Scene Two, I think I can, I think I can

Well, scene two is up over at NIP [The name of which I have changed to NIP IT IN THE BUTT, partly because that's one of my favorite sayings, and partly because that's what my internal editor is doing to me.] The scene needs work. But I am resisting.

Oh, but last night, as I was trying [unsuccessfully] to go to sleep, I remembered that I forgot something crucial in the scene. I had already turned off the computer, so I didn't get up and change it. Eventually, I talked myself out of the crucial-ness of the detail. I don't know if I'll add it later, but I'm trying to figure out where I want to go from here.

I have a general idea of where the story is going. It's probably going to be a kid's book or Young Adult [YA], so I got some at the library to find out how much gory detail I should go into, and to get an idea of the genre.

I know, I probably should have done more of that before now, but I tend to be a little backwards anyway.

I know there will be elements of fantasy [or maybe it's spec fiction, not sure yet exactly] because I love that kind of stuff. I decided to do children's [or YA] not because it's easier [ha ha, none of it's easy, at least not for me, unless I'm blogging, because I just write whatever comes to mind. Hey, maybe I should do that at NIP?] but because it's what I really like.

When I was thinking about the kind of stories I love the most, the things that kept coming to mind were stories like Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and the Harry Potter series. Yeah, I guess I'm just a kid at heart, and maybe a complete dork, but there you go.

I read LW and AOGG when I was a teenager, and those stories just resonated with me. I read HP as an adult [after some people said it was evil. I can't help it. You tell me something is Of The Devil, and I have to investigate to see for myself. I've found that it's almost never as bad as what people think.] Anyway, I realized that I still love kid's stories.

And I've found that my stories just end up having main characters that are kids. And the rule I've read about that is that your target audience can only be as old as your MC, and since Thea and her friends are thirteen, it looks like I'm writing a kid's book. Or Young Adult, I'm not sure where the cutoff is, which brings me back around to the library, and research.

This post is feeling a bit like one of those Family Circuses where the kid goes everywhere in the town before reaching his destination a block from home. You remember those? Yeah, that's me today.

But I'm working this around in my mind, and it just feels right that my MCs are teenagers. I don't know. We'll see where it goes from here.

You're welcome to read the new scene, but with the standard disclaimer: It's a first draft. The scene isn't perfect, it's not even good yet, but I think there's potential, and right now that's all I'm going for.

Onward, dear friends!