What one would you want to read if it was in a book?

Writing Topics

“Christian in a Secular World”- A 13 year old girl is faced with pain and suffering but stands strong in Christ, leading her family to Jesus.

“Cool Fool”- two friends, Meg and Jackie, are struggling to keep their friendship when peer pressure pulls them apart.

“Elisabeth”- 8 year old Elisabeth lives on a farm and looses her mom.

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“England Orphan Twins”-twin girls are orphaned in England and find themselves on a ship to America

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“Integrity Boarding School”- 8th graders Allegra, Kindra “Kindie”, Sophia, and Mica are attending a boarding school.

“Orphan Hopes”- Susanna is an abused orphan who gets adopted by a large Christian family.

“Orphanage”- A girl’s parents die when she is a baby and by the time she is 13, her grandmother dies and she is forced to live in an orphanage.

“Piper and the Blizzard”- A misunderstood non Christian girl runs away from her family, gets caught in a Blizzard, rescued by a Christian couple, and changes her ways.

“Slave Sisters”- An abolitionist 13 year old girl takes her slave that she got for her birthday and runs away, taking her friend to freedom.

“Christmas Story”- a girl named Noelle and her older sister are orphaned and homeless on Christmas.


click on the links for pics that inspired the stories

They all sound pretty much alike. Every one is about girls, and most of them have Christian themes. These stories don't seem to aim at a general market. Have you tried asking the question at a forum connected to Christian publishing for youth?

Besides, there's a lot more to a story than can be told in a one-line summary. "What the story is about" isn't the main factor in whether a reader would like it. So I can't vote for one of them.

I'd want to read the one that was incredibly well-written, had great characterization, good dialogue, and a perfect ending.

It isn't a one line plot that makes a good novel, it's any plot that's is well-written.

How about:

Jesus and the kitchen sink--about a young girl who takes a group of orphans on a ship through a blizzard at Christmastime to freedom on a farm, where she converts them all to Christianity and saves their filthy heathen souls.

These folks are dead on, Lissapup. You're asking us how the sizzle should be sold while you hide the T-bone. As much as titles and blurbs have some draw they do little to sell a good piece. Had Homer named The Iliad "That Girl," he would still have a decent following.

Which one?

I'd say, choose the one that has most conflict. The one where the stakes are highest, moral stakes first of all. The one that provides striking contrast in characters, settings, values.

Christian stories are incredibly hard to write. You'll need all the emotion and conflict available to make them 3-dimensional and believable, as opposed to preachy.

Re: Which one?

These all seem to be just premises: put some characters (usually girls) in a situation (being orphaned or going somewhere)... but what are the stories?

Re: Which one?

The thing is. All I have right now is the general idea for the stories. I just wanted to know which one you would be interested in reading based on a 1 or 2 sentence blurb. I can't decide on which one I should work on. These were all ideas starting from when I was in 6th grade, 2 years ago.

I have another idea.

the main character is a 13 year old girl with green eyes and straggly brown hair that reaches to her shoulders. She is shy and lacks confidence. Her dad was arrested and she, her mom, and younger sibblings left town. Her mom was unable to afford to send her younger children to preschool, so she can't work. The family soon lost their home. Now the main character has to lie to her classmates. She says that her father works for the goverment and is always away on buisness trips. In order to stay in school, she says that she isn't allowed to give her address and phone number to anyone. Her birthname was in newspapers after her father was arrested along with her sibblings' so they changed their names.

Re: Which one?

Lissa, writers in the 8th grade should not be looking to others to choose their work, nor should writers of any age unless someone is paying for the privilege.

Choose the one that interests *you* the most. Please don't say you can't decide, because you have to. You're the only one who can make this choice, and it will be good practice. You're going to be making this same sort of choice every time you start a new project.

Good luck.

Re: Which one?

Not to be rude, but you can count your ideas as they come until the cow comes home. There's truth in the saying: "Ideas are dime a dozen." Pick one and run with it. It's not about the ideas; it's about how you write the story.

