Reading Up Reading Better
When I wrote the Mix Tape stories, I read a lot about the YA market and writing about YA. One bit of advice I took to heart was that the readers want to “read up.” That meant that 10 year-olds want to read about teens. 14 year-old want to read about high school seniors. Seniors want to read about college students.
I have been trying to write a new book for the better part of the last two years and I can’t get more than halfway through the story. I have a rough idea of the ending, but I don't know how to get there.
I listened to The Sell More Book Show podcast sellmorebooksshow.com and KM Weiland's many blogs and podcasts. I also went to see Gina Cannone at the local Barnes and Noble. They all told me the issue, but I just got it yesterday.
All readers, not just YA readers want to read up. Adults want to read about people richer, smarter, or more stylish. We say we want to read about normal people or we want to root for an underdog.
No we don’t.
Let's look at other favorites. In Star Wars, Luke isn't proficient in the Force, but he has more character than anyone. Harry Potter had that terrible scar, but it gave him insight to Voldemort.
Mix Tape knows more history than anyone. Mark in Dream Dancing, cares about Abby when no one else does. Joe in Dear Pen Pal gets paid to watch sports.
They have extra gifts or a great life.
The source of my writer's block, these months has been that I wrote about the average, you don't want to read about average. We say we root for an underdog, but we want the underdog that is still better than the average character.
The Bad News Bears, were mediocre ball players. They lost at the end of the movie. Rocky Balboa lost in the first movie. We tend to forget that.
Even reluctant heroes have special qualities, like Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. As much as Peeta Mellarch in Hunger Games could never be the hero. He could bake cakes and could use colors and design to his advantage, that was all.
So I need a special quality for my new WIP.
It's what I would read.