Old People Writing for Teens, IV

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

lisalulu09 said:
I can't decide whether to do a seasonal soundtrack for CCW or an adventurous one that follows the plot or a combination.

I recommend a combo. Especially for low MG or younger, it's harder to get a good soundtrack (so many songs are about romance), but Christmas songs will help!

I loved playing my Christmas-heavy soundtrack to In a Pear Tree while I plotted and wrote it last August.

Parametric · Jul 22, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
Sailor Moon!!

Don't worry I also RPG'd Animorphs. Like a boss.

Oooooh the 90's.

Animorphs is an amazing series. I'd fanfic that.

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

Sage: Romance songs can be a pain! LOL.

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

Yeah, Trouble kidlit has no soundtrack because of this.

IaPT does have romance, so some songs are romancy, but here's what I ended up with playlist-wise. It's a mix of Christmas and non-Christmas, organized by plot:

The 12 Days of Christmas (live) - Straight No Chaser
Mele Kalikimaka - Jimmy Buffet
Step Into Christmas - Elton John
Pick-A-Little, Talk-a-Little/Goodnight Ladies - from The Music Man
Deck the Rooftop - Glee
12 Days After Christmas - Douglas Barnett
Echo Park Ornithology Club - Jericho
Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow - Gloria Estefan
The Christmas Waltz - Kristin Chenowith
Wassail, Wassail - Mannheim Steamroller
Faeries - Mannheim Steamroller
The Twelve Days of Christmas - Gary Hoey
Christmas Eve-Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Summerday - Dar Williams
Summer - India.Arie
Song for Ten - Neil Hannon (Doctor Who soundtrack)

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

Did you not do a playlist at all for Trouble?

Also, does anyone know of any "adventure" type tracks? Most genres, including classical.

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

I have the original playlist for the YA Trouble, and sometimes I listen to the opening tracks, which are the more general "trouble is a friend of mine" type tracks. But, no, I can't seem to make up a playlist for the kidlit.

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

Did you not do a playlist at all for Trouble?

Also, does anyone know of any "adventure" type tracks? Most genres, including classical.

Smiley0501 · Jul 22, 2012

Sage- Your playlist includes Dar Williams!

I saw her live when I was in HS - she was so, so good. I'm always happy to find more Dar fans

And *high fives* Para - A fellow Ani fan! :snoopy:

That series is my heart and soul; it taught me to never fear writing dark stuff for kids. It can be done.

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

"Hedwig's Theme" is on there - I was 9 when HP-PS came out and it takes me right back to that sort of age.

Parametric · Jul 22, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
And *high fives* Para - A fellow Ani fan! That series is my heart and soul; it taught me to never fear writing dark stuff for kids. It can be done.

I reread it a few years back thinking it wouldn't hold up now that I was an adult, and I was really surprised at how dark it was. I don't know how many MG series have the protagonists committing mass murder. It was pretty awesome - all kinds of spectacular climaxes. Didn't they steal a plane and crash it into a Yeerk base at one point?

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

Mass MURDER? What??

justbishop · Jul 22, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
This is gonna make me soooo geeky/nerdy.....An1m0rph$

You want nerdy? My racy ff was about a Star Trek TNG character :ROFL:

Parametric · Jul 22, 2012

I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure the team kill count was at least in the hundreds by the end of the series, if not thousands. That's my idea of an MG series. :tongue

lisalulu09 · Jul 22, 2012

Nerdiness is awesome.

AND HOT.

Parametric · Jul 22, 2012

I'm hoping if I camp out in this thread for a while, I will somehow absorb enough of everyone's wisdom to be able to write a YA novel that doesn't totally suck. *camps*

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

Haha, she thinks we're wise.

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

All right. Going to work on finishing TM's first editing pass for a while.

Parametric · Jul 22, 2012

Sage said:
Haha, she thinks we're wise.

Help me, oldies! You're my only hope! :tongue

Smiley0501 · Jul 22, 2012

LOL Parametric! Us, wise? :ROFL:

And yes there was a mass murder and they stole a plane and attacked a Yeerk base fo'sho. You're talking to the girl who wrote a 10 page paper for college on how violence in literature for children is okay (it teaches them, does not shield them)/Animorphs.

Bishop - Star Trek? *high fives* Minus the fact that I am a Star Wars girl all the way. :tongue

Aslera · Jul 22, 2012

I've hit 36,000 of an expected 100,000 on this fantasy, which means I've passed the 27,000 mark that has always kneed me in the groin and left me unable to continue in past drafts.

