I finally got around to reading my NaNoWriMo manuscript. (Looks like I'm not going to succeed in completing NaNoEdMo. hahaha.)
My reaction? It's not bad. As I expected, it's messy. There are lots of narrative threads and characters that were abandoned, some that were added late in the story and need to be fleshed out.
Things I like...I like the main character, Sam. I suppose I'd need some male readers to tell me how believable he is. I like the relationship between him and his girl best friend Amanda. (One thing that worries me...I like the relationship between them so much that I'm afraid readers will wonder why he doesn't end up with her.) I like the way the momentum builds toward the end of the story.
Potential problems...well, I need to flesh out Sam's crush a lot more. Why does he like Julia? Why should he be with her? I also need to work on the tone/narrative voice. It's all over the place. I want Sam to be funnier. I want this to be a fun, lighthearted read. It can have angst, yes (I mean, it is about teenagers after all), but I need it to lighten up. It ends on a fun, light, Shakespearean comedy-esque note, and I think it needs more of that throughout.
Looking back at the beginning, and having rewatched the movie yesterday, I realize that I was trying to write Mean Girls. When I described the plot to Rand, he reminded me that it sounded a lot like Some Kind of Wonderful (which I saw, but only vaguely remember...). So there's that to deal with...not that I can expect to tell a completely unique story (I don't think there's any such thing), but how I can make it fresh, make it my own.
What it's lacking is a hook. What Rand calls a high concept. What the movie industry would call a crossroads. What makes it unique? What would make someone want to pick it up? What's the thing that, were I shopping this, would get it sold? Right now, nothing. Hrm.
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My reaction? It's not bad. As I expected, it's messy. There are lots of narrative threads and characters that were abandoned, some that were added late in the story and need to be fleshed out.
Things I like...I like the main character, Sam. I suppose I'd need some male readers to tell me how believable he is. I like the relationship between him and his girl best friend Amanda. (One thing that worries me...I like the relationship between them so much that I'm afraid readers will wonder why he doesn't end up with her.) I like the way the momentum builds toward the end of the story.
Potential problems...well, I need to flesh out Sam's crush a lot more. Why does he like Julia? Why should he be with her? I also need to work on the tone/narrative voice. It's all over the place. I want Sam to be funnier. I want this to be a fun, lighthearted read. It can have angst, yes (I mean, it is about teenagers after all), but I need it to lighten up. It ends on a fun, light, Shakespearean comedy-esque note, and I think it needs more of that throughout.
Looking back at the beginning, and having rewatched the movie yesterday, I realize that I was trying to write Mean Girls. When I described the plot to Rand, he reminded me that it sounded a lot like Some Kind of Wonderful (which I saw, but only vaguely remember...). So there's that to deal with...not that I can expect to tell a completely unique story (I don't think there's any such thing), but how I can make it fresh, make it my own.
What it's lacking is a hook. What Rand calls a high concept. What the movie industry would call a crossroads. What makes it unique? What would make someone want to pick it up? What's the thing that, were I shopping this, would get it sold? Right now, nothing. Hrm.