YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

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grissomisms
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YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by grissomisms »

I'm starting this kind of as a challenge to myself but I've also wanted to contribute something cool to Al's fandom and, since I'm a writer, I thought doing a young adult series inspired by his music would probably be the way I could do that. So far I have three titles picked out and I'm going to be writing the first one for NaNoWriMo. The first one's called Albuquerque and is gonna kind of revolve around the main character's parents getting divorced and the main character and their father moving to Albuquerque where the main character falls in love and has a bunch of weird unfortunate events happen. I'm going to draw mostly from Al's work between 1990 and 2000 for this one. The second one will be more inspired by the music from the 1980s and the third from the 2000s. And eventually a fourth inspired by the 2010s.
Anyone got any references they'd like to see or any guidance to offer in such an endeavor?
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Re: YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by anthontherun »

This is a cool idea! I've never really attempted a project like this, so I can't give any advice from that standpoint, but as someone who would definitely read something like this, I would suggest going light on the references and using the songs more as springboards. A little inside "wink, wink" joke now and then is good, but you don't want to shoehorn a token "Amish Paradise" reference if it doesn't serve the story.

For something like "Albuquerque," I'd wanna know what motivates the narrator, besides a hatred of sauerkraut. Why has it always been his dream to work part-time at the Sizzler? Does he maintain a relationship with Nathaniel and Superfly after splitting with Zelda? I know you're probably going to take things in a different direction, so those aspects might not even be relevant, but anyway, I know it's kind of a roundabout way of saying it, but...I guess the whole point I'm trying to make here is (IMO) it's better to build plot points around certain songs and lyrics (e.g. the main character's love interest becomes obsessed with Eddie Vedder) than to just make a quick nod to them (e.g. the main character pointing out that his wardrobe doesn't consist of Doc Martens or flannel).

Good luck, and definitely share the results when you're finished!
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Re: YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by grissomisms »

anthontherun wrote:This is a cool idea! I've never really attempted a project like this, so I can't give any advice from that standpoint, but as someone who would definitely read something like this, I would suggest going light on the references and using the songs more as springboards. A little inside "wink, wink" joke now and then is good, but you don't want to shoehorn a token "Amish Paradise" reference if it doesn't serve the story.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I mean, I am writing the first one for NaNoWriMo so it will likely have a bunch of shoehorned references in it (first draft anyway) but for what actually constitutes the final product I'm hoping most of it will be stuff that people in the know will read and laugh but it won't immediately read like a direct reference or anything.
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Re: YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by Yup. »

I think it would be kinda cool to see something like a Yoda Chant reference, that only true hardcore fans will understand. Like maybe, something to do with the grim grinning ghosts or any other random sounds in there. ;)
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Re: YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by grissomisms »

Yup. wrote:I think it would be kinda cool to see something like a Yoda Chant reference, that only true hardcore fans will understand. Like maybe, something to do with the grim grinning ghosts or any other random sounds in there. ;)
Oooh yeah!
I hadn't even thought to do any concert references. Hmmm that opens a whole new can of worms. :D
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Re: YA Book Series Inspired by Al's music

Post by grissomisms »

I'm more than halfway through the 50k words required to win at NaNoWriMo and I'm maybe 1/3 of the way through the actual first book. Beginning to wonder how on earth I'm going to be able to edit this and have it be this great cohesive thing that won't get me sued when the time comes to publish it. It's all coming together pretty nicely and I've found myself dropping references without having to even really think about it (and they don't distract from the story at all, which is the really scary thing).
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