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Young Writers Society


Like Other Girls (LMS)



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Thu Feb 09, 2017 3:58 am
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TriSARAHtops says...



Image

How do I start this thing?

Okay, so the idea I've decided on going with for LMS is basically a play on the character stereotypes of the wild child and the good girl. It's probably going to be upper YA, contemporary with a hint of romance, but more focused on ideas surrounding coming of age and a MAJOR aspect will centre on female friendship. There's also a fantasy element, but I'll get to that

My idea, as it exists currently, is about two girls. Hannah is the 'good girl', widely liked, usually described as sweet, quite shy, never puts a foot out of line. Tess, the 'wild child', is her polar opposite - outspoken, rebellious, loves a party, could hook up with anyone who takes her fancy. I'm thinking the two may have been childhood friends who drifted apart, but I'm not dead set about that.

The story begins with the reader being introduced to both girls (a side note, I'm thinking this will be written in third person limited, with a dual POV, but may still end up first person), who initially are both willing to fit into their respective good girl/wild child boxes that those around them have put them into. They don't really interact much, but they know each other from a distance.

No specifics yet, but Hannah and Tess are brought together in a way that forces them to interact with each other more. They get to know each other a little better, but still only superficially.

Both girls are brought to their lowest point (need to work out once I know the characters a little better), and wish they could have a life more like that of the other.

What I want to happen next is that Hannah and Tess both find themselves living the life of the other girl. Possibly Freaky Friday style, where they just switch bodies, or potentially more in an alternate universe style, where they're both still Hannah and Tess, but Hannah is now the wild child and Tess is the good girl. I'm deciding between the two, and also trying to work out the HOW and WHY this happened - I don't want the fantasy element to override the contemporary YA vibe I want this story to have, but I still want the 'life swapping' to make sense and not be too 'it just happened'.

The rest of the story follows Hannah and Tess as they are simultaneously trying to work out how to get back to normal life, but also trying to survive the life they've been thrown into. They come to see each other as more than just the 'good girl' and 'wild child', and see both the good things and the constraints of each other's lives. I'll get more specific in a future post because I'm all summaried out.

As a final note, if anyone has any New Adult book recommendations, that would be fab and highly appreciated. I'm not yet sure whether this will be YA or NA yet (or something between the two) and whilst I'm well versed with YA, I'm not so familiar with NA. So any recs would be great. For research!
Last edited by TriSARAHtops on Sat Feb 11, 2017 1:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
if we wait until we're ready
we'll be waiting
for the rest of our lives
  





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260 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 15020
Reviews: 260
Fri Feb 10, 2017 10:03 am
TriSARAHtops says...



Ideas, thoughts and things to be explored - an ongoing list

Instead of working on Hayden, it looks like I'll scribble down some thoughts and assorted Things in relation to this story. This is going to be the insight into my brain that no one asked for.

Also, just realised the acronym for this is LOG. Slightly easier to pronounce than ERWIKHB, Hayden's old acronym.

Hannah (mostly)
Spoiler! :
Hannah a pushover - usually left out/taken for granted, but just takes it in her stride because she doesn't want to upset anyone -->opposite to Tess in this respect, Tess' assertiveness and the fact she doesn't take anyone's rubbish is something H admires.

sees herself as boring - as result of being told so (directly? indirectly?), even though she does genuinely enjoy her quieter hobbies, wonders what it would be like to be more daring but can't imagine herself having the courage to

-"you're a nice girl" - she is told this a lot, much of her behaviour is influenced by trying the be the "nice girl" - growth through the story has to do with her shaking that off - becoming more assertive, giving things like partying and relationships a go in a way that she wouldn't have as herself (***Thing I want to look at in story is whether the girls', and people in general by extension, behaviour is because of just their personalities, or because of the expectations that exist because of their established personas. For both Tess and Hannah the switch frees them from the boxes they'd been put into, and although they're contending with new expectations, it also frees them to discover who they really are and what they want***)

still haven't settled on age of characters, but I'm thinking they've just finished high school and are about to start uni. Pretty sure I want them to be 18, but I also want to have the girls concerned with how people perceive them in a way that is more a high school thing. Like they've finished school but they're still very connected to all the same people and way of thinking they had in school

something that I guess is a theme? in LOG is sexuality, not just in a who you're into kind of way (I'm planning on that being a part of T's arc) but in H's case it's more about sexuality in a broader sense, about feeling desire and being desired (and believing that she is worthy of being desired), and the perks and pitfalls of that. I need to work on my explanations here. In T's shoes, she can start to see herself sexual being, and what that means for her

H gets on with her family very well - she feels coddled (family do a lot together, parents constantly checking up on her, etc) but finds living T's home life difficult, as T's family do not trust her, are constantly in conflict. And yeah. Insert stuff about H both appreciating being close with her family, but also having the confidence to be treated more like an adult
if we wait until we're ready
we'll be waiting
for the rest of our lives
  





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260 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 15020
Reviews: 260
Mon Feb 13, 2017 2:52 am
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TriSARAHtops says...



I made a cover! I did in like, ten minutes on my phone so I'll probably do a new one once I get a better feel for the story, but I am actually pretty happy with it! I do need to work on the dimensions of the thing.

Will do a ramble about Tess along similar lines to the Hannah one, but I've found some music that associates really well with this project, so going to leave it here.

Spoiler! :
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I first heard Girli's music through Spotify and it's just spot on for Tess in particular, but also the story in general.

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There are definitely parallels between Tess/Hannah and Rizzo/Sandy. I feel like Tess isn't as mean as Rizzo, and is a bit more cunning.


Also: link to spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/user/barking-s ... ZWv69UIWXW
if we wait until we're ready
we'll be waiting
for the rest of our lives
  








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