A Reality Aknowledged

[AllyWoof]

I realized this weekend young adults are more interesting in the virtual world of the internet than they are in real life. Thus, I thought what about writing a story about somone having to escape an on-line preditor. I almost went through that situation myself recently, I was stopped by friends and loved ones. However, some people are not as lucky. What do you think?

[Shady Lane]

Sounds good....but keep in mind teenagers read about this a LOT. Seventeen just had a story about a girl who got pregnant by an internet predator. We read articles about internet safety in school. That girl from Heroes has ads about it in Teen Vogue. We're bothered about this issue all the time, so...Stupid Advice: You've GOT to be original.

And please don't make your MC an idiot. Like...that girl who got pregnant? Come on.

[AllyWoof]

No. I am making my MC smart. Just lonely and desperate for friends(like someone else I know:myself.)

[Danger Jane]

I agree with Shady Lane...as a young adult I can tell you I've heard the same advice about avoiding online predators etc, and practically everyone has had at least some sort of shady internet "friend"/predator/stalker...two years ago a down and out eighteen year old star wars freak was convinced he;d had a vision of me before we had met and that we were destined to be together. So yeah. Be original. It's redundant but be original. Good luck with your story.

(on a side note, I don't know if it's fair to say that young adults are more interesting online than they are in reality...I mean I think I'm more interesting in real life...not like I turn into a drooling idiot when I log off...)

[AllyWoof]

(on a side note, I don't know if it's fair to say that young adults are more interesting online than they are in reality...I mean I think I'm more interesting in real life...not like I turn into a drooling idiot when I log off...) I am very glad to know this. I have seen a number of my friends actually manage to do so. Anyway, I am open to any suggestions people wish to give.

[Zoombie]

What about positive online relationships. I met my very favoritest pen-pall on this website. In fact...she's my ONLY pen-pall! Except instead of pens, we communicate by advanced electronic mail.

Why not write a story about a young person who meets someone nice online, and gets stalked by a real stalker, and the online person saves their life or something...that'd be an interesting twist...

Oh and other things young adults are told way way too much about:

Drinking and driving: We're bad enough drivers without drinking, but we still do it!
Smoking: They keep puffing, no matter how many times I tell them to “Enjoy Lung Cancer.”
Drugs: I don't have any drug addicts at my school but they still bother us...
Safe Sex: Ugh...let's not even go into this horrible bias thingy...way one sided...
Homophobia: There is a poster in one of my classes with Smoky the Bear, saying: “Only you can prevent Homophobia.”
Internet Safety: Actually...we're not told all that much about this...

[AllyWoof]

That's a good idea.

[Zoombie]

Whoa, really? I'm just holding mirrors up to things and seeing what happens.

[Dancre]

What if a preditor gets online looking for a victim and he suddenly finds himself being stauked by a more evil preditor?

[Shady Lane]

Zoombie--that is a really sweet idea.

[Dancre]

What about positive online relationships. I met my very favoritest pen-pall on this website. In fact...she's my ONLY pen-pall! Except instead of pens, we communicate by advanced electronic mail.

Why not write a story about a young person who meets someone nice online, and gets stalked by a real stalker, and the online person saves their life or something...that'd be an interesting twist...

Oh and other things young adults are told way way too much about:

Drinking and driving: We're bad enough drivers without drinking, but we still do it!
Smoking: They keep puffing, no matter how many times I tell them to “Enjoy Lung Cancer.”
Drugs: I don't have any drug addicts at my school but they still bother us...
Safe Sex: Ugh...let's not even go into this horrible bias thingy...way one sided...
Homophobia: There is a poster in one of my classes with Smoky the Bear, saying: “Only you can prevent Homophobia.”
Internet Safety: Actually...we're not told all that much about this...

Geesh, when I was teen we were told don't talk to strangers.

kim

[AllyWoof]

I was told that, too. But, look at it this way. We talk to each other, and save for a few exceptions, we are all basically talking to strangers. Aren't we?

