On Monday I made a few Pre-Resolutions after getting all inspired by The Rejectionist's hobbitworthy glee at the idea of test running resolutions during December.
Sound like a good idea? I thought so.
Sadly my good intentions have not been equalling success, although I don't think I've outright failed just yet either.
I have written in some form every day, whether it be a blog post, or on my WIP. I'm not actually adding anything to my WIP at the moment, but more revising/going back over it to jog my memory. So no actual increase in words there.
There has been NO progress on the Christmas presents. I do have an idea for one of them but I can't start it until next week when all my stuff arrives (including my crafty stuff). But I'm quite excited about that one. It has something to do with the song lyrics to Walking in the Air from The Snowman. Very Christmasy.
Aaand... exercise. Actually better than expected but by no means spectacular. I want for a walk. Yep.. That's it. In my defence, it has been pouring down with rain here. There's been flooding even. But I know, it's weak. I'm not really the exercising type. I'll try to be better.
So now my goal is to tilt the spectrum more toward the success end. With any luck I'll be writing 5k words per day while going hard on the exercycle for an hour while the paint dries on the amazing Christmas presents I've made.
Hey, it's good to think big right?
Have you thought about your resolutions?
Hi, spotted your #askagent question on twitter about YA, and popped over to check out the book, since the most common mistake made by YA writers is making their main character too old for the target readership.
ReplyDeleteYA is for the teen readership, filling the gap between 9-12 age band in UK childrens fiction (8-12 yrs, Middle Grade in the US), and 18+ adult fiction. Therefore, most readers are going to fall into the 13-16yr old age band, ie, young teens, and you need a main character they can empathise with. That usually rules out 18yr old, and above, main protagonists, and I see in your WIP your main character is 18. She is also looking for grandparents, which is a storyline more suited to a young teen main character, 13-14yrs old. (Young teens would consider themselves adult at 18 and are liable to wonder why your character would need grandparents to look after her at that age). Since 'voice' is so important in YA fiction, your 18yr old character is liable to sound either too young for her age, or too old for the genre, so you risk falling between two genre stools of YA and Adult Fantasy.
All the best,
Naomi
(@namott on twitter)
Hi Naomi,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the advice.
I'll have to really consider who I want the story to be aimed at, and who the voice is more suited for, and may have to reconsider the MCs age.
I understand your point about grandparents. In this situation she's no longer really being looked after by them, but she was raised by them as her mother is dead and father unknown. They're her only family so when they disappear she goes after them.
She's just finished school (18 is the average school leavers age in Australia and NZ, is it different in the US and UK?) so is probably just ready to move out on her own. Although that isn't really explored in the story.
Again thanks heaps for your help Naomi,
Sari
I stopped making resolutions a long time ago because I never succeeded at them. Sigh. Good luck with your goals.
ReplyDeleteIt's not different in the US for leaving high school. 17/18. Sometimes, depending on where their birthday fell they might be a little older. Or if they got held back or skipped a grade. I had a girl in my class growing up that was on the older end of the class age spectrum and was in driver's ed before any of the rest of us. We had a guy in our class who was 19 when we all graduated because that's just where his birthday had hit.
Stephanie I know what you mean. I'm terrible at keeping to them. I keep trying though. I keep telling myself 'maybe oneday I'll actually make those changes'.
ReplyDeleteI thought the ages might be the same. Now I have a problem on my hands about what to do with my MC. I think my WIP is definitely a YA, but I'm seeing more and more that the voice needs to be revised because it's too old. And not sure what to do about the age because the fact that she's 18 is quite important to the story..
Hmm.. decisions, decisions.