I'm thinking about having a tennager (13-14 year old) girl named Jaci who is homeless. Her mom, 2 year old siblings Karston and Liberty (Kars and Libby) live with Jaci in a homeless shelter in the winter and in the woods outside of town when the weather is war. They are new in town because they left they're old home after their dad got arrested (why? i dont know yet). Jaci is trying to keep her secret so she doesn't get kicked out of school. She says that her dad's job is keeping her from letting everyone know about where they live.The problem is that she meets a group of girls and they become best friends. Jaci's friends become suspicious. One of the main probles is that the rest of the girls went to volunteer in the homeless shelter during Christmas break and Jaci ran away. Jaci is afraid that even her friends wil betray her and tell everyone that she is homeless. Jaci's mom won't let Jaci tell anyone because 1) she is ashamed 2) her mom never graduated.

Lissa, have you considered joining a writing group?

Jen

not really.

Lissa, in your two most recent posts, you're still just describing characters in a situation. Giving a girl long hair and green eyes, or a sister, or a sister and a brother, or an unhappy home life, doesn't make a story interesting. The story will be interesting, or not, depending on what you do with the elements you choose. Several responses have made this same point by now. Please take them seriously.

A writing group would be a great place to work out the details of your story ideas and get feedback. You could look for an on-line group, or a local group that meets in person. Does your school offer any creative writing classes or after-school clubs? If not, perhaps you could start a group of your own.

Almost inevitably, there comes a stage in our writing when it turns from fun into work. I think it's safe to say most of us hate the work part. For some it's getting beyond the ideas stage. For others it's revising. For still others it's submitting.

If you want to progress as a writer, you need to get beyond the fun part and into the work. Asking others what they'd like to read, instead of doing the writing (work) is a delaying/avoidance tactic. (We all use them by the way, at one time or another - like, um, posting on message boards.)

Sooner or later though, if you want to make the leap from wannabe to writer, you need to just knuckle down and do it. Then you can ask folks what they think about your writing, instead of your ideas.

I'm thinking about having a tennager (13-14 year old) girl named Jaci who is homeless. Her mom, 2 year old siblings Karston and Liberty (Kars and Libby) live with Jaci in a homeless shelter in the winter and in the woods outside of town when the weather is war. They are new in town because they left they're old home after their dad got arrested (why? i dont know yet). Jaci is trying to keep her secret so she doesn't get kicked out of school.

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All this is still just plot, and it all means nothing. You can plot until you're old and gray, and it will still mean nothing. One is just as good, or as bad, as another, and any will make a good story or a bad story. Plot and ideas just aren't important.

You need to stop thinking about what you're going to do and how you're going to do it. Forget about all this. Sit down and write the story.

Re:What one?

Novelist and poet? Lots of good points above for any writer. Personally, I enjoy picking a name of someone I know, changing the spelling a bit and making them do what I want them to do. Just as in your poetry, you write or lead the reader in the direction you want the reader to go. Not where you think the reader might want to go. If you close your eyes and think about someone doing something then all you have to do is open your eyes and start writing. It's never that easy but, basically it works for me. I put people where I want them to be and make them do the things I want them to. If it doesn't come out the way you wanted it the first time, you can always rethink it and then rewrite it and if you get stuck and can't think of anything (that's writers block) then you are becoming a writer.

Re: Re:What one?

Lissapup, what you've shown us are characters and situations. Not a bad place to start. But a situation (girl's dad is in jail) is not a story. So pick a situation, sit down, and write what happened next.

Make it interesting. Make it surprising. Make the reader want to find out what happened next. Imagine you're telling this story to your friends, and they're waiting to find out what your characters will do.

...and then what happened?

...and then what happened?

...and how did it end?

Now you've got a story to work with.

Re: Re:What one?

I agree. You have some good "premises" -- people, places, and situations. Now sit down and write it out: What happens next?