Just in terms of inciting incident parallels (and since the victim lives), this also brought to mind BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES for me. That's obviously not remotely YA though, and I'd guess your story would go in a completely different direction.
When 'good' characters do 'bad' things...
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Just in terms of inciting incident parallels (and since the victim lives), this also brought to mind BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES for me. That's obviously not remotely YA though, and I'd guess your story would go in a completely different direction.
Kerosene by Chris Wooding deals with a protagonist doing things which are bad - and potentially life-threatening for other people - but it's done in such a way that the character is well-developed and the reader can sympathise with him to an extent. It also shows repercussions for his actions, which I think is important in any story like this.
So, I think it can be done well and can work, but it might be best to develop the characters a little before it happens, so that's not the note the reader starts off with.
So, I think it can be done well and can work, but it might be best to develop the characters a little before it happens, so that's not the note the reader starts off with.
If the characters do something nice for the dead person such as move the body to the side of the road and place a blanket on him or maybe anonymously donate money to the family for the funeral. Then they could come off as being scared kids who are trying to make things right the only they can.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts and suggestions, lots to think about here - I am still keen to write this, I agree though that it will be a difficult one to do ( and I'll have to go about it very carefully).
This is something I think might work? I was debating this idea for a while actually, as they could easily call an ambulance, disguising/muffling voice, and run. If he's unconscious but not critically hurt. And the next day, trying to find out how he was without people getting suspicious, and all being consumed with guilt.
They're all supposed to be good characters, really, but they are scared teenagers and they are sure that if they stay and confess it means prison, shame for all their families in their small town, and giving up on their dreams of university, the careers and lives they want. I'm from a small rural town, and tragedies like that truly never get forgotten - they define the people concerned for the rest of their lives, sadly.
I just think their rationale for calling an ambulance and then running would be that even if they stayed, if they confessed, it wouldn't help a thing - the victim would still be injured, there would just be more people getting hurt.
This is something I think might work? I was debating this idea for a while actually, as they could easily call an ambulance, disguising/muffling voice, and run. If he's unconscious but not critically hurt. And the next day, trying to find out how he was without people getting suspicious, and all being consumed with guilt.
They're all supposed to be good characters, really, but they are scared teenagers and they are sure that if they stay and confess it means prison, shame for all their families in their small town, and giving up on their dreams of university, the careers and lives they want. I'm from a small rural town, and tragedies like that truly never get forgotten - they define the people concerned for the rest of their lives, sadly.
I just think their rationale for calling an ambulance and then running would be that even if they stayed, if they confessed, it wouldn't help a thing - the victim would still be injured, there would just be more people getting hurt.
I think if you emphasize the "scared" and "ashamed" it can work. They want to do the right thing, but they're terrified. I like the idea of trying to get help without revealing their identities. That shows that they aren't indifferent or hard-hearted.
When I hear of real life hit-and-runs, I have to remind myself that I don't know for sure what I'd do in such a situation. Panic can make good people do really stupid things.
When I hear of real life hit-and-runs, I have to remind myself that I don't know for sure what I'd do in such a situation. Panic can make good people do really stupid things.
Calling ambulance with his cell is a good idea, but I would say that I might even be interested to read this story if the opening scene was a panicked one where the accident has already happened and we enter in on these kids and what they are doing. A little confusion might be good to really get the reader in the mind of the kids, and showing they aren't bad people through out the story is more intriguing to me than showing they're good people, then accident, then how they deal with it. I think sort of hating, judging them at first would be good for the reader, then begin to understand why they have done what they did. Just my thoughts.
This sounds so interesting! Have you watched How to Get Away with Murder? It involves four friends who do something bad (trying not to be spoiler-y, although the name of the show kind of gives it away) and they end up going to crazy lengths to cover it up after deciding not to call the police. They're in law school, but the reasons they give for trying to cover it up are similar to what your characters might go through -- don't want to alienate family, lose romantic relationships, jeopardize career/school -- and I related to all of that.
I've never hated any of them, even though the 'good' and 'bad' isn't always clear, and it's so interesting to see what impact their decision has on each character (some are terrified, some become more cold to try to hide feelings, etc). Sounds like it could be such a cool story.
I've never hated any of them, even though the 'good' and 'bad' isn't always clear, and it's so interesting to see what impact their decision has on each character (some are terrified, some become more cold to try to hide feelings, etc). Sounds like it could be such a cool story.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but think about all the "bad" characters in television. I was going to site How to Get Away with Murder, but also Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time, Dexter, Hannibal. the public loves bad guys they can love and hate. And they love good guys who do bad things. Bad things and less than perfect characters makes for interesting stories.
I'm nauseated by perfect characters that always do the right thing. I recommend going with what works best and is the most realistic.
And make them feel guilty about it - that should satisfy your self-righteous readers.
And make them feel guilty about it - that should satisfy your self-righteous readers.
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