[Zoombie]

No, we're talking to a bunch of masks. Cause forums are really just a place to talk while holding a mask to your face.

[AllyWoof]

No, we're talking to a bunch of masks. Cause forums are really just a place to talk while holding a mask to your face. Happy Holloween?

[Danger Jane]

Actually yeah I think zoombie has something there. Don't lose the predator angle--but maybe your MC has a really great online friendship with someone else. I mean I met my best friend eeeeeeever online, and a couple other really close friends and they've all shaped my life...a lot.

Basically if your MC is online enough to get stalkers she'll probably also have some extremely close friends. Phone call, visiting kind of friends, depending on what kind of family she has, how cautious she is, how sure she is about their identities, stuff like that.

[AllyWoof]

Actually yeah I think zoombie has something there. Don't lose the predator angle--but maybe your MC has a really great online friendship with someone else. I mean I met my best friend eeeeeeever online, and a couple other really close friends and they've all shaped my life...a lot.

Basically if your MC is online enough to get stalkers she'll probably also have some extremely close friends. Phone call, visiting kind of friends, depending on what kind of family she has, how cautious she is, how sure she is about their identities, stuff like that.
I met one of my best friends that way, too.

[Zoombie]

Why does it seem BFF's are more commen then S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs online?

[Danger Jane]

Probably because most people aren't stalkers. And honestly, it depends where you're going. If you post half-naked pictures on myspace, well, what do you think is going to happen? But most forums are not teeming with stalkers. Like I'd be surprised to find someone getting stalked on AW. And most (reputable) forums have a zero-tolerance policy for stalking.

[Zoombie]

True that.

[AllyWoof]

Would you think anything on-line connected with diabeties would be connected to that?

[AllyWoof]

Probably because most people aren't stalkers. And honestly, it depends where you're going. If you post half-naked pictures on myspace, well, what do you think is going to happen? But most forums are not teeming with stalkers. Like I'd be surprised to find someone getting stalked on AW. And most (reputable) forums have a zero-tolerance policy for stalking. This is very true, Nancy. That said, some people, myself included, will start taking the internet too seriously. I can't count the number of times my mother has told me stop taking fights with my on-line friends to seriously. I came up with yet, another idea by the way. What if someone who was adopted happened to come across an old friend. Many times I find people I was friendly with in high school adding me to their MySpace friends list. In fact, that's how I found my 6th grade best friend. So many bad things occurr via the internet that they can sometimes overshadow the possitive things completely. But, you do have to admit, the internet is a lage part of life for everyone these days.

[Shady Lane]

Would you think anything on-line connected with diabeties would be connected to that?

All right, I'm curious what you mean. I wrote a book about a boy who had diabetes, and for my research I started getting involved in the diabetes online community...and it's massive. The girl who runs one of the biggest blogs, sixuntilme, is sweet as can be and actually editing my book for me (she's writing a book, too.) So, I'm not quite sure what you're looking for, but if you're looking for information, I'm your girl.

[AllyWoof]

All right, I'm curious what you mean. I wrote a book about a boy who had diabetes, and for my research I started getting involved in the diabetes online community...and it's massive. The girl who runs one of the biggest blogs, sixuntilme, is sweet as can be and actually editing my book for me (she's writing a book, too.) So, I'm not quite sure what you're looking for, but if you're looking for information, I'm your girl. Out of sheer boredom one night,I wandered into a diabeties chat room. I quickly befriended the owner, although he was actually my fathers age. I recently learned he was convicted at one point of armed robbery and served time in jail. This same guy used a special program to connect our webcams so he could watch me all day long. Would you expect things like that to go on?

[Shady Lane]

Absolutely not...hmm.

This is reminding me of the book Sweetblood by Pete Hautman, about a diabetic girl who gets sort-of stalked by a guy she meets in a vampire chatroom. Not an awful book.

[AllyWoof]

That is why I plotted the story the way I did. I draw from my own experiences. By the way, when I asked the guy why he robbed someone, his responce was he needed the money and had no other way of getting it.

