Queering the Norm by magnifique

[magnifique]

hello

I'm at work so this is about to be a shoddy first post but please accept my apologies for that. it will be spicier in the future. 

THE PROJECT: Queering the Norm
THE GENRE: Queer/LGBT YA Fiction
THE POINT: Gem, a 17 year old genderqueer person (they/them), is struggling to find community and connection when surrounded by straight/cis friendships. The summer before their senior year, when everyone in their core friend group is gone, they stumble upon a queer-based activism group, show up, and find a 'family' like they've never known.
THE GOAL: I wrote this last year for NaNo, it was a rough draft but I really liked this concept and I got a lot of positive feedback on it as well, so we're going in for round two as this is a novel I would eventually like to publish. 

 

I'll add a second post when I get around to it fleshing out a little bit more of what the story is about + the characters, it's mostly about found family not so much coming out or accepting yourself - Gem is out to their parents, and their friends, it's definitely not a problem, but I specifically avoided those tropes because I wanted to write something a little bit further along the acceptance + coming out + queer journey.

 

/finger guns - I'll be back

 

edit: oh yeah if it wasn't obvious this is original fiction!!!! 

[victoria_anne]

Ahhh, Julie! This sounds amazing!  I know you're coming back to most more details, but I just have a couple of questions for now!

1. Are you changing much from the original draft?

2. What are some of the challenges you think you'll face when writing this novel?

3. How much of yourself and your own journey are you writing into the characters?

I can't wait to hear more! 

[Darling_take_off_the_mask]

Julie!

6 hours ago, magnifique said:

I'm at work so this is about to be a shoddy first post but please accept my apologies for that. it will be spicier in the future. 

I’m here to help make your Nest spicy.

So this is a continuation and/or rewrite of a previous project! Did you complete the draft last year, and how long is it already? How much of an overhaul is this project this time around? Major rewrite or more like intensive revising/editing? What’s been the most challenging aspect of this project so far? What parts of the story are you changing the most?

When you get a chance, can you tell us about the other major players in this story?

What’s Gem like? Where do they live? What do they like to do for fun? Dog or cat person?  
 

[magemadi]

Hi Julie!! How exciting that you’re going to be using NaNo this year to edit/write draft 2 of your novel from last year! The premise/summary (I suppose summary fits better since you’ve already written it…) is so cool and I also like that you consciously made the choice not to start with the coming out aspect of Gem’s story -- it sets this fiction apart from a lot of stuff already out there, and I think it’ll make that much bigger of a splash when you get to publish it for real.

I’m curious what the “major” conflict is going to be for Gem, as it’s not super clear to me from the summary, but I’m sure whatever you’ve come up with is great! Good luck with NaNo, dearest!