Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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Specialfae

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melly - love your reply (honestly!) :) I had NO idea it was so long until I decided to try to 'get it in print' then I was floored. The other 3 books are not that long.

I never set out to write a series or even to do more than just to write. I had a few pages of 'thought' that sat around for nearly a year. One day I opened it again and the next thing I knew... there were four books worth. It just came out and I couldn't stop it, lol.

No - none of them are writers. I actually never intended to come out of my writer's closet. One close friend was the only one I had EVER let read my 'stuff'. With this one she begged me to let a friend read it. Against everything inside me I let her. She was an older teenager, honor roll, but into the latest YA out there. She went crazy over it. From there it just kept going. So, none of them are writers, but they all fell in love with the books.

I've thought about the challenge of splitting it into two books, I told them it wasn't as easy as picking page X and putting "the end". Through previous self revisions I've run into the "crap, now I've gotta go to book three and...."

They love the series, I love the series, so I now either need to decide how to work them into a 'product' or decide to love it and tuck it onto the 'shelf' and start a new project with all that I am learning.

But yea, 192k in one book??? Yikes! ha ha

I don't know much about 'beta readers' but I'm trying to read up on it and learn more about that.

I've been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil, but this 'world' is still very new to me. Definitely not what I had expected. Exciting, scary, extremely more 'business' than I had ever thought but I am learning SO much and am very grateful for every bit of it
 

mellymel

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That's how I feel. I srsly am such a different writer than I was 5 years ago. TOTALLY DIFFERENT. And I srsly owe sooooooo much to my crit partners (all of whom I met over the years here on AW). They taught me so much (as have all my crit partners and beta readers). My two main crit partners (and who I'm very good friends with now) I met in the SYW thread before I ever even explored the rest of AW (this was before they had the 50post rule). I did the same thing as you. Had an idea for a story and 6 months later I wrote 142K. The funny thing is, since learning more, it now takes me a year to write an 85K novel because I'm so much more aware and meticulous with my writing and I revise a ton more so the process takes me so much longer. Though, some people can write clean, revised, ready to go novels in 3-4 months but i aint one of 'em.

My honest advice is to not worry about the other books in the series. Focus solely on the first one to make sure you have a complete stand alone book. Forget the other ones for now. Or, (as hard as it is--cause damn it was for me) trunk that baby and start something new and chalk those books up to an amazing experience with LOTS of lessons learned and start something new. You can always revisit your trunked babies if you need to. ;)
 

mellymel

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How much is a lower end YA novel anyway? I was thinking of doing a lower end size myself, around 25K. Assuming I can get past knowledge hurdles, like location facts.

25K is not a novel. It's a novella. I think? But def not a novel. I think you need to be at least at 50K? I'm sure if you do a search here on YA word count, some threads on it will pop up.
 

Specialfae

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Though, some people can write clean, revised, ready to go novels in 3-4 months but i aint one of 'em.

I actually giggled out loud over that one. I read (somewhere, can't remember where) were a famous author said that any writer that thinks their first draft of anything is brilliant is full of (bleep).

I think you are right though, focus on book one. I also have a few other 'mental doodles' as I call them and if one suddenly speaks to me then so be it.

I'm still tending my slightly bruised ego (from the rejection email) but I know that is simply a human nature/knee jerk reaction kinda thing. Luckily I'm also pretty darn stubborn or that fleeting 'screw this I'm NEVER going to try this submission thing again' would have been a much more intense emotion. :D

Thanks for the honest feedback and thoughts though, I really do appreciate it!

ETA - sorry if the fleeting emo comment was verbally offensive to anyone, not sure what the rule for that kinda thing is :D
 

Smiley0501

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I got a full request from a top notch agent :hooray:

Beyond thrilled!!!!! :D

And to add- I cannot write a clean first draft. The only good thing in my 1st drafts are the voice. And MAYBE that. LOL. Maybe.
 

JustSarah

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I'll go for around 50,000 words then. I think the biggest issue is I write the ending first, and get to the ending to quickly. So if those last pages are removed, I'm not going to keep writing because to me I already wrote to the ending.D:
 

mellymel

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Oh, Specialfae. I've racked up over a hundred Rs and I know some people who are in the hundreds. I think I cried at my first one. Now I just shrug and delete :D

But that tendency to start self-doubting yourself in this process is sooooooo easy. I'm pretty sure everyone here has done it at least once (if not on a daily/weekly basis lol). It is a soul sucking biz this industry, but the only ones who don't make it are the one's who quit. Beth Revis (who wrote Across the Universe) wrote 10 novels before she finally wrote the one that got published. TEN NOVELS. There is hope my friend. There is hope. But quitting? Not an option. It's what separates the real writers from the wannabes ;)
 

mellymel

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I got a full request from a top notch agent :hooray:

Beyond thrilled!!!!! :D

And to add- I cannot write a clean first draft. The only good thing in my 1st drafts are the voice. And MAYBE that. LOL. Maybe.

YAHOOOOOOOOO!
 

Specialfae

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But quitting? Not an option. It's what separates the real writers from the wannabes ;)

If you don't mind, I'm going to make this my new mantra! lol

My first rejection was nearly soul sucking. I did tear up and thought "well that's that then". But then I decided to read up on this 'industry thing' and realized that I just had my rejection cherry popped (oh someone stop me if I shouldn't say stuff like that, so sorry, ha ha).

Huge hugs to you though for taking the time to reply, you should look into being an writer's coach or something. :D I am so glad I found AW though, I was floundering on my own with NO clue what to expect or was expected.

