Happy pregnant teenage girls

skelly · Feb 12, 2007

Here's the problem. My YA is primarily about three friends who form a ghost hunting club to carry out paranormal investigations and solve mysteries. A very kind critter who read my first scene pointed out that 17 is probably a little old for kids to be forming ghost-hunting clubs. I'm afraid I agree. The truth is that the kids started out at 14, then I panicked and bumped them all up to 17 when I found out in the 1st rewrite that not only were two of the lead characters going to have sex, but that they were not going to try and protect her from pregnancy because because they are in love, and she has had a psychic vision of the child that they will share. It works well as an ongoing plot element for a series, and I could use it to portray both the good and the bad repercussions of having made that decision.

I suppose I could pull off a trio of 15-year-olds who start a ghost hunting club, but the younger that I make the kids, the harder it is to pull off this very essential part of my plot. So I guess the question is, which is more likely (or least unlikely): a fifteen year old boy and girl mature enough to make the decision that I have them making, or three 17-year-olds who like to hunt ghosts and solve mysteries?

All opinions are appreciated

jdparadise · Feb 12, 2007

If they've actually -found- ghosts -- or found evidence of ghosts -- in their past (when they were 8 and 10 and 12 and 14), then finding out about each others' experiences might be enough to get them together at 17.

Or if they're outcasts who take it up as a goof when someone else reports having seen a ghost, and they're trying to disprove . . . and then they find something . . .

Think on the motivations that each of them have for ghosthunting individually, and you'll find something that will get them doing it together.

KCathy · Feb 12, 2007

I agree, word for word, with jd. The X-Files are basically the story of one man's ghost hunt, and he's old enough to get pregnant (not as unlikely a development on that show as most others, come to think of it).

The_Grand_Duchess · Feb 12, 2007

I think the problem is in your wording. If you have kids that are psychic then to have them hunting ghost may not be that far of a strech it steams from an already paranormal occurence. If they're just sitting around eating pizza rolls and somebody says, "Hey, let start a ghost hunting club!" and the others agree becuase it sounds cool, then yeah thats a bit a strech for 17 year olds.

Also I don't think the average teen really thinks overlong about the implications of a sexual enconter once they're there. In fact I'm almost 100% sure that no matter how much a teen guy cares for his partner when they're at the point of nudity it he'll say anything.

I would make them 17. That way your essential plot twist makes more sense.

skelly · Feb 12, 2007

These are all great ideas. Thank you guys for taking the time. I am going to have to keep them 17, as the Duchess points out. KC and JD ... I have one character that fits that description, and it would be a fairly easy thing to reference some earlier escapades and not make this their first adventure. It might be unusual for them start a ghost hunting club at 17, but turning 17 wouldn't necessarily mean they had to quit one that they had started a couple years before.

Thanks for helping me think this through. You guys are great.

jdparadise · Feb 12, 2007

skelly said:
turning 17 wouldn't necessarily mean they had to quit one that they had started a couple years before.

Yup! Plus, you'd get the opportunity to add a new member, which is always good for introducing tensions of various sorts...

moth · Feb 12, 2007

I just saw this thread now. I agree, if that's the way the plot's going then they should stay 17. But like someone mentioned in the other thread, they do need to act and speak like they're 17. "Yuck" (as mentioned by another poster) didn't strike me as 17-speak either. (I guess I should have said that in my post in the SYW thread on this...

sorry!) "Sick" (with just a period, not an exclamation point) or eye-rolling says more 17 to me.

I also agree that a club isn't something they'd form at 17. Someone mentioned keeping the treehouse as a symbol of transitioning out of younger years...if your characters had started the ghost hunting club years ago, the club itself could be used in the same way -- they want to keep the activity going but it changes form into something less kid-like. That's a good source of tension too, inner and outer both.

ChumleyK · Feb 12, 2007

It seems to me that having a baby at 17 would be a lot easier (depending on family support) than having a baby at 14 or 15. This obviously depends on your setting as well - I'm assuming from your post that it's a modern day setting.

At 17, the characters would be close to graduation from high school, have drivers licenses, and have an easier time getting jobs to support themselves. If the family helped out they would be fine. At 15, the characters would be too young to drive, too young to work, and still have several years of school ahead of them. That puts a lot more strain on the characters even if the family is supportive.

Hopefully this was relevant and it helps!

writermom · Feb 12, 2007

moth said:
"Yuck" (as mentioned by another poster) didn't strike me as 17-speak either.

I say “yuck” and I’m 30. Dialect is regional.

moth · Feb 12, 2007

writermom said:
Dialect is regional.

Boy, is it ever!

