The reasons for this blog: 1. To provide basic author information for students, teachers, librarians, etc. (Please see sidebar) 2. I think out loud a lot as I work through writing projects, and I'm trying to dump most of those thoughts here rather than on my friends.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Today has been busy, but I worked a little on the former GN, digging very slightly into the missing middle. I have only a general idea of some of the plot points that must be covered, but that's all. Today I was trying to think, "What do I need, in order to decide how to approach this section?" I decided that I need to zero in on the MC's character arc/emotional realizations. If I can get that in mind, it ought to help me understand some of the specific scenes that would arise, and ways to shape them.

The problem, of course, is that the MC is a girl, and I have trouble with girl characters. I know this character arc, but I guess it's so internalized that I'm going to have to work hard to recognize it in a concrete, hands-on way, and then to verbalize it.

Good luck to me, because I'm going to need it.

I wonder if girl characters tend to be less developed than boy characters in YA--if they tend to be more broadly painted? Because it sure seems like they're not allowed to have the same failings as boy characters. If they're allowed fewer or more minor flaws, doesn't that mean they're necessarily less developed?

Examples: Are girl characters allowed to lose their tempers in the same ways and to the same degree as boy characters? Are they allowed to be as close-minded? As negative? As insensitive? As horny? As judgmental? As violent?

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