Author needs help with legacy info

[minDyG]

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

I think that is a good story line idea, but just like the rest of the posts in this thread, in real life this girl would eventually get caught!

And I'm sure in the book she would/will eventually get caught, thus creating a plot.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by minDyG

And I'm sure in the book she would/will eventually get caught, thus creating a plot.

OMG, do you mean rising action, a climax, everything?

OP: Why do you want to write a book about something you don't know about? Surely there are things you have more experience with that would make compelling literature.

All others: The Hazing Meri Sugarman series is a great example of an author writing about something she does not know. The main character gets into the most popular house on campus because she is a legacy and is brutally hazed. You can't know how many high schoolers have asked me about whether particular scenes from these novels really happened to me or other Greeks. At least with Epsilon Zeta, Jock Young really is Greek and knows what he's writing about... even if some of it seems crazy, you know there has to be some truth in it.

[banditone]

You girls crack me up. I love when you go off on your tangents and just run with it.

You practically wrote the book for her in 2 pages of posts

[adpiucf]

How is a "geeky" girl (I'm taking that to mean "socially awkward") going to receive an invitation to sorority membership? The sororities interview prospective members to see if they will fit in with the general culture of that group.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

How is a "geeky" girl (I'm taking that to mean "socially awkward") going to receive an invitation to sorority membership? The sororities interview prospective members to see if they will fit in.

Her name is Jenny Smith, and there are 5 other Jenny Smiths rushing. One is the state homecoming queen, a varsity cheerleader, blonde, petite, and has a twin that just joined at a private school not far away. They really want that Jenny Smith but they bid the Geek instead.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Her name is Jenny Smith, and there are 5 other Jenny Smiths rushing. One is the state homecoming queen, a varsity cheerleader, blonde, petite, and has a twin that just joined at a private school not far away. They really want that Jenny Smith but they bid the Geek instead.

Fab!

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Her name is Jenny Smith, and there are 5 other Jenny Smiths rushing. One is the state homecoming queen, a varsity cheerleader, blonde, petite, and has a twin that just joined at a private school not far away. They really want that Jenny Smith but they bid the Geek instead.

Ohhh, I see what you did there....

[Stephanie Hale]

Thanks to all of you who have given helpful suggestions. I really love the idea of her claiming to be a legacy of a founder. Of course, she is going to get busted in the end and this would make her fall a little harder.

As a writer I like to challenge myself by writing about subjects/experiences that I haven't personally experienced. While I will never know the intense bond that sorority members share, my hope is that I am a skilled enough writer that I can portray it genuinely enough for my reader. This isn't my first book, when it is complete it will be my fourth. My publisher gears my books toward 11 + up and even though I could fudge everything, I would like the experiences to be as realistic as possible.

As for the Meri Sugarman books, which I love, I think the author does a pretty good job creating a unique sorority(although obviously not realistic), especially since they are all written by a man.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Her name is Jenny Smith, and there are 5 other Jenny Smiths rushing. One is the state homecoming queen, a varsity cheerleader, blonde, petite, and has a twin that just joined at a private school not far away. They really want that Jenny Smith but they bid the Geek instead.

That really happened with one of the sororities on my campus! There were two girls with the same name and they reallyreallyreally wanted one of them but bid the other instead. We got the one they wanted and, looking back, I wish they had gotten her!

This way back before myspace and facebook, though (hell, it was before the Internet, ok?!?! ), so I'm not sure if that could happen today.

[NUBlue&Blue]

I might have posted this before, but I know two girls from college who were from the same town (with only one HS), had gone to school together since kindergarten and had the same first, last and middle names. They grew up being "Nancy Pink" and "Nancy Blue", later one had short hair and the other long, so they were "Nancy long" and "Nancy short" and finally pledged different houses in college. I wonder how you know you got the right one? I guess by social security numbers back in the day before computer rush?!

My maiden name was also common, and there were at least 4 girls, including me, with the same first and last name when I was in college. Only one was greek, but she was in one of the sororities that I preffed. Luckily I got my first choice, but people would call and say...do I have the Kappa or the Gamma Phi?

The bad part of having a common name before the computer age...one was kind of slutty, one never paid her bills...so I always got LOTS of interesting phone calls!

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

That really happened with one of the sororities on my campus! There were two girls with the same name and they reallyreallyreally wanted one of them but bid the other instead. We got the one they wanted and, looking back, I wish they had gotten her!

This way back before myspace and facebook, though (hell, it was before the Internet, ok?!?! ), so I'm not sure if that could happen today.

Hmmm... I think I know which sorority that was! I think I know which PNM that was!!



(thanx for the siggy, Sweet KR!)