That's why I made sure to say only how I perceived the word in that context, not how anybody else might.

writermom · Feb 12, 2007

Of course, I have been acused of acting like a 12-year-old from time to time.

The_Grand_Duchess · Feb 12, 2007

Moth: You were referring to my post! I feel special

And I'm not saying people don't still say yuck but it was in context and it didn't work.

blueskyscribe · Feb 16, 2007

I think "club" has childish connotations, but the basic idea is fine. Older teens (and non-teens!) still have an interest in ghosts.

You could change it to three teens who have a hobby of visiting old abandoned houses looking for paranormal activities.

Bonus points if their parents disapprove and they have to sneak out to do it!

I wish the Penny-Arcade forums were up right now, their membership largely falls in the 16 - 20-something category and there was a huge thread on creepy stories . . . Some of them had trekked through the woods to take pictures of scary houses, sheds, etc. Unfortunately the whole forum is down right now, it got hacked last Friday . . .

Provrb1810meggy · Feb 16, 2007

I don't think a ghost-hunting club for older kids is that out of the question. I'm pretty sure many teenagers are fascinated by the paranormal and the creepy. Also, have you ever seen the show Ghost Hunters? Those people are adults, and they love to hunt ghosts! Maybe club just has a childish connotation. Maybe it could be a team or squad or...I dunno.

The_Grand_Duchess · Feb 16, 2007

I don't think the idea that they would be into the paranormal is awkward I think it's all in approch, as I said in my frist post. Its all about how its apporched.

skelly · Feb 17, 2007

As it turned out, I kept it a club, but completely rewrote it from the perspective that they started the club when they were 15, and have become semi-famous for some of their investigations.

PattiTheWicked · Feb 17, 2007

Not too long ago, a group of teenage girls made the headlines around here. They went to check out a supposed "haunted house" next to a cemetery that local teens had been targeting for years. One of the girls ended up being shot by the homeowner, who was tired of a decade of harassment and pulled the trigger when he saw people outside his window.

They were all high school seniors.

The_Grand_Duchess · Feb 17, 2007

PattiTheWicked said:
Not too long ago, a group of teenage girls made the headlines around here. They went to check out a supposed "haunted house" next to a cemetery that local teens had been targeting for years. One of the girls ended up being shot by the homeowner, who was tired of a decade of harassment and pulled the trigger when he saw people outside his window.

They were all high school seniors.

Wow that's a crazy story! Thats turning into an urban legend oneday. . .

Maprilynne · Feb 21, 2007

I think this gets away from the original question, but if yu did want to make them younger, it's totally realistic (unfortunately.) Until I moved I worked as the chilbirth educator at a girls' home and almost every single girl there that was pregnant was 15--several who had gotten pregnant on purpose--a few sixteen years olds, and only one seventeen year old. We had a fourteen-year old for a couple of days, but she immediately tried to run away and was transferred so I don't know how it turned out. But the majority--by far--were fifteen.

Maprilynne

PattiTheWicked · Feb 22, 2007

The_Grand_Duchess said:
Wow that's a crazy story! Thats turning into an urban legend oneday. . .

It's one I've been following with interest. See, the girl who got shot was a pretty, popular teenager. The man who lived in the house is a bit... odd, to say the least, and certainly not attractive. It was him and his mom living there, and they were known as "the weirdos" in the neighborhood. While it's horribly sad that this young woman got shot, and will probably spend years in physical therapy to recover, a lot of folks here locally have the feeling that perhaps the police should have responded better when the man and his mom complained all those times about trespassers. There's a long history of harassment towards this family, and the fact that a bunch of cute cheerleaders were the ones who finally tipped the scales has made more than a few headlines.

I wonder if the reaction would be the same if an affluent white man shot at a group of black kids who trespassed on his property.

Now that I've totally hijacked the thread, I apologize

skelly · Feb 22, 2007

Naw .... all the other stuff has been resolved anyway. Your story made it interesting again. Besides, I'm proud of the thread title and smile every time I see it pop up on the main page. I should have saved it for Office Party. I might have been famous!

Or not.

Happy pregnant teenage girls

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

jdparadise

Talker of Good Games

KCathy

Writer when I grow up

The_Grand_Duchess

I record everything.

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

jdparadise

Talker of Good Games

moth

my own two hands

ChumleyK

writermom

Avada Kedavra

moth

my own two hands

writermom

Avada Kedavra

The_Grand_Duchess

I record everything.

blueskyscribe

Provrb1810meggy

The_Grand_Duchess

I record everything.

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

The_Grand_Duchess

I record everything.

Maprilynne

Author Waiting in the Wings

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

skelly

Kickin it old school, posers beware