I have survived much more dire challenges in my life and I will learn and keep going!! Towanda!! (for those that know that war cry)

Smiley - HURRAY!!!!!! I am very happy for you! Hope to hear about the amazing process!
 

JustSarah

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A large part of my problem is I don't quiet writing, I get writers block because I can't get past a certain part, so I move on and write another story. The problem is I have a lot of partials, and I'm a little sick of partials.

But if I ask someone, "Hey how should I write this part to be more realistic?" the comment I always get is, "No no, I don't think you can write military fiction if your not in the military." That does not answer my question, and I'm still stuck with a partial.
 

JKRowley

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JustSarah, are you close enough to take a trip to NYC? I am an old school writer who likes to explore the territory I am basing my setting at. It helps me with the details.

Yay, Smiley! I think the manuscript is gonna sell.

I love in person critiques, as long as it is a good group. I haven't found one of those for awhile. I love my virtual group. They are some smart and talented ladies.
 

cryaegm

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I'm referring to online pay editors, or editors. At least put in your guidelines you don't take dystopia or cyberpunk. Or if not, not "place it in the queue" and tell me you don't take genre x. Or tell me you don't read widely in genre x.

I even said, "This is a chapter from a dystopian novel, please let me know if your not familiar with it."

Well, that's not cool. Talk about wasting your time and others (not you, the editor person who did that). Sorry that happened.

--

I just noticed my sig is out of date. Not too much out of date, but yeah. I'm just a little too lazy to change it right now.

ETA:

But if I ask someone, "Hey how should I write this part to be more realistic?" the comment I always get is, "No no, I don't think you can write military fiction if your not in the military." That does not answer my question, and I'm still stuck with a partial.

Yeah, that's not helpful and it makes the person sound a bit like an ass. Or trying to sound helpful, but doesn't come off that way. Plus that's what research is for. I'm sure there are people out there who have been in the military who can help you out while you're writing so you can get a good sense of it.
 

parumpdragon

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I got a full request from a top notch agent :hooray:

Beyond thrilled!!!!! :D

And to add- I cannot write a clean first draft. The only good thing in my 1st drafts are the voice. And MAYBE that. LOL. Maybe.

CONGRATZ!!!
 

Kewii

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Congrats, Smiley :) I'm glad all your rewriting is starting to pay off!

I'm working on my revisions all day today. Sending the husband off to see the in-laws by himself. I've got the I'm sick excuse, but I know I'm going to hear about it later :) It'll be nice to have the house to myself for a while though.

Hope everyone is having a good Friday.
 

cryaegm

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My niece made me change my MC's name. Even though she's 9, she said that her current name wasn't good enough and she won't read my book when she's "old enough" (her words, not mine). And the name she chose, I wonder if maybe it is a better choice and matches better. She had no idea what the story is about, btw.
 

JustSarah

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Your sig is absolutely adorable.^^ She kind of reminds me of FF7 advent children for some reason. o_O

Advent Children, why you follow me?
 

JustSarah

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I went ahead and made some of the modifications suggested by the agents at writers con thing.

One thing I can't help have at the back of my mind, is hoping its not minded that Ellen is depicted as a normal girl, despite her born a cis male.

She's sort of like a street punk version of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost In The Shell.

/Anime Nerd dom.

How do you write a blog on good reads? Nevermind, strictly for published authors.D;
 
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Netz

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I got a full request from a top notch agent :hooray:

Beyond thrilled!!!!! :D

And to add- I cannot write a clean first draft. The only good thing in my 1st drafts are the voice. And MAYBE that. LOL. Maybe.

Congrats, Smiley! :D

I have survived much more dire challenges in my life and I will learn and keep going!! Towanda!! (for those that know that war cry)

Love that film! :D
 

itsaplane

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Woohooo Smiley! I started a new WIP thats Sci-Fi and I really like it and hope I can finish it sometime before the end of the year. Some people push out WIPS like nobody's business in 2 months flat, but nope, not me lol.
 

parumpdragon

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Most people don't just push out WIPs.

I sit on them and kind of hoard as I write along. Then I end up with an overstock when something finally gets picked-up.

LOL
 

Kitty27

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Congrats! And good luck on a grunge-era WIP. I'd love to read something like that. It makes me nostalgic.

Also, that's awesome, Sage and Kansas!

Congrats, Kitty! And Lost boys really is a great movie. Very dark and twisted w/a little added humor (Corey Feldman was def the comic relief of that movie). And Sutherland was especially evil in that movie. LOVE HIM.

I'll gladly take a muffin, and congrats on finishing!

I love The Lost Boys. Can you sneak in an homage to that muscle-bound saxophone guy? He cracks me up

I LOVE The Lost Boys. David, while being an evil bastard, is so hot. :D (someone had to say it).

Two writing things occurred to me today:

1. Shouldn't Nicky tell Charlotte that he's the son of Cupid by the end of Stupid Cupid?
2. With the #YASciFiRomance novel, I'm probably going to have three "types" of couple in at the beginning - one where two people like each other; one where they're in a relationship; and one just after a break up. God, this novel is pretty much plotting itself in my head.


Lost Boys Fans Unite! I love that sax player. He was soooo 80s,lol. David RULED. I was quite upset when all of the Lost Boys died. I'll keep you in mind when I finish,wampuscat!


May happy writing,good submission karma and requests for fulls come upon y'all!
 

lisalulu09

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Hi, guys.

I started #fantasysideproject today. I didn't get stared at too much on the tube. :D
 
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