Thread: So guys, this is what I've been up to for the past year.

I think it's about time I open the curtains!

I've been gathering thoughts, writing fragments, and thinking up ideas for this project that has had me obsessed for the past year. It's a story about a 16 year old boy named Arthur, who due to his father's line of work, moves to a small city called Golden Valley. The town's a nice place; nicknamed "City of the wine and the rich" for its wine industry and the prevalence of tall, gothic-esque buildings everywhere. The school he transfers to, St. Paul Academy, is a famous and renowned boarding school with one of those huge campuses and ridiculous everything.

At first he complains; he's not the friendly sort. Honestly, I pictured Arthur at this point as a white canvas: someone completely devoid of anything unique or interesting. At first I wanted this to be a bittersweet romance YA, but as my outline matured, themes of family, friendship and lifestyle became so central it was not just a romance anymore. I wanted to portray a world that's not grim-dark, where everyone is fundamentally good, but with all of those little tragedies that are so common in our daily lives.

On his first year on St. Paul, he meets a lot of people: his best friend Jeffrey, a cool and energetic guy; May and June, two mischievous twins; Oliver and Alan, a casanova and a pretend bully; Ellen and Matthew, a genius pianist and a prodigious violinist; David and Rachel, the guys who know everyone else; Madoka, a quiet part-time clerk at a book-store. Let's not forget his family: his father John, a civil engineer who owns a construction company; his mother Catherine, a lovely, if a little eccentric house-wive and Erika, his dear younger sister.

So I have this... huge cast of characters, each one with a purpose a story to tell. This story is not about Arthur, it's the story of all these people, and how Arthur learns the beauty and sadness of living and the meaning of hopes and dreams. Each one of these characters is connected to someone else, but especially to Golden Valley, the place where it's all happening. The catch is that it's becoming quite the overwhelming story, but there is no hurry. I'm not even sure how many books it will take to write this, but it's a theme that only keeps getting richer as time passes, so I think I'm going to go through with this story.

I'm planning on dividing the story in smaller "arcs" where Arthur spends more time with each of the main characters. The tone will be more often than not be comical, cheerful and sometimes even nonsensical, only to drastically fall into a powerful dramatic climax as each of the problems that plague these characters surface. All the lessons he learned on the way will help him make it through the tragedies that await him near the end. I'm a fan of bittersweet endings, and that's what I'm making!

What do you guys think of this? It's the result of one year of brainstorming, and I'm probably not going to get even near finishing any time soon. Maybe I'll start my writing career with another project, but this is the reason I joined this forum. I'm going to write this anyways, but do you think it would sell? Since it's YA and somewhere down the middle in the scale of idealism and cynicism, I fear it won't appeal a wide audience.

... The tone will be more often than not be comical, cheerful and sometimes even nonsensical, only to drastically fall into a powerful dramatic climax as each of the problems that plague these characters surface. All the lessons he learned on the way will help him make it through the tragedies that await him near the end. I'm a fan of bittersweet endings, and that's what I'm making! ...

Since it's YA and somewhere down the middle in the scale of idealism and cynicism, I fear it won't appeal a wide audience.

If you can pull off the first part - the tone - you won't need to fear; it's appeal will be quite broad.

I want to live in a city of wine and rich people.

It sounds cool, elite. I like to juggle these large ensemble casts and complex interacting stories also, but it can get tricky.

It doesn't matter what we think, Elite. If you like the ideas and you put the effort into creating something workable from them, then write them.

I want to live in a city of wine and rich people.

It sounds cool, elite. I like to juggle these large ensemble casts and complex interacting stories also, but it can get tricky.

So do I =D

Actually, the city is heavily inspired in Bento Goncalves, a city in the mountainous region of Brasil. The amount of wealth in that city (compared to the rest of the state) is ridiculous. My parents set up a store there and life there is quite expensive. The most famous wines of Brasil come from there!

Originally Posted by Candra H

It doesn't matter what we think, Elite. If you like the ideas and you put the effort into creating something workable from them, then write them.

To me opinions are very important, because I believe that if writing was only for myself, there would be no reason to write to begin with. I write to express an emotion to those who read, and I care about what they think about it!

Oh yeah, an update on my story. I felt something was off when I began outlining the events; something had been putting me off from getting really into this and I found out why. There where two characters I wanted to write about the most: Ellen and Jeffrey. Initially, Jeffrey becomes Arthur's best friend, and Ellen's Arthur's love interest. But today at the bus I noticed the thing that's making this so hard: my main character. Jeff and Ellen are both great characters, and I wanted to get them to have a much more central role in the story. The solution was painfully easy, I wanted them to be the main character's all along. Arthur was nothing but a way to put myself into the story, I now see that. When I take Arthur out of the picture, and put these two opposite characters together in the middle of the action, everything felt much more dynamic; my characters came to life!

Originally Posted by elite

To me opinions are very important, because I believe that if writing was only for myself, there would be no reason to write to begin with.

I have no strong views on this one way or the other, but judging by what I've heard others say, their belief is that you write for yourself. And I've read that literally hundreds of times.

Originally Posted by elite

Arthur was nothing but a way to put myself into the story, I now see that. When I take Arthur out of the picture, and put these two opposite characters together in the middle of the action, everything felt much more dynamic; my characters came to life!

That's a good feeling, isn't it? Like making a discovery ...

Originally Posted by The Backward Ox

I have no strong views on this one way or the other, but judging by what I've heard others say, their belief is that you write for yourself. And I've read that literally hundreds of times.

So have I. I think it is only really true for diarists, or it's a limitation (reduction) of the view:
When writing, you are communicating to an audience of one - the reader -
even if you hope it's a million ones.

Horses for courses again. If I spent my time considering what others think of my ideas, I'd never get anything done. And how long would it be before Elite's desire for outside input (encouragement) becomes a crutch until he's no longer able to dream up an idea at all without someone else telling him it's a goer. Hence, what we think of his proposal is unimportant. If he likes his ideas, write them, and ask for outside opinions once the story is finished and ready for workshopping/submitting. Thats how I work anyway.