she held in her hand a book detailing all of the elements needed to make different kinds of glass. The book she was currently paging through took the reader through finding the elements and gathering them from the forest, mountains, rivers and sea as well as how to processes them.
‘Even the ratios needed to make the correct colors,’ Anya marveled. The eldest of the boys was apprenticed to the local glassmaker. He was one of the few chosen, not simply because the family could pay the fee, but because he had skills with colors and patterns. The glassmaker wouldn’t taken anyone one without the raw skill. On his first visit home after the start of the apprentice ship, he bragged about beginning to learn the secrets of the trade. Anya knew the ingredients, measurements and exact mixtures were closely guarded secrets.
‘Toma had hopes of one day being able to create Tyrin blue.’ Anya recalled. While there were many shades of blue, Tyrin was famous for the purple-y blue that shifted in the light. It was something created nowhere else and was a secret that apprentices were not allowed to know until they reached journey man status. And even then there were dire consequences for those who let the secrets slip. Anya wondered if it too was listed in the volume, but as nothing had the names she was familiar with, she wasn’t certain what Tyrin Blue would be renamed. Unlike the plants she found earlier, there were no easy handles by which to figure out what color was meant.
‘If I wanted to know the exact shade I’d have to make the glass myself.’
Anya smiled at the thought, closed the book and slid it on the shelf. She looked back to the windows and realized that the light had changed and mid-day was approaching. She stepped off of the ladder and because she was uncertain if she would return, Anya pulled the curtains closed. As she moved to pull the curtain furthest from the door closed, she noticed a door tucked into the shadows. It was smaller than the main door. Thinking it might be where whoever cleaned the space kept their dusters, Anya went to investigate.
‘I could use something to tidy myself,’ she thought as she reached for the handle. While she had been careful where she touched the books and was as delicate as possible, still a lot of dust was stirred up during her investigation.
Anya opened the door. The hinges were unused to movement and the door opened stiffly. She peered in expecting to find a small cupboard with some rags, and possibly a broom.
Ten til Midnight 