Also, I got an interview for a job. So you know, employment after my current job ends in 2 weeks would be nice

FMAnderson · Jul 22, 2012

I got a crazy number of hits on my site from this site last week, but only on a specific post... Someone had to link to it or talk about it, but I have no idea where...

I feel like people were talking about me behind my back.

Ahhhh... the lack of confidence of the previously bullied!

Stuck In Kansas · Jul 22, 2012

Um. Dark confession time. And if you guys ever tell my blustery, beer-faced buddies, we'll have to have a stern talk.

I may be the only 50 year old male who enjoyed Sailor Moon! I know, right? But, my daughter was at the right age, I was sick as hell of "Barney" and the other American tripe made for kids, I had to seek out new venues. 'Cause with kids, it's all about the repetition. And you know something? They had some pretty killer arcs and good characterization! Writers can actually learn a lot from manga and anime.

Sage: I'm curious as to why you changed your adult novel into YA. Currently, I've an idea for a zombie/love story tale (yeah, it sounds trite), but I can't determine whether to make it YA or adult. With adult, I can let my horror freak flag fly...yet...if I were to make it YA, it would be much more poignant.

Smiley: The horror film fest went well. "Shadow Creature" was ABSOLUTELY terrible. The way I likes my bad horror films. SO much more fun than ten mainstream comedies churned together.

I'm finding it interesting about y'all's (Kansas, keep in mind) secret penchant for writing erotic fan-fic. Let's hear about more dark fan-fic secrets!

Smiley0501 · Jul 22, 2012

Kansas- Speaking of how great manga/anime is for writers: have you seen Death Note? (LOL I promise I am a nice girl...I just tend to like/write crazy things)*

RE: horror films. I can't even deal with the bad cheesy ones. :ROFL:

My BFF is a die hard horror fanatic and I'm like crying/hiding behind pillows and blankets, etc. I'd take 10 comedies over horror any day. :tongue

*I swear I like rainbows and unicorns!

Sage · Jul 22, 2012

Stuck In Kansas said:
I may be the only 50 year old male who enjoyed Sailor Moon! I know, right? But, my daughter was at the right age, I was sick as hell of "Barney" and the other American tripe made for kids, I had to seek out new venues. 'Cause with kids, it's all about the repetition. And you know something? They had some pretty killer arcs and good characterization! Writers can actually learn a lot from manga and anime.

Oh, no, I can tell you from many SFF/anime conventions' worth of experience that you are far from the only 50-year-old male to enjoy SM or any other shojo anime either.

Stuck In Kansas said:
Sage: I'm curious as to why you changed your adult novel into YA. Currently, I've an idea for a zombie/love story tale (yeah, it sounds trite), but I can't determine whether to make it YA or adult. With adult, I can let my horror freak flag fly...yet...if I were to make it YA, it would be much more poignant.

I had some betas tell me the voice would work just as well for YA. And then I entered the New Adult contest and was told from my query and first few pages that it sounded YA, so they referred me to a YA agent, and I sent it and she was like, "Hey, this character is 26!" which, ya know, I could've told them

But I thought about it and decided to change it to YA. It was far after the angel trend was over, and even the reaper trend was on it's way out (although those books have just come out). I got requests, but one of the agents totally caught that it was originally an adult novel, so I guess I just can't win with that one.

Stuck In Kansas · Jul 22, 2012

Smiley: Haven't seen Death Note. I actually don't know too much about anime/manga, but from what I've witnessed...the Japanese do not underestimate their target audience, assume they're intelligent and can take a complex, continuing arc. Truthfully? Sailor Moon was my first experience (well, Pokemon, but that don't count!) and I thought COOL!

Okay. I know what y'all are thinkin'. I'M NOT A PERVERT! When Sage said I'm not the only SM lovin' 50-year old out there, I automatically thought I don't want me in the neighborhood. Signs of the times and paranoia. I watched it with my then-young (now, apparently, porn-watching) daughter and enjoyed the story-telling. And I've read about Japan's businessmen's...obsession(?)...with schoolgirls.

Okay! Let's get back to business!

Smiley, back to you again: Sorry, girl, but unicorns aren't real. And I assassinated Santa Claus last year. I know, I know...the truth is not always delicate to hear. It's called "tough love. (And I think I need to watch horror flicks with your BFF)." Besides Mel, who WAS the only other horror film fan here?

Sage: When you switched it up from adult to YA, was it that easy? I'm trying to dabble in both worlds and find it WAY different and not that interchangable without rewriting the entire gig.

Show of hands. Who thinks I should write my zombie book (I know, everyone's writing one these days, but I gotta' good Kansas killer kick to it) as adult or YA? I'm at y'all's mercy.

Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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