To all you wonderful peeps who might take the time to help this poor individual. It's my first time on one of these forums and I have written my first full novel with a working title; ‘Non-Linear Tales of Appallingly Irresponsible School Boys’ and in short it’s summary is that it is a black comedic satire set in modern day Ireland, and centers on the rebellious students of a once prestigious Irish School. The intention when writing it was to create something that's gleefully unpleasant whilst dealing with various controversial issues without the constraints of a morality tale. By that I mean it's not educational by any means and it's filled to the brim with outright perverse characters, ranging from despicable, to witty (in my own opinion at least), sexually disturbed to downright neglectful and worse. The story comprises mostly of various sub-plots that all gradually come together in the end in a series twists, (hopefully) unexpected turns and a few anti-climaxes (because Life is also full of them and why shouldn't they go on paper sometimes?). I laughed a lot while writing it (if I wasn't hyperventilating from laughter it didn't go on the page) and grew horribly uncomfortable writing other parts (if I wasn't squirming it also didn't go on the page). I absolutely enjoyed writing every last sentence of it and never found myself slogging to get finish (I have three journals worth of material that I was very upset not to include). Somebody please tell me does this constitute a decent read or not or if this thread makes any sense and if I need to post a full synopsis I'd be more than happy to. Ta you lovely people
I'm not sure what help or advice you're looking for with this. Is it something I'd read? Absolutely. Schoolboys getting up to no good is totally up my alley.
Possibly, I've shown extracts to my other critics and one said it reminded her of Harry Potter (minus magic and noble characters) meets Trainspotting...
It's not really something that would interest me. But I've said that before about novels and been captivated by the writing and the way the story was told.
Your idea sounds like one of the best in this board. You must remember to write all kinds of emotional terrains to your rollercoaster. Sometimes there must be calm and slow between all those ups and downs. Otherwise you loose some of the effectiveness those hi's and low's have. Strong emotions tire you if you don't have rest between them. And maybe you don't want that kind of emotional inflation? And... Be a bit carefull with squirming parts. Things can't be equally balanced. Go for it! Take Rene Goscinny & J-J Sempe and their hero Young Nicholas to your reading list. And Roahl Dahl too.
Thank you! And for further reading this is my full synopsis: MARTIN DUNNE is an eccentric and aggressive young man, his best friend SHANE WALLACE is a cold-hearted egotistical sociopath. Their close friend PADDY MCCABE is a serial cheater slowly realising the error of his ways and their group cling on is DARREN ‘FITZ’ FITZPATRICK, is an anxiety ridden suicide case. The story begins at the end in a non-linear fashion with school principal MICHAEL DONNELLY attempting to crack down on the antics of the two best friends as their secondary school, St. Aarons is under fire from authorities, child protection agencies and the media for various controversies. The two most incriminating stories of their behaviour are told in flashback by Fitz during an interfiew session and take place across the entire course of the school year with various subplots and characters that gradually come together in the final chapters. This brings about the introduction to Martin and Shane’s extreme escapades involving the psychological breakdown of a student teacher MS. O’SHEA and thousands of euros worth of stolen goods in the school, the two major cases the principal is trying to solve. The two boys spend the majority of the story going to great lengths to avoid being caught but gradually start getting themselves involved in more trouble both in and outside school. What follows is great deal of partying, lying, cheating, blackmailing and stealing their way across the school-year and causing havoc for teachers, prefects and fellow students. Meanwhile Paddy comes under fire by violently hypocritical left wing feminists and an ex-girlfriend due to his inability to stay loyal to one girl at a time. He slowly begins to feel tremendous guilt when taking solace in a close female friend whilst on ecstasy during a night out, however due to some heavy misunderstandings and her expulsion, Paddy finds himself powerless on the receiving of end of disturbing allegations. Fitz a former victim of extreme online bullying, sees himself as the butt of many of Martin’s cruel jokes and is also subjected to the wrath of a bigoted domineering mother. Both situations and a petty betrayal sees Fitz start to resent Martin and thus becomes the reason the former has no qualms over telling on his friend to the school principal in the final chapters. By the end of the novel the school experiences intense scrutiny over a teacher-student affair while Martin and Shane have brutally overcome feuds, narrowly avoiding prosecution and engaging in a short lived attempt to get involved in the narcotics trade in the process. As a result of the severe misunderstandings that causes the student body to believe he is a rapist, Paddy finds himself friendless and alone and is forced to leave St. Aarons. Fitz is later called into Donnelly’s office and denies Shane’s involvement in the cases regarding Ms. O’Shea and the stolen phones and instead pins the entire blame on Martin. In the second last chapter two major plot points come together; 1.) Martin takes the blame for both Ms. O’Shea and the stolen phones. 