Mining the past

Now that I'm working on a young adult novel, I've found myself thinking about high school and trying to remember what it was like to be a teenager all those years ago. Grades were important to me then, as was band (I was definitely a bank geek!), but boys made my "Things That Matter to Me" list as well. I dated one guy, Greg, during my last two years of high school and while I was studying for my undergraduate degree, and it was a relationship that we both thought would last forever. We talked marriage and kids... I shake my head when I think of that now. We were so young and knew so little about life and love and what "forever" really meant. Still, the memories I have of the relationship are mainly good ones, and unearthing those experiences has been both fun and useful for my writing.

Greg inspired this 100-words exercise I wrote last February:

I've thought about my high school boyfriend occasionally throughout the years, and sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if we had stayed together. We dated for six years--two years of high school and four of college--and I was the one to end the relationship. I was restless, fearful of becoming so comfortable with life that I would miss out on whatever it was that could be ahead for me. I've always felt bad about the way I ended things. He's a good person, and I hear he's doing well. I'm happy for him.

Do you ever think about your high school relationships? What about that girl you thought was out of your league or that guy you'd had a crush on for years but were afraid to ask out?  There's such a rich mine of writing material to be found in our pasts! How do you use your memories to add realism to your writing?

Simmering

He keeps talking to me.

He whispers in my ear as I try to sleep. He shouts above the screams of my fighting children as I attempt to write. He murmurs to me as I read, sharing bits and pieces of his life.

If I didn't love him so much, I'd find him annoying.

Who is he? It's Jed, the main character in my new WIP. If you follow my Twitter account (@raineerose), you know that I've had some angst-filled moments of late, moments when I've decried Jed's reluctance to settle on a plot, but a wise friend of mine (Monica--thank you!) has advised me to give the story some time and let it unfold as it will. That's good advice, I think, especially for a writer like me, who is incredibly impatient and wants to know everything about the story now. It's hard to sit quietly when all I want to do is begin telling the tale, but I know that the story will be stronger if I take the time to really think it through.

So I've taken my friend's advice. I'm letting the story sit, and I'm discovering that Jed's voice is clearer when my mind is open--when I'm not consciously thinking about the plot. I'm reminded of Field of Dreams and the popular but often misquoted "If you build it, he will come." I think it's the same with writing. I've laid the foundation--I have my idea, my protagonist, and a rough idea of the plot. Now I just need to wait for Jed to fill me in on the story, sharing with me the things that make his story one that needs to be told. In the meantime, I've been visiting writing forums, studying books about crafting YA novels, and reading work by current YA authors. I haven't stopped thinking about my story--not at all--but I've managed to put it on a back burner, allowing it to simmer away while I do other things. I'm waiting.

And I think my story will be better for it.

An amazing site

For those of you who have never visited the Absolute Write forums, I highly recommend them to you. I've been a member for years, and I spent a ton of time there this week, mainly in the Young Adult section, as I researched writing for the teen market. The people who post at Absolute Write are amazing; I don't think there's a question that can be asked that one of them can't answer. I was--and still am--overwhelmed by the plethora of information in the 104 pages that currently make up the YA section, but so many of my questions have been answered--even before I could ask them.

As far as my novel goes, Jed has continued to talk to me, and I'm looking forward to taking what I've learned from my research and beginning to tell his story.

Terra incognita

Ever since my character (tentatively named Jed) informed me about a week ago that he's sixteen rather than eighty, I've been researching young adult novels. I've never written one, so working on Jed's story will be a completely new adventure for me. I'm definitely charting unknown territory!

So far I've picked up copies of young adult novels by Sarah Dessen and Libba Bray, two writers who have been recommended to me, and I've gotten two books about writing for this age group: Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks and Wild Ink: How to Write Fiction for Young Adults by Victoria Hanley. I would certainly appreciate and welcome comments on these books or suggestions of other good YA novels or books about writing for teens.

Although I used to be an avid reader of young adult novels, I haven't read any recently, so I'm feeling a bit--okay, a lot--out of my element as I begin prepping to write this book. The things I've written in the past could probably be called contemporary fiction; some fall into the women's fiction/chick lit genre. I've always been comfortable writing in these genres. YA scares me a little since it's been so long since I fit into that age bracket, and my own kids are still much too young for me to take any inspiration from them. One thing I may do soon is hang out where the teenagers are--the mall, perhaps--and observe and listen. I'm a little nervous that my book will sound like it was written by a woman in her late thirties who's trying to sound like a teenager, which, although it's true, is definitely something I don't want to emphasize. More reading of current YA novels and observation of teens "in their habitats" should help with that--I hope!

More so than any other book I've written, this one feels like it will be a real journey for me. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something completely unfamiliar. It should be a fun ride!

In which I think out loud

"I gotta tell my story. It's the only way I can make things right." ~Jed, a character in my new WIP

Jed said these words to me yesterday--along with many others. He's the first character I've met in quite some time who's been very willing to divulge his story with little prompting from me. If I let him go on this way--telling me bits and pieces of his life--I can see the story forming. It's only when I start to second-guess him that the direction of the story becomes unclear.

I second-guessed Jed today.

Jed appears to me as an octogenarian with a need to tell about the things that have happened to him throughout his life, showing how the challenges he faced led him to his current situation. The story he tells encompasses not only his early life but also his later years with his own family--his wife and children--and highlights his regrets and the wisdom he hopes to impart to his grandchildren, in the hope that they won't make his mistakes.

Today, however, I started to wonder if the story would best be told with a focus only on Jed's youth, written as a young adult novel about how he coped with his mother's illness and how that illness affected him and shaped his character. I can see two possible challenges if I choose this scenario: first, I've never written young adult novels, and second, I've never written a male main character. Neither of these challenges is insurmountable, of course--there's a first time for everything, after all--but I admit that I'm a little nervous about this second scenario due mainly to my lack of knowledge of the young adult market. Reading current YA books would help, of course, and to this end, on Twitter today I asked for recommendations of good, well-written young adult novels with strong male main characters. I would appreciate your suggestions, too--just in case I choose to take this path.

I think in the end, I'm probably going to have to try writing both stories to see which one fits Jed best. No matter which focus I choose, this book will be a challenge for me both in its subject matter and in its form--but it's a challenge that I'm looking forward to.