Writing from a different perspective

It's done.  At least I hope it is.

I started my book over three years ago and had two different agents request my manuscript...only to have it rejected by both.  I've rewritten this book countless amounts of times, but this time, I think I may have gotten it right.  I've been told that the market to publish in right now is young adult, but have been hesitant about rewriting my book to fit this genre.  I started rewriting my book about three months ago, flew through it, actually, and was thrilled with how easy it came together.  Characters who weren't even supposed to be in my story suddenly popped up, practically developed themselves, and changed everything.  It's almost as if they came alive.  I'm hoping that this experience makes my book feel more authentic as I come to know these characters.

As I came to a crucial part of my book--more specifically, the ending--I suddenly reached a barrier.  I was incapable of resolving a conflict that had come up.  It was a huge, daunting road block, and I had no way around it.  I lost all inspiration, and tried everything I could to clear the path.  I tried re-reading my book, trying to capture the essence of my characters to find a resolution they might come up with themselves, but suddenly, everything felt like a big failure.  I hated my characters, I hated the idea I had come up with in the first place, and I hated the whole dumb book.  Nothing worked.  I sighed, gave up, and walked away from my book for two entire months.

My husband suggested that the reason I hit a road block was because I haven't been reading like I used to do.  Maybe I might get some ideas by reading again?  But reading takes too much effort, I protested!  But...he was right.  I needed to read again.  I picked up a book called, "Woman in the Wall."  I'm glad I read it, because I was suddenly inspired with different possibilities of conflict resolution.  It felt good to read again, and get my creative juices flowing.

Now that I have been inspired, I was able to start writing again, and my story has finally come to an end.  I like where it went, and I like that I learned to brainstorm in different ways again.

As I was looking online to double check the standards of young adult fiction, I came across this really, really good site.  It's a cheat sheet that tells you how to write for young adults, and ways to make sure your conversation sounds authentic.  I figured I'd blog about it so others can take a look at it if they wanted:  YA cheat sheet

Hopefully, if everything goes the way I'm planning, I'd like to continue my story as part of a series.  I have lots of great things I still want to write about.  If it doesn't work out, there may be an upcoming blog entry on self-publishing. :)