Joyously Prolific

Page 118. This rewrite is going so well! It's gained a couple pages, too, but that's all right.

A couple years ago I never would have considered trying to write a YA novel. I'm not a teen, and haven't been for a lllllong time. But then people started telling me that my writing 'voice' fit YA books. I decided to give it a try. The Good People of Coralville is the earliest attempt. Differential Equations and Waiting for the Last Dance came next. And you know... I feel comfortable with them. I like the stories, and I like the characters.

And there, I think, is the problem a lot of new writers have. They don't really find characters that they're comfortable with and can live with for the length of time it takes to write a novel. There are those who want to write about dark, nasty characters that they want to be heroes and then fine that they get tired of them. (And, of course, you have to think about publication. There are not a lot of publishers out there looking for evil main characters. Every now and then one comes along, but not often enough to call it a trend in publishing.)

The characters I write too often tend in the opposite direction -- too good to be real. Those are the kinds of characters I like to read, but I understand that most of mine are too flat. I try to work on that in rewrites and edits. Sometimes I manage, and sometimes not.

But I usually like the stories, and lately -- hanging around so many other writers -- I begin to think that's kind of unusual.

I'm going to do some more editing, and then I'm off to bed. This may well be the final psot before then.

Good writing to everyone.