So, I have heard time and time again "Young writers never make it anywhere because they haven't had life experiences" or something of the sort. Now, I am not here to rile people up about young writers, but to rather ask for help, to learn from your experience. Here goes my pitch. A man drinks alone at a bar. The story is taking place on the anniversary of when his wife leaves him. He goes on a series of flashbacks, telling a story of love found, lost, and ultimately given up on. After his flashback, he awakes in his room, in his drunken dream world he somehow makes it home. The next day, he finishes the touch ups on his novel, which is the exact story he went on a flashback of, publishing it in hope that his wife sees it. What do you think? Any advice would be appreciated!
About the first statement, I disagree. It's not age that makes a writer: it's how long you've been writing. If you're 15 but have been writing since age 5, chances are your fiction is better than someone who is 40 but never wrote a single line of fiction before today. Yes, life experiences and understanding of political/religious issues and whatnot gives you more to work with, but if you're a teenager or even an older child, chances are you know enough about the world to write a story. And, if not, you can always write fantasy -- not to say fantasy is childlike, but you've got the freedom to create your own world with its own rules rather than having to rely on real-world rules. Don't let anyone tell you that your writing can't mean anything or that it won't be good for no reason other than you're a young writer. Anyone who says that is full of shit. Your idea sounds decent. Anyone here will probably tell you to just write it, and that good writing depends on how you write it - we can't tell based on just a summary. But I'd advise you to keep an eye on the ending and make sure it doesn't get too cliche, as the "the whole novel was something the main character wrote" idea has been used before. Not to say you can't use it, of course, but be careful of cliches with the way it's executed.
Yes, it has. By me. Recently. Except mine was a "the whole novel is something the main character wrote and holy crap now it's happening to two "real" people and then the devil is crucified and the lead female is left pregnant in jail." So yeah. ZP3, I have a few things to say to you: I've said it recently that if you want to be a good writer, or even a good human being, you need to learn to validate your own ideas. I'm not going to tell you it's a good idea, I'm not going to tell you how you should write it. I will say that the "series of flashbacks" very much reminds me of Forrest Gump (and I should also mention that I very much dislike full-fledged flashbacks in fiction. It's a device that is rarely done well except in film). I also think it could do without the whole writing of a novel. That just makes him seem kind of creepy, like he's trying to turn out a dollar from his own tragedy, which doesn't make him seem very likeable from that little blurb you've given us.
Also true, you have a valid point. I really think that the ending will just end up how it ends and if it's complete crap then I will try again. But trust me, it'll be great. (validation of idea)
