50 Shades of Blue: The Beginning

I have made a decision. I need you to stay with me on this because I just sort of dumped the whole concept onto my computer. It's the new project I'm working on... starting two days ago. I've basically been inspired by Lindsey Ellis and her group over on Chez Apocalypse and their work on the project known as 50 Shades of Green. I did try out to be a ghost writer for the project, but I was turned down for one reason or another. It was probably for the best because I have been very busy and it doesn't look like my voice would've worked well with theirs. I have ordered the book and I will be reviewing it on this site... in stealth.

Meanwhile, here's my new marching orders for myself.

50 Shades of Blue
9/2/13
Idea:  Twilight is a Teen Paranormal Romance story about vampires.  50 Shades of Gray is a similar romance novel that was originally a fan fiction of Twilight with BDSM instead of vampires. There are now many Teen Paranormal Romance stories that are essentially “Twilight with [insert gimmick]”: Twilight with werewolves, Twilight with zombies, Twilight with witches, Twilight with aliens, Twilight with Cthulhu, Twilight with faeries, Twilight with fallen angels… I want in on this thing.
But I kind of want to do it right.
Twilight  is about a girl who has no power. Who’s life and self-worth comes from a man who sweeps into her life.  The basic lessons of the books are:
  • ·         Life begins at man
  • ·         Deeply, deeply insecure women (very deeply)
  • ·         The relationship is essentially abusive where the female saves the man from himself somehow… and it’s a good thing
  • ·         The man withholds intimacy

Therefore, in my story, the girl is powerful in her own right. She can be a completely ordinary girl, but she is a girl who is knowledgeable of her strengths and weaknesses. She’s not a cardboard cut-out who could be anyone. She’s a real person who could be someone the reader actually knows and would associate with.

Important: The love interest in the story doesn't even have to be a real love interest. He could just be the catalyst that gets the story going. Maybe have the girl demand to travel with the person and learn about time travel.

Schedule:
Week One (1 September 2013 to 7 September 2013): Brainstorm the basic ideas
Week Two (8 September 2013 to 14 September 2013): Nail down basics plot and characters
Week Three (15 September 2013 to 21 September 2013): Fully flesh out plot and characters
Week Four (22 September 2013 to 28 September 2013): Begin writing first draft
Week Eight (20 October 2013 to 26 October 2013): Finish writing first draft, distribute draft to readers for editing. Read manuscript to find any issues I may have myself.
Week Ten (27 October 2013 to 2 November 2013): Get reviews, comments and criticisms back from readers. Begin working on second draft.
Week Fourteen (24 November 2013 to 30 November 2013): Finish second draft, distribute draft to readers for editing. Read manuscript to find any issues I may have myself. Begin shopping manuscript to literary agents.
Week Sixteen 9 (8 December 2013 to 14 December 2013): Get reviews, comments and criticisms back from readers. Begin working on third draft.
Week Twenty and Forward (6 January 2014 and  Forward): Finish latest draft. Continue perfecting manuscript with help of others. Continue shopping manuscript to literary agents.

I should note that this idea was first born from the completion of the 50 Shades of Green Project. I realized I needed to light a fire under my ass. So, I had an idea to go completely along with the 50 Shades of Green idea, but with time travel as the weird/paranormal aspect. Then I watched a documentary called Miss Representation about how women's portrayal in the media contribute to the amount of women in positions of power in America today.

They had the director of Twilight on there and I felt... sick at the thought that I was basically possibly contributing to something harmful... even as a joke when someone who was actually concerned about the problem was contributing to it. So... I'm going to do a non-twist on the whole joke by trying to seriously portray something like what happened, but make it positive and hopefully appealing to the girls of the world who liked Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray. I'm going to do things like research the things I need... or use times and situations I've previously researched. A time travel story could really work for me because of my obsession with certain things... like the Middle Ages, England's history, the history of Rome, the 1940s, etc. etc.

Wish me luck so that I can follow this schedule for myself and not give it up between Week Four or Week Eight. I could use some harassment to stick to this from friends and family.

In Other News

  • The Doctor Who reviews will start up again in the next week or so.
  • I have begun Aikido classes, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.
  • I have moved into an apartment with my friend Cyn and I may be reviewing some documentaries and such.
  • I'll post my writing sample for the 50 Shades of Green Project after I read the book and add some commentary for why my writing it would not have worked.

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