[Zoombie]

Two things: There are VAMPIRE chat rooms?

And

Yes, too many people takes the Internet a little too seriously. Which is why you should always have a picture of George W. Bush looking vaguely serious with the words: "Internets...Serious Business" underneath him. Say...maybe your story could be about someone who takes the Internet too seriously, and that results in them getting stalked.

[alleycat]

I kind of agree with the others who mentioned that your original premise has probably been done, if not overdone.

What about coming up with a fresh angle.

For example, what if instead of finding a predator online, she finds a friend. She tells the friend about a real-life situation that's potentially dangereous. The online friend wants to help, but he doesn't even know her real name, or where she lives. Or maybe the online friend has made a solemn promise not to betray a trust; now what's he or she to do? I actually had a situation similar to this happen to me (not here on AW however). Of course, this might have been done, and overdone, too. It's just another idea.

I do think your idea of using diabetes as part of the storyline has potential.

[AllyWoof]

Superb idea!

[AllyWoof]

[quote=alleycat;1398572

I do think your idea of using diabetes as part of the storyline has potential.[/quote] I wish that was an idea for a story. That actually happened.

[alleycat]

I wish that was an idea for a story. That actually happened.
You could use that as a major part of a storyline. The only one you probably don't want to use (because it's been used several times before) is having a character abducted or who has run away, and who needs their insulin, and having to be found in time.

I can think of a dozen storylines off the top of my pointy little head where having diabetes could play a major role in a story. Want me to share one? It might give you some ideas of your own.

[AllyWoof]

Okay. Go for it.

[alleycat]

Here's one . . . what if there's a young girl with diabetes (maybe some other medical conditions too). All her life she's mostly been confined to home. Now her mother has reluctantly allowed her to go with a friend for the weekend. The mother doesn't know that the girls plan on sneaking away and having some sort of adventure. For some reason, the girls get trapped somewhere and can't get back home in the time they planned. What about the girl with diabetes? What's going to happen when she can't get her insulin?

As the time passes, the girls worry more and more. Things are getting desperate. But . . . as they wait for the worst to happen . . . nothing does. The girl doesn't get sick. She doesn't have a react. She's perfectly alright.

Finally they get back home. The girl finds out she doesn't have diabetes afterall. What's going on? The girl wants to find the answer. She begins to look into her past.

The ending could be something like . . .

It turns out the girl was taken from her real mother when she was a baby. To keep her out of the public eye, the mother made up stories about her illnesses to keep her at home. She hasn't been taking insulin all these years, she's been taking some kind of harmless injection. The girl is going to have to face the situation, no matter how much it hurts her mother, or herself.

Okay, that was just a rough story idea done in five minutes. You could easily come up with something yourself that's better. Just create an interesting character, have her face some kind of problem and have her deal with it.

[Danger Jane]

Combining the diabetes aspect with the internet aspect has a lot of promise, I think. Maybe the girls' adventure is to meet someone they met online in a diabetes forum or something. And if it's such a massive part of the internet, there are probably a lot of creeps lurking because most members are probably on the young side. Just something to think about?

[AllyWoof]

It would be, if I knew anything about diabeties.

[goatprincess]

What if a preditor gets online looking for a victim and he suddenly finds himself being stauked by a more evil preditor?
This is a pretty darn intriguing idea, too.

[AllyWoof]

I'm thinking a good idea would be for me to go to bed.

[Soccer Mom]

The web is a great place, writerdog. You can do a lot of research about diabetes. I have a bunch of diabetics in my family. My Grandmother was. My Mother is. My sister is. My aunt is. I'm very careful myself, because I don't want to develop it.

[shakeysix]

this did not happen to me but happened to one of my students. she was online playing a game and picked up a cyber stalker. he went by the name 'devil's child'. this was several years ago, so i am not sure that this could still happen, but he could even make the cd compartment on her computer open and close. --s6