Starting fresh, and teen writing

First, I'm noticing that I haven't written on this blog since last year. March of last year to be exact. (cough).

I took a hiatus of sorts. My heart wasn't in it. Not the writing, not the blogging, not even reading. (cough cough).

That's all changing. Again. Bear with me. I'm inspired again, this time about teen writing. Not that I'm sure I WANT to write young adult fiction. And yet, my heart seems pulled to it. Writing is about being consistent and doing this even when you don't have inspiration (what have we learned from Stephen King if not that you have to show up at the desk and the inspiration will absolutely come, but it has to know where to find you). But also, for me anyway, I have to have that feeling about a story that makes me crazy, like I can't wait to write the next chapter to see what happens because seriously, I DON'T KNOW. I have never planned a story out. I have never had those story boards, even in my head, nor have it wrote out a storyline that simply gives me an idea of what I'm writing about. I don't even write out a little paragraph about who my characters are. They truly just show up and they show me who they are as I write.

Maybe that's not the best way. Maybe that's why I've had so much trouble and by chapter five I am lost. But what drives me with a story is the same feeling that makes me want to finish a novel:  I want to know what happens because I have grown to care about these people I've just met on pages of a book.

So, about the Teen Writing thing? An article from The Huffington Post this morning, which I'm including the link to, made me think about my own writing. I think we're either gifted to do it or we're not. And I think if we even THINK we are, we owe it to readers to at least try. These teens who write are simply doing what they love. I can bet that their first thought when they sit down to write is not how much money they could possibly make (I mean, Stephanie Meyers did it, right?) or how many writing awards they could achieve. I think they sit in the middle of their bed with Cheetos and their laptop and just start writing something they'd love to read. They write their story without too much fear of rejection, that's not on their mind yet.

This is a good plan.

Here's the HP article. Get inspired.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/beth-reeks-and-other-teen_n_2935560.html