Progress

I have been working on a new novel idea... I call it an idea until it is at least halfway finished and since I am only in the planning stages--it's a not even a baby yet. I'm trying to make the actual story much more simple this time around because what has always caught me up in the past is the scale of how I write.

I do too much.

I like to create worlds--not like Hunger Games or Lord of the Rings--I'm much more of a real world writer with a young adult focus. I find something interesting within the world of teens; the idea of identity, the small social interactions and the idea of the future being a focus which all action moves towards.

Some would call me a snob.

But with that view comes a huge issue of scale--its not enough to have a protagonist and atagonist, a love interest or two... I find myself often creating a social network for my teens to exist in with parents and friends, teachers and bullies, part time jobs and lofty future goals. So what I am trying to do is scale that back somehow...

It's a process.

But I think it also allows me to have a style to my work. I hope that people can see a world when they read my worlds, filled with places and things they remember or are experiencing... First time relationships, the boredom and freedom of after school jobs, the lunches at the mall, the excitement of parties, the push between who they are and how their parents see them.

But I really just want someone who wants to read about my characters; whether they are a confused bi-sexual boy in a sports family or a little Eurasian girl deserted by her father, or a prom queen with a heart of gold who may be a boy or a girl. I just have to put the words out there.

That's the hard part.