Old People Writing for Teens, IV

I underwrite.

well, in all fairness, my other novels have been paranormal romance/thrillers and dystopian/thriller so there was a bit a world building involved. But then, what's my excuse with this current contemp/thriller I'm working on? I'm guessing some stuff will get cut. I would love to query it at 75K.

75k is decent, melly. I love that contemporary can range from 44k to 80k...mostly because this baby was originally was queried at 46k. It got no weird looks or anything. Okay well I don't really know that but I still got requests

(Also I posted my QL in QLH if you want to take a stab!)

I just had this epic idea about a teenage boy who finds out he's the son of Cupid. It is on my spreadsheet.

ETA: I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

lisalulu09 said:

Lera: How the hell did you manage to do another outline??

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I'm not an outliner, typically. I wrote 2 books in this quartet, and then halfway through the 3rd, decided the first two were actually meant to be 1 story with a very different plot. So I went back and read them again, and sat down and outlined.

This time I outlined because I knew a) the weakness in my writing is almost always pacing and rising tension towards a specific conflict and b) because I didn't want to go off track.

Except about 10,000 words into it, I wrote a piece of dialogue, sat back and went, "Whoa." and realized that my rewrite-outlined-story was too close to my originals and that one line of dialogue fundamentally changed how I looked at my characters. I went back and changed a few details, wrote a few scenes down the line, and I'm currently writing the ending (Interestingly, both times I've written this story, I've written it back to front.).

So I'm going to rewrite a very basic outline on my new conflict and what I have so far. It's mostly to think through the middle section (weakest part of my stories plotwise) and make sure that I have written down somewhere how I'm pulling all the strings together. I'm dealing with a dystopia/speculative fiction with very corrupt organizations, a Secret that can save the civilization, a very arbitrary social caste system, and two main characters who are rivals at first until they have a mutual opponent. There are a lot of strings. I tend to forget about certain strings until I reread and then I'm like "EFF!!!!!" and I panic because I don't think I can fix it.

I think this may have been a babbling answer. I should go back to writing.

OMG Lisa how did I miss your idea about a teen Cupid? Love it!!!

Also Sage!!

Bing Zabriskie said:

LOL. I've been watching the drama there. {Puts on helm.}

But, you've been getting full and partial requests despite an imperfect query, so you've been doing something really great. Polish it a little and you're looking to some bright future.

I got brutal slaps in the YA SYW, too. Good brutal yet hard-to-swallow brutal, but that's how one learns. I guess there's a reason thick skin is important to writers.

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Thanks. It's not been as bad as I thought it'd be. Maybe because I was upfront and said I'd gotten some hits already? *shrug* I'm hoping this next go-around will be a winner...

u know what i hate? when people make asinine comments w/out really thinking about what they are saying. sigh.

carry on...

{{hugs}} Melly.

Hmm I can't decide if I want to post for the 1st 2 chapters of VD in SYW for critique. I want to enter a contest in a few weeks, and you need the first 500 words to be sparkly. Should I post them? Will it get any feedback? Siiigh...

your first two chapters are only a total of 500 words? Then yes, def post it. I'll give them a looksie

Posted! Have at it, Melly.

Smiley0501 said:

Posted! Have at it, Melly.

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Hope I didn't scare you! Or you dont' wish to stone me or club me Let me know if it's safe to come out.

Hey Mel - I just repped you. I had revised the chapters (right above your post). Was wondering if you could take a second look? Thanks so much for your feedback. Really.

ETA: I know this is so dorky...but a college friend liked my first chapter. And I only say this with pride because she "hates" reading. As in, she's only picked up a book for school because she had to read it. She's never read a book on her own. But she looved mine. I'm not here to brag about my work because gahd it needs some work (lol). I'm here to say that because she hates reading, hates hates hates it, and I always tell her "there's a book for everyone". Now there is one for her. (I'm just happy she's reading at all.)

I may work a teeny bit on the teen son of Cupid idea, just to shut it up.

I'm trying to push myself to write a bit more. My regular writing time was interrupted by maids, students, and parents looking for report cards. I'd like to get at least another 1,000 words in.

I'm determined to finish this scene/chapter soon.

I always over write. My first drafts end up in the 80k and up area, so I have to do a lot of cutting. I think I'm doing pretty well on my current WIP though. I'm 30k in and about half-way done, I think. I'm a pantser too, so I never know exactly where the story will go. I have a loose idea but that's it.

Oh, and I love QLH and SYW but yeah, you have to put on some padding first. I try to soften my blows when giving critiques so they don't come across too harsh, but I'm sure I can sound rough at times. Some people though, like the ones mel was talking about, it's just best to ignore.

Boy has never had any luck when it comes to his love life. Especially with Girl, who, to make things worse, has a boyfriend. On the eve of his sixteenth birthday, Cupid visits him and tells him that he is his father. He also tells him that his powers will trigger at midnight. Boy decides to try out his powers on Girl, but everything backfires.

For Sage and Smiley, mostly.

Okay cute summary so far, but a few questions, Lisa:
1. Why does it matter that Girl hasn't had bf? Boy can just be her first...
2. Wouldn't Boy be freaking out that mythological god claims to be his dad?
3. I want to know more about the backfiring!!

Good luck writing it - it sounds really cute

Haha, not yet. Invincible first.

Yeah, my inital ideas always seem shit.

Hey everyone, long time no see

Hey, Ally.

Hi Ally!

The idea above has a title: STUPID CUPID.

I can't decide the genre though, haha. Contemporary with supernatural twist or fantasy/paranormal.