Parents in the Writing Process

 

   I actually have a post for this week! *shocked!* ;P

   I was thinking about how not very many people mention this sort of thing to young teen writers, and I learned a lot about this subject that I'm going to be talking about, when I was writing Evidence for Angels.

   When I started writing, I was kind of alone through it all, and would have some friends of mine read some of my work now and then to get help, but I didn't really get serious about my books until I was in my teens.

   When I was writing Evidence for Angels, I would talk to my brother, or my mom about a scene I was having problems with, and they would listen, and give advice if they knew about something that I didn't, and that helped a lot. But, when I finished writing the book, I asked my mom to go through it, which was scary, but I'm so glad she did.

   There was actually a fair bit of romance in Evidence for Angels. Not a whole lot, but there was still some in there. My mom talked to me a lot about that, and she told me that because of the age that I was writing for, I really needed to think about them, and think if this particular scene where she blushes because his shirt is off (yeah, I didn't really like that scene, so it went away) was appropriate for teen girls.

   She helped me with another scene that got changed, and I am so grateful that she had pointed it out to me. One of the bad guys (If you don't like gory stuff, you should probably skip reading this part) got shot in a certain area (trying to keep it less gory). Mom asked if I had actually envisioned that happening in real life. I hadn't, so I sat down and pictured it happening. It wasn't a pretty sight, and I didn't want that kind of picture planted in a young persons brain, so I re-wrote the scene.

   By including my mom in my writing, she was able to guide me and keep my in our Christian views and beliefs, while still adding bits of her knowledge of the real world. And also, I had never been in a relationship, and she was able to add a lot to my very low level of knowledge, by pointing out other things.

   Our parents love us, and want to keep us safe from the bad things in the world, and yes, you have a gift that God has given you, and when your desire to write something that your parents aren't okay with comes up, my advice would be to sit down and talk with them. You could write down your story idea, tell them about it, and then ask 'is there a way that you can help me write this, according to both our views?'

   Being rebellious will not help matters. It shows a childish behavior, and pulls you away from your parents.

   Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. This used to be me. *grimace*

   And also, by involving your parents in your writing, one: you draw closer to them, two: you'll learn things, three: your writing will probably turn out really well. ;P

   So, there's what I've learned about the rarely touched factor of involving parents in the writing process. :)

   I hope you learned something, and feel free to leave a comment with questions. :)


                                                             
                                                                      Keep writing!