Song of the Moment

Song of the Moment: "Shake it Out" by Florence + The Machine

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My Next Writing Project

During my Christmas vacation, I wrote a short story about a little girl and her experiences during the Christmas season.  My niece Abby was the main character in this story (which you can find here on my blog if you haven't read it yet).  I had so much fun writing from a child's perspective that I've decided that I want to write a children's book.  This will be quite an adventure for me, because I've never really written for children before.  What I'm extra excited about with this project, is my sister is going to illustrate it.  She has experience with water color and is very creative, so I know whatever she comes up with will be beautiful.  What makes this project near and dear to my heart is the main character will again be my niece and the plan is to have it finished by February 26th, her birthday.  I plan on giving her the book as a special gift from her auntie.  It will be something she can cherish and look back on even when she's older.

The concept for the story is in lieu of the rise in bullying at our schools.  For some reason children seem to be lacking a sense of individuality and the tolerance for a person's right to be different.  Without these morals ingrained in our children's every day lives, they can't grow up to be become teenagers and adults who are respectful of other people and of other people's decisions.  It's important for a child to know early on that uniqueness is far more superior to being "just like everyone else" and to appreciate another's uniqueness.  This will be the underlying moral of my story.

But, since children can comprehend morals more adequately when put in a story they can relate to, Abigail's Adventure in Strangeland will be about a young girl who discovers a world that is being dominated by an evil queen who wants everyone in her world to be exactly the same.  What was once a "strange" world is now a plain world.  None of its residents are allowed to stray from the path or assert their individuality.  Abigail, with help from some friends along the way, must find a way to defeat the evil queen and give the people of Strangeland back their uniqueness in themselves and of their world.

Stay tuned for progress reports of how the story is coming along.  Cross your fingers that my sister and I can get this done by February 26th!

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