I've written a bunch of chapters for my third book, though I'm still putting the finishing touches on my second. I know, I know, not too smart, but sometimes characters just won't shut up and a person just has to get writing.
My third novel is a story told from--OMG, what the hell am I thinking--four different perspectives. I've got three of the voices down, but the fourth is really kicking my derriere. Kevin is a really guyish guy--the kind of guy I never hung around with in high school, the kind of guy who wouldn't have wanted to hang with me if I asked. He's not a jerk, just so different from me, and I didn't want to fall into the trap of making a 17 year old boy sound like a thirty-something woman masquerading as one.
So what does a writer do when she's having a little trouble? She reads. A lot. And I've had the pleasure of reading these great narratives told--very realistically--from a teenage guy's point of view:
The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Destroy All Cars by Blake Nelson
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
King of the Screw-Ups by K. L. Going
Anything by John Green
Got any to add? I need all inspiration I can get...
Aaaaah thank you so so much Loretta...my next one features a male MC and I have been on the look out for a list pretty much identical to this one.
ReplyDeleteYou rocketh.
I'm gonna be kind of crazy here: The Outsiders. Rumble fish.
ReplyDeleteOh... did you want a modern young dude? Crud. I'm too old. OH! But watch the old version of The Bad News Bears. Some great unadulterated boy lingo there.
Amy, The Spectacular Now has your name written all over it!
ReplyDeleteSuzy! Of course! You can't get any better than S.E. Hinton.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I have the Bad News Bears living in my house...in just a couple of years I'll be able to steal their lines.
King Dork by Frank Portman
ReplyDeleteAnd if you haven't read Will Grayson, Will Grayson yet, DO ITTT--it's great! Lots of cool guy voices going on in there....
PS - LOVE mott the hoople
ReplyDeleteJo--I'm so in love with the cover of Will Grayson, Will Grayson! It looks all 70s-80s cop show cool. I can't wait to read it. And King Dork is the best title ever. It goes on the list.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't typing the words "Mott the Hoople" it's own kind of fun?
I have Will Grayson, Will Grayson (from the library, or I would send) and it's great guy lit. Very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThe classic moment Laura and I had when trying to write a bad boy is when we wrote that he used to smoke, but he quit. Hilarious. What 16-year-olds dude quits smoking? We might as well have put him on the patch with a side of Cialis.