tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post1257401586011239573..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: Real Life Diagnostics: Is This Idea Worth Pursuing? Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-21455045290845173442019-10-12T14:55:50.393-04:002019-10-12T14:55:50.393-04:00Okay, now this will be fun...
My question, after ...Okay, now this will be fun...<br /><br />My question, after Janice and Ken's great comments and thoughts was: why was the library cursed in the first place? Is this part of an ancient rivalry with another coven? Is there a special book, talisman, etc. in the library that needed protection -- or is the library on sacred ground that allows powers to be gathered there? Do the witches connected with the library all have special powers to live through any of the books? Is the great-great-great guiding the MC to certain books? And once within those books, does the MC meet certain characters who have clues to achieving her goal? <br /><br />This concept seems to have endless, fun routes to take -- and to be more than a single book, of course!<br /><br />Good luck and come back when you get started please. :O)Maria D'Marcohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07909374867721777133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-77996239824717140322019-10-12T10:54:01.002-04:002019-10-12T10:54:01.002-04:00I love this. I love seeing a core idea that works,...I love this. I love seeing a core idea that works, and so many elements around it that add to it. There's no question that there's a great story in here, worth searching for.<br /><br />The key to it might be the balance between the world of the books, the struggle with the witches, and the rest of Taylor's life.<br /><br />The books: Taylor can enter books and that’s certainly your central coolness, so how much of the storyline is in those stories themselves? Is there a side-plot where she's trying to change the course of one book to help her friends in it -- that struggle might even reveal the keys to her outside struggle (has her great-great-grandmother been hiding in that book?). Or it might be a strong but general presence: a friend in the books she keeps visiting as a big sister, or how she goes to an adventure book for fighting lessons when she's bullied. It's a matter of degrees: how much does the world inside the books take up your story's time, and how much does it affect the action outside the books?<br /><br />Then there's the witches and/or the closing of the library, the obvious physical battles. I'm assuming the witch's curse is still dangerous: how is it spreading and threatening what (someone in the books, or Taylor’s life and family, or the town?), or at least holding something prisoner? Is it causing the mayor to close the library, or does the mayor have his own petty reasons and his decision is simply worsening Taylor’s magical troubles? This is a classic plotline (or two) you can take in any direction you want.<br /><br />(And I agree with Janice: there should be a connection between her magic and the library itself. Endangering the library actually matters less if Taylor can enter any book anywhere—unless she can only enter books (and photos) that are part of that library’s collection. That would make sense, if this began with her ancestor casting a spell on that library. If you don’t go that way, you’ll have to create more tension with how the curse endangers people’s lives or might take away Taylor’s power.)<br /><br />And the rest of Taylor’s world. You present her as someone with an isolated, sad life except for her power, but just what potential does she have there? You probably shouldn’t have a whole town of unreachable yokels—it’s unrealistic and unfair. So what people does she have some hope of befriending, and who does she end up connecting with, whether it’s adults or kids? How in particular do they get in her way in the meantime? What about the creatures YA loves to neglect, her parents, including their own interests in the library and the family magic? (See Mythcreants’ https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-ways-to-handle-parents-without-killing-them/) You’ve defined this story by how Taylor has nothing except her magic books, but what are the other parts of her life really like, and how will they and the rest of the story change each other? You probably want a happy ending that’s a happy medium between book magic and at least one human friend. (But not “she has to give up her magic to save a friend, because real people need people more than books.” Yuck—we need both!)<br /><br />This concept is simply beautiful, and your ideas have you well on the way to seeing a complete story that would be at home on anyone’s shelf. Go work the rest out!Ken Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02732164204232936705noreply@blogger.com