Ideas, Ideas, Everywhere

Turning my writing focus from my kids’ book to Young Adult fiction means that I’ve been back in the full-on “ideas” stage of writing recently.

At its heart, this is a very exciting time, especially as I LOVE brainstorming and running after new things.  My brain is always flying off on tangents and into a myriad possibilities, so this time should suit me down to the ground and it does.  But…

Having too many ideas can quickly become overwhelming.  That can then easily translate into paralysis and indecision.  And so, despite the loveliness of being able to constantly brainstorm and muse over exciting new ideas, I’ve found myself floundering as well.  Coming up with ideas isn’t a problem.  Deciding which idea to pursue is the difficult thing.

Originally I wanted to write something that I’ve code-named CAF.  It’s a fairly big idea – a quest story, with identity and some spiritual stuff at the heart of it.  So, I had decided to put that to one side for now so that I can get experience writing YA on potentially easier projects, before tackling what could be a more major one.  But on the other hand, it’s the story that I feel a real deep passion for, so why not just get on with it?

However, with that uncertainty, I’ve also been considering what else I could write.  Ideas come from everywhere and anywhere, all the time.

When I was at the lunch table at Swanwick, the lady I was sat next to misunderstood my friend’s name slightly.  This sparked off thoughts about a potential story idea around choices and gifts.

When I was at a Major Incident Response Group training module last year, we were being taught about CBRN incidents, and as part of that we were talked through the official response.  It completely grabbed me and immediately presented itself as thrilling matter for a story.  I sat there scribbling down as much detail as possible as fast as I could, which must have looked pretty funny as no one else was bothering to take notes!

Another area I’ve always found fascinating is cloning – not in the serious scientific sense though, but more the personal and psychological impact and repercussions of it.  I’ve got an idea for that that’s initially quite fun, but then becomes more serious and chilling.  It has the potential to be expanded as a standalone story or I could embed it into the CAF story.

Sooooooo many possibilities!

I watched Robert Harris on Breakfast last week, talking about his new book “An Officer and A Spy”.  It’s a fascinating and thrilling sounding story, but it was how it came about that particularly interested me, given where I’m at at the moment.  He went to Paris to meet Roman Polanski and talk through an idea he had for a new story.  Roman (or should I say Mr Polanski? I have no idea about social etiquette, I just like to be friendly!) had on his bookshelf several books about Captain Alfred Dreyfus.  They started talking about it, Roman said he’d always wanted to make it into a film and Robert decided to work with him on that, writing it as a novel first and then translating it into a screenplay.

Great tale, but I wanted to know more!  How much did he have to consider following that story rather than his original story idea?  Was it an easy decision or did he take a while to be convinced it was the right way to go?  Has he put the original idea aside to come back to in the future or decided not to bother with it ever?  I guess my underlying question is – do all authors suffer from indecision about a potential idea or do they just “know” when the right one presents itself?

I’m off on my Arvon YA course tomorrow and I’m sure that lots more potential ideas will pop up during the week!  However, I’m pretty sure I know which of my existing ideas I should get on with and pursue first, although doubts still bubble up about whether or not it’s the right choice.  They probably will for some time.

At the end of the day, writing anything - even if it turns out to be a naff idea ultimately or never gets published for whatever reason - is still valuable practice at writing.  I can’t spend my time going round in circles trying to work out which idea to go for rather than writing, coz to be a writer you have to write (not think)!  Time to go and read my previous post on focusing rather than faffing, and then just get on with it :-)

Taken By Surprise - Progress Update on my YA Writing

So, another update post but this time with my Young Adult hat on!

Concise Update 

Finally started work on a Young Adult novel, rather than just making notes – 10,000 words written in 2 weeks

Unexpectedly got a place on an a-ma-zing Writing For Young Adults residential course at the beginning of October 

Detailed Update 

While “B4” (kids’ book) has been off in the hands of others, I have not been idle, oh no no no :-) I spent the two weeks before the school holidays making a start on my Young Adult novel and managed to crack out 10,000 words during that time. If I use "Hunger Games" as a rough benchmark then I only have another 90,000 words to go...

Young Adult literature is my passion and the genre I would always read by choice.  It took the online Oxford Writing for YA course last year for that realisation to properly dawn on me and work out that being a writer meant predominantly writing YA fiction, as far as I was concerned.

I actually only started work last summer on “B4” because I’d been carrying the idea in my head for so long, I figured I should get it out and perhaps just use it for a bit of writing practice, getting my writing muscles flexed and warmed up.  Who knew that I would fall in love with Ben and Ned so much and want to turn their adventures into a whole series?! 

Working on this YA book (let’s call it CAF for easy future reference) is an interesting and different experience to my kids' book. For a start I'm not entirely sure what it's all about. That may seem strange from a non-writers' point of view. Perhaps it's even strange from a writers' point of view :-/ I love it though!  In the same way that when a reader reads a book, the story gradually unfolds and they get to know the characters, I'm on the same journey of discovery while writing the book.

For example, when I sat down to write the first chapter, I knew my protagonist (let’s call her C), the vague setting and that she had some other people with her. But I didn't know exactly how many and who they were until I started writing. One hour and 553 words later they had appeared - a male friend and annoying girl both the same age as C, and completely unexpectedly an eight-year-old boy, who I suspect is going to become hugely significant in the course of the story. I didn't even know he existed until I got writing!  It’s such an exciting, bizarre and almost magical process!!

   
The story currently feels like a huge jigsaw, where only a few of the pieces are in place (things I know at this point).  There are so many more that are still to be filled in and connected together. I'm not even completely sure what the big picture is yet.  Musing over that is my main plan for the rest of the summer holidays.  

That musing will be much more intentional than it might have been though, as I have suddenly got possibly the ultimate opportunity for a potential YA writer!  At the beginning of the year, I discovered a Writing For Young Adults residential course that the Arvon Foundation were putting on (highly regarded organisation).  Unsurprisingly it was already sold out as it’s taking place at Ted Hughes’ old home in Hebden Bridge, only has 16 attendees and has world renowned YA writers as tutors – Melvyn Burgess, Lucy Christopher and Meg Rosoff.  Starstruck or what!!!  Having kicked myself for not having found out about it sooner, I decided to put my name on the waiting list as a “you don’t ask, you don’t get” kinda situation, figuring I’d probably be about number 167 on it ;-)

Imagine my surprise last week to get a phone call to say that a place was suddenly available for me!!!!!  Excited was a massive understatement – I kept going light-headed all day as I forgot to breathe properly :-D  The next day I kept going light-headed too, but this time the breathlessness was due to fear rather than excitement :-S  These tutors are hugely successful writers.  There’s only 16 of us on the course.  There is nowhere to hide.  Argh!!!!  I am still thrilled, but fear remains the predominant emotion!  Good fear though, I guess, the sort that should provide great motivation to get on with some serious work in the next few weeks :-)