McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Run away?

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meh:

--- Quote from: Shecky on April 30, 2010, 02:05:36 AM ---Sometimes, that's the very stuff that drives kids away. One of the weirdnesses of the adolescent psyche; I've seen it before.

--- End quote ---

Then a good way to segue would be for the older brother to attempt to understand that weirdness, no?

belial.1980:

--- Quote from: Exasperating on April 30, 2010, 01:38:20 AM ---Your stage setting includes some things I would put in the box labeled "contradictions".   

Sufficient reason to run away from home at 15  contradicts 'good parenting relationship', and strongly contradicts 'tightly knit family group'.   

The defining characteristic of 'tightly knit family group' is that the members very much want to be part of it.

--- End quote ---

I can use my family as a real life example. On my father's side there were 3 brothers. My dad was the oldest with a set of fraternal twins 5 years younger. My grandparents raised them very well and made sure they never wanted for anything. They were tough on discipline though, my grandfather having been a master sergeant in the army. No family's perfect but they were close and to this day they care about each other very much. My dad and the one uncle were straight laced eagle scouts who never got into trouble. The other brother was a hellion.

At 10 he and a buddy went hitchhiking for thrills. By the time he was a teen he was getting in trouble at school for skipping and underage drinking. At around 14 or 15 he stole money from his parents and bought an airplane ticket to fly from Erie, PA to California to watch an Alice Cooper concert. And that was just the early years…

But I digress. Some teenagers do crazy things, no matter how hard their parents work to build a good, stable family. My uncle's not the only example that I know of either. I think that's a fact of life.

Noey:
What was the catalyst that caused her to decide to run away now, instead of tomorrow, a year ago, yesterday, or never? The history is there, but why is she choosing to do this now? That'd be the big question on her family's minds, I think.

belial.1980:
Good insight, Noey.

The sister got in a fight at school because another girl made fun of her brother and his alleged psychological problems. And we're not talking about simple name calling; I think we all know how cruel some kids can be. She finally got fed up and went after the other girl. Neither the brother nor the parents are initially aware of the motivation for this fight. She wouldn't tell them why. She's given an out of school suspension for fighting and this leads to a huge argument with her mother. She runs off to go stay with her boyfriend, who's a few years older.

Something along those lines, where it wasn't a single event but a chain of events.
Initially I'd planned to have it happen "on stage" but now I'm thinking about having it happen a little earlier and have the older brother reflecting on the matter through flashbacks. I think. Still not entirely sure how I want to set it up but this is where I'm going with it for now.

meg_evonne:

ah, read all the posts Meg!  Yes, I think you're on the same train of thought I was thinking.  I'll leave the post in case it tickles a different thought in your head.

writing in 3rd person then as i assume the story is about the 15 year old or is it about the family left behind?  If you are primarily in the 15 yr-olds head in first you don't have to speculate.  It might be interesting to write a lot of flashbacks to previous situations that show your tight knit family, good relationships, etc and carefully select those that have a tiny hint of what eventually causes the rift.  In other words, while the 15 yr-old is running... use flashback scenes to reveal the family.  

That way the reader gets to figure out the reason for themselves, and you as well.  

Just one idea...  

On the other hand you can reverse it.  If your focus is on the family, then use flashbacks to reveal what is going to go ka-blooey in the 15 yr-old's life.  

This is an old post, so I assume you've already written it.  Challenge you to post!?!  :-)

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