When writing changes from a fantasy, to a possibility

by Maureen L. Bonatch 

November is a time most reflect upon what they’re thankful for. One of things I’m thankful for is the teachers who encourage our young writers.

Recently at a routine appointment for my teen twins, the doctor asked my one of my girls, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I held my breath for her response…

“A writer,” she said.

Part of me rallied in celebration while another part trembled in an ingrained, underlying fear... 

Back in the day, when I was of the age to ponder the same question, I was under the impression there were three options for a woman if you weren’t staying home with the young ins’.

 A nurse, a secretary or a teacher.

Fast forward to today, I’ve been all of them and none of them were what I wanted to be, which was…a writer.

But I wouldn’t dare to say the word aloud because I didn’t think it was an option. The few times I gathered the courage to submit something to a teacher weren’t met with the positive encouragement a young writer requires to build their fragile self-esteem. 

Thankfully, in this day and age, the opportunities and encouragement is more abundant for young writers to test the waters out in writing. 

Because it’s no longer just a fantasy… it’s a possibility.

I’ve been quick to tell my gals that at thirteen they're already writers as they pen their Percy Jackson Fan fiction  on Wattpad  and have had an essay published in Teen Ink (courtesy the encouragement to submit by one of their teachers).

Oh and my girls favorite genre to read and write? You guessed it; Fantasy and Paranormal… must be genetic.

 

A little information about a few opportunities for young writers: 

NationalNovel Writing Month happens every November! It's a fun, seat-of-your-pants writing event where the challenge is to complete an entire novel in just 30 days. For one month, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!That means participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable, yet challenging, individual word-count goals.In 2013, over 300,000 adults participated through our main site, and nearly 90,000 young writers participated through the YWP.

 
Click here to see how educators can  Help bring NaNoWri to the schools and our young writers.

Wattpad is a writing community in which users are able to post articles, stories, fan fiction, and poems about anything either online or through the Wattpad app. The content includes work by undiscovered and published writers. Users are able to comment and like stories or join groups associated with the website. Around half of the users are U.S. based; most users also come from the U.K., Canada, the Philippines, Australia, United Arab Emirates and more.

Teen Ink 

 Teen Ink, is a national teen magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely to teenage writing, art, photos, and forums. For over 25 years, Teen Ink has offered teens the opportunity to publish their creative work and opinions on issues that affect their lives – everything from love and family to school, current events, and self-esteem. Hundreds of thousands of students, aged 13 -19, have submitted their work to us and we have published more than 55,000 teens since 1989.

Distributed through classrooms by English and Art teachers, and available in libraries nationwide, Teen Ink magazine offers some of the most thoughtful and creative work generated by teens today. We have no staff writers or artists; we depend completely on submissions from teenagers around the world for our content. Teen Ink has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind.

So tell me, what are you thankful for this November?

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When Your Muse Deserts You, Retreat to the Boob Tube

Well, the summer heat has officially exited Phoenix and in its place is the cold, cold winter. I started my evening ritual of lighting some really nice candles I've stocked and amidst all the chaos I'm trying to relax. Unfortunately, some of the winds here can get a bit, shall we say, crazy with high mph winds that can pretty much knock you over. And so it happened with a couple of boxes we had stacked up in the back. A few fell into our pool, 10 degrees colder than outside which was 50 F at the time, and my family and I had to go in and fish them out. One of the casualties was a big ole box of my family's sci-fi entertainment mags. Seeing Captain Sulu stuck down at the bottom of the pool did not make this geek gal happy!

Alas, we did get everything back and they're all drying back in a nice, dry heat conditioned room. As I looked at the list of tv shows and movies I loved, it got me thinking about fan fiction.

Now, don't go running just yet. Fan fiction has a bad rep because of the vast array of writing talents and how far *ahem* some go with favorite characters. The things I've heard made my hair stand up but I want to address the fan fic on the lighter end of things.

Sometimes when I get a dry spell and I'm in between finishing projects, I want to keep my writing juices going. Sometimes music doesn't work, even though I love to write with music like my fellow PRomantics, and even watching my favorites don't work as well. My left brain critic is yelling way too loud.

One way to shut it up was writing in a pre-existing universe. And that's what we'll call it instead of "fan fiction" just to get our minds on the other side of the road. :-)

Writing in a pre-existing universe can be a sort of writing prompt to get you into that right brained mode. You don't worry about what people would think because they already love these characters like you do. You don't have to worry about where the character came from, just where they're going. Often times movies or tv shows would end before their run or end in a certain way that was unsatisfactory.

For instance, I enjoyed the first two seasons of the new Battlestar Galactica. I LOVE the original series and was reluctant to get into the new one until I got into a group with like-minded folks who were fans of my favorite pairing. Unfortunately, my couple was put through the ringer and even more so my favorite character who pretty much disappeared until she met a tragic end towards the end of the show. Bummer.

Needless to say, I was not happy. So I wrote my own version of the show, tying in much of the mythology and what was hinted at toward the beginning. All the while leading up to a banging conclusion. At least that was my goal. It was pretty awesome because readers on a message board enjoyed my stories and I loved writing for them. I guess that's another draw of fan fic. When you write books and stories professionally in the publishing arena, you don't really get instant feedback. People may buy your work and enjoy it, but you don't really know until you happen on a particular forum, comments section or a nice review. It's pretty much one story after another. But when writing in a "pre-existing universe" with set fans who share interest in the world in one place, you get instant feedback and the enthusiasm can be wonderful for creative juices.

Youtube, aka the great time suck (at least for me ;-)) is rife with tons of creator driven shared universe music videos along with completely new creations. Take for example this video from the remade Thomas Crown Affair movie.






Maybe it's because the song has been in my head all week that I thought of this particular vid but the movie and song work. ;-)

Now, forget for a moment that there will be a sequel coming in 2011. The movie ended with the couple sharing a kiss after the heroine's angry outburst from the hero tricking her. But what happens after that? Where do they go from there? That could be a great writing prompt to explore and to get you into that right brained more to just focusing on exploring that story.

How about we take it further?

What if the characters were different, say they were each of a different background and culture, making them an interracial couple. How would the story change? Or, what if the roles were reversed? What if she were the rich, affluent business woman/thief and he was the insurance claims agent who loves the chase and was sent to interrogate her? (If anyone knows of a story like that, please let me know cause I'd SO read it!)

Suddenly the story changes and your mind sees the many possibilities.

This is just a few little things that helped me get over my brain block a few times. Plus I got to flex my writing muscle and write a fun story to boot. I even got a few of my own ideas from watching upcoming movie trailers of films I haven't seen to this day. But the way the trailer was cut with the music and the actors just sparked something in my brain. I don't suggest doing this with book series simply because the authors are more protective of their work and characters. TV shows and movies work better because it's more of a collaborative effort rather than belonging to one and plus you already have a wonderful visual representation of the characters!

How about you guys? Any great writing prompts you pull out of your hat when the going gets tough?