2.) Martin successfully downplays his situation by creating even more trouble for the school by providing forged evidence regarding several disturbing sub-plots (framing somebody over the rumour of a sex predator lurking outside, online grooming of another boys sister and an obscene video that surfaced earlier on in the school year) The last chapter then reveals another major plot point and an unsettling twist that causes the story to end on an incredibly grim and bitter note. The very heart of the story is about Martin and Shane's friendship and we gradually find out more and more why they do despicable things (i.e. Shane was a victim of homophobia and an assault while Martin's mother is dead and lives with a neglectful father) and by the end it'll be difficult to choose who is worse since they both have equal points where their actions definitely hit the bottom of the barrel. One thing I tried to balance is the tone where everything is treated especially gleeful and comedically (funnily enough this tone was inspired by Horrid Henry). The only chapters to contain a serious tone are the later ones centering on Paddy as the allegations begin to surface. It draws on the dangers of false accusations and is also the only sub-plot to contain a lesson in morality as we see how it affects a real victim of sexual assault and originally I was going to make it an ambiguous case (and there is a handwritten version of it) but I decided the frustration of knowing the truth was (hopefully) more poignant because it reveals the girls involved are actually no worse than the central characters since the attack on Paddy's character is well organised and executed. Sorry for this being long, I'm not used to forums and I want to get it all out there.
Hi @Harris J Boland , and very much welcome to the forum. I am one of the Moderators here, and it's great to have a newcomer on board who has written what sounds like a very complex novel. You seem to have thought your characters through very thoroughly and have not created clichés, but have let their interactions shape the story. Sounds good to me. However, while this post is a synopsis, and not your actual story itself, this synopsis is skating a thin line—mainly due to its length. Please make sure you read the following two links, paying particular attention to posting your own work for critical evaluation. There are requirements to be met before posting your work, and you need to meet them. In general, posting work for evaluation is not allowed outside the Workshop area of the forum, and in order to post in the Workshop, you need to meet its requirements. New Member Quick Start Forum Rules In a nutshell, you need to have been a member here for two full weeks, have made at least 20 posts wherever you want to on the forum, and—this is the important one that many people miss—you MUST do two full critiques of other people's work on the Workshop for every one of your own submissions for feedback. This 2/1 ratio continues for your entire time on the forum, and is not just aimed at new members. Anyway, take your time to get to know us, enjoy yourself, and participate. Try not to focus only on your own writing, but also see what you can do to give feedback to others about their own writing, methods, concerns, etc. That way you'll become a valued member of our community, and we'll get to know YOU better as well! You sound like an interesting person with a well-developed story already under your belt. Looking forward to seeing you around.
Hi again! You might enjoy starting by creating a thread in this section of the forum, and introducing yourself to the other members. https://www.writingforums.org/new-member-introductions/ Just click 'Post New Thread' at the top of that page, and you'll be able to get going. Maybe read a few of the other introductions first, to get an idea of what our other new members have been saying to us. We have a lot of interesting new members coming in right now. A pleasure indeed.
Any book depends not on what it is about, but what it is. So you are asking if one would read about schoolboys being upto no good. The answer is yes. I recently read a book about animals taking over a farm from humans and running it. It sounds like a crazy plot but is one of the best books. If you have writting is funny and intriguing it will do well. Thats all that is relevant.
