Howdy! I recently had a rough week in school and missed out on a "B" in one of my classes by 0.33 points and the prof. is strict about curving. Anyways, I was writing a journal entry (writing cures everything) to calm myself down and I got the idea to write a novel (or short story). I want to write about an always undersized child's rise to the Collegiate basketball level. I know this may not be most of your preferred genres but I believe y'all can help me with one of my primary concerns. As I was brainstorming ideas I immediately found myself having trouble trying to establish transitions for the different ages of this fictitious character. I'm worried that the reader will be confused as to why all of the sudden I jumped from youth basketball all the way to Jr. High. I'd appreciate any help y'all could provide me! Thanks!
It depends on what the story line is - why the child's rise to college basketball is a story the reader wouold want to read. Did he or she overcome a childhood illness? Difficult family situation? The answer to these and the questions that naturally follow from them (what illness? what family problems? when did they occur?) will determine what level of play you start with. It's not necessarily a problem to go from youth sports to junior high. One of the things you'll want to avoid is spending valuable wordcount on a part of the child's life simply because you feel you have to account for the time. Using chapter breaks or similar organizing devices allows you to devote one part of the book to one part of the child's life and then skip ahead. If you do skip ahead, then you can always slip in some backstory along the way (not too much, mind). OTOH, if there is a continuing vital story to tell from youth sports to junior high to high school to college, then you can do that. But don't feel you have to if the story doesn't warrant it. You may want to look into how youth basketball has evolved, and also how competitive it is for someone to play Division One college basketball. There are numerous "academies" that are really basketball factories to give kids a leg up in being recruited. Alternatively, you may want to have your MC play Division Three or NAIA basketball, where there are no scholarships. Good luck.
Transitioning is a scary thing, but you can handle it. Either give your story a narrator to guide the reader, keep an established timeline, or write it like your character is giving a memoir of the tale. Be creative, be brave and most of all... Keep writing!
As Ed said, you want to focus on the motivations and the MC's life. Avoid spending huge chunks of scenes simply describing practice, game play etc just for the practice and game play itself.
One of the best things you can do is read other books in which similar transitions take place, and study how other authors handle it. You will undoubtedly discover several strategies that way.
Worry about the story right now - character and plot. Transitions are relatively easy to do in their most basic form, and as you feel more comfortable with your writing you can try more complex, more satisfying means. For now, just include a date/location stamp as each section starts. ie "State College - December, 2005" "River City - June 13, 2007". -Frank
With my zero or first drafts I have a character who never makes it into a subsequent draft. Her name is Millie the Fairy - she has a magic wand and zaps my characters where I need them to be, when the transition isn't working. When I know how my story is going, where it is going etc I find it easier to put in appropriate transitions. Quite happy to lend you Millie lol she is having a rest right now as I am working on a later draft
To me she is totally invaluable lol One day I may give her a story maybe just a piece of flash fiction. She just appears has a chat with my characters asks them where they want to go and takes them She allows me to write a draft really quickly. Beauty is she works in any genre not just fantasy - I use her in historical fiction and general fiction.
LOL - I never thought of personifying my "SOMETHING MORE HERE" notes. I'd just love to meet Millie! Does she do any moonlight work? But seriously, that seems a great idea. I'll have to try it sometime. -Frank
