My Story Conundrum and a Little Food for Thought

Recently, I got sucked back into a story I started back in middle school and then abandoned.  I'm entering my senior year of college so a pretty good chunk of time has passed...yet I can't seem to let this story go.  I've done a lot of rewriting, shifted gears from 1st person to 3rd, created 3 new characters, and really fleshed out the whole story...to the point that I don't know what it is anymore.  The two MCs are a seventeen-year-old boy nearing eighteen and his sixteen-year-old girlfriend. 

Originally, I intended this MS to be Young Adult.  There's nothing supernatural in this story.  With paranormal being such a hit in MG, YA, and Adult books, I know this story's a bit of a risk.  It deals with events like first loss, first love, trusting someone and being led astray, acceptance, growing up, etc., etc.  Those several themes I listed are not uncommon in YA. 

Here's the catch: I have a sex scene.  And it isn't some vague setup: "they fell into a tangle of limbs...passionate kissing" end scene before the good stuff.  I use words like "erection" and "breast" which are obvious no-nos in the YA genre.  I SHOULD just scratch the scene and rewrite some vague, glossed over idea of it...and yet I can't. 

I find the United States' stickler about sex so ridiculous.  We try to avoid it and scare the young population away from it (even though it dominates our music, movies, and television) by talking about the diseases.  As a result we have TV shows about pregnant 15 and 16 years olds.  And it isn't uncommon to hear through the grapevine about some middle schoolers having sex and winding up pregnant--at 13 or under. 

Sex is a natural thing.  By avoiding it--we end up with horror stories like these.  In Europe, they show an animated clip in Sexual Education that, along with the possible diseases and the necessity of using protection, actually shows how to touch the erogenous zones so that sex is pleasurable.  Another common incident here in the great US or A is that a large number of women fake orgasms.  Why?  Because people don't take the time or effort to learn about sex in today's busy world.  Europe's number of pregnant and diseased teens is also less than ours.  Of course, this video can't be found ANYWHERE online, but I had the opportunity to watch it in a special, one time class at school, and it was actually smart.  It made me think seriously about our country's Sex Ed choices, which I find lacking.

Now, I know that I can't change our Sex Ed, and fighting to keep the sex scene in my MS is a sure way to not get published, but I feel like it's important.  It's a very real part of growing up, trial and error, and first love.  I guess what I'm getting at with this little rant is that I wish there was a bridging level between YA and Adult where the characters could still be teenagers, but the sex scene could be true. 

And now that I've shared my thoughts on the matter--and I hope you'll share yours--I can get back to working on the story mentioned.

No writer strictly writes

At least, not that I've ever met.  I love doing art projects.  I enjoy drawing, making dream catchers, necklaces, and now I think I'm getting into masks.  I've always loved masks--I want to decorate my future home in fans, masks, and weapons--but I've never actually had one.  This past weekend, a friend and I decided to make masks and I love how mine came out.

This is me posing in my mask.  I think this may become my summer hobby.  I wrote some of my favorite words on it and I'll likely keep adding to it as time goes on.

Writing a killer Chapter One

If you're serious about writing--and succeeding with it--you know the first things that I reader looks at is the cover, title, blurbs, back description, etc.  But before you even get to that point, you have to pass the trials of editors, agents, and publishers.  And how you do that is with a really grabbing first sentence--and a killer Chapter One.

Today while getting lost in internet links and following the long line of suggestions deeper into the abyss, I stumbled on an article high lighting eight ways to write Chapter One Amazing.  I hope you find as much food for thought as I did; I can never find enough suggestions to improve my writing.

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/8-ways-to-write-a-5-star-chapter-one/

Happy writing!

My Muse has ADHD

Some authors can actually visualize their Muses: male, female, short, tall—all that good stuff.  I can’t.  My muse is a dark silhouette that dashes around the labyrinth of my mind and shifts shape and form constantly.  I’m fine with that, as long as it guides me straight, it can be a crow for all I care. 

So, a little while back a friend gave me the good advice of settling on 20 stories out of the hundreds I’ve started and dedicate myself to those 20.  Those 20 will be the ones I fight alongside until the end (publication, hopefully).  The list turned out to be 22 (including 2 manuscripts I’d already completed minus editing) and today it hit 23.  Why?  Because my Muse is ADHD.  Really. 

Most people can focus on one story and dedicate themselves to it….much like a relationship.  Not me.  Usually I’m continuously working on at least three with several on the back burner (I’m very committed in relationships though—I would never cheat).  Today, my Muse (maybe I’ll call it Crow) flew to an old story idea—one that I started, got several pages in, built a rough skeleton outline, and then left.  Well, now, not only have I been thinking about that story all day, and hearing the hero's voice in my head commanding an introduction with the heroine who escaped him, but I’ve got characters and a skeletal storyline for book 2.  Really?  Really?!  As if I don’t have enough characters in my mental army.  22—23 stories, each with a minimum of 2 characters (math is not my strong suit—bear with me!) puts me with about 46 made up people marching through my mind more or less on a daily basis. 

I may go insane before the end. 

Writing Tools, Galore

I don't exactly have my ear to the ground about anything.  I'm a junior in college, I'm trying to juggle writing, classes, working.  I'm an editor on my school's literary journal, I've been researching a summer writing institute that's oddly named after my MC (a sign??), picking workshops for NH Writers' Day....I've been crazy busy.  But on top of all of that, I've also been trying to pick back up on Twitter, Blogging (I started an account with Tumblr) and I'm told to check out WordPress.

Here's the thing.  As soon as I start again, I get overwhelmed.  There are so many links, so many suggestions, and I know I can't just pick one thing and stick with that--one isn't enough.  I need a better balance.  Blog daily, blog often.  Tweet multiple times through the day.  Check these sites out.  Write. 

Obviously these are all invaluable tools in the writing industry.  But I don't know how to use most of them.  Writing is like war, I can't stop, I have to keep moving forward, even when I feel like I'm just flailing through it. 

Anyone feel like sharing what works for them?