Dabbling in Fiction

I can’t believe it. I just wrapped up my latest round of edits after rewriting a large portion of the memoir early this year. By the beginning of July, my full manuscript will be in the hands of my new editor, Laura, for in-line developmental editing. I know she’ll be able to help guide me through the steps to take it to the next level. But it feels strange to not have some writing to work on. I find my mind churning about my next writing project.

Stephanie and I are hosting a summer writer’s retreat, and I plan to use that time (since it falls while my manuscript is off for edits) to start brainstorming my next writing project-a fiction book for either children or middle grades.

I’ve had this idea for a while, but of course couldn’t put much time into it until I go my memoir to a good place. I’ve got some notes on an app on my phone and I’ve chatted with a few friends about the general concept. I know the main character’s name and my intention with the book…or series?

So here’s the idea-a modern fairytale book that broaches topics that kids growing up in today’s world may face that aren’t approached in other storytelling. My hope is that by couching these concepts in a fairytale format, I’ll be able to help parents (like myself) have the necessary conversations with their children to help prepare them for our modern world and all of its pitfalls. The topics I’m considering addressing range from cults, cyberbullying, and suicide to homelessness and divorce. Obviously, some topics are more serious than others.

I’m sure this will be a real challenge for me, and honestly I’m not sure if I’ll ever find a way through it that stands up to the scrutiny of publishing…but I want to try. For one, these are all things I have to teach my own daughter about, and I’d love to do that in a more approachable storytelling way. This book (or maybe series if I break up each topic into a smaller kids chapter book) is for her. Even the main character will be modeled after her. My daughter’s name is Ember, and I plan to name the main character “Blaze”, a funny nickname we’d use for Ember when she was a baby. On days she was especially fussy, we’d sing a silly song we made up that went like “Blaze in the house, burning down the house”. The levity of the song helped keep us sane as new parents and Ember’s alter ego could take the blame.

While my manuscript is with Laura for edits, I plan to use the time to dig into the fiction idea more. For one, I don’t know any of the genre rules of fairytales. I assume I’ll need some magical creatures to help me make these topics more approachable for kids. But magic creatures are governed by their own set of literary rules, of which I know no specifics of. I assume I can still follow a Hero’s Journey storyline, but I’m not sure how to adapt it to a short kids chapter book length. I’m not even sure what the target word count is for that type of book! I have loads of research ahead of me.

I plan to use the retreat time to do some of this research as well as some character sketches of Blaze. How old is she? What’s her family background? Where does this story take place? For some reason, I imagine some wooded area where Blaze goes to play and disappears into her imagination. But how will I tie these real world concepts in?

Writing the memoir was easy in comparison. I knew all the characters well and already had a framework for the plot and sequence of events. Now, with fiction, there’s a whole world of possibility to explore.