Author in need of help

[MaryA]

Yes, if you are convinced that you want it to be about gymnastics, I would, at the very least, spend some time talking to some girls who are involved in upper-level gymnastics. At the level you are talking about, the girls would most likely be home-schooled, so if you were planning on having them in school, going to dances on Friday nights, hanging out at the mall on weekends... well, I won't say that those things NEVER happen, but they're much less a part of their lives as they would be for a "normal" teen. My daughter is a few months from her 13th birthday and not home-schooled, not on an elite track, and she is in the gym 20 hours a week. Last Friday I picked her up at the gym so I could run her over to the middle school haunted house for an hour, and then brought her back to the gym again. She definitely has a more "normal" life than someone on the elite track would, but anyone not in gymnastics would not think it was normal, by any stretch of the imagination.

Edit to say, I would love to see a book, or series of books, for middle school/high school gymnasts. There are a few for younger girls, which my daughter loved reading a few years ago, but not so much for older girls.

 

[2G1B]

MaryA - what are the books for younger girls? I have a 7 and a 9 year old who would love to read books about gymnasts!

 

[MaryA]

The Go-for-Gold series by Dominique Moceaunu is the one that comes to mind. It seems like maybe there was something else, but I browsed Amazon quickly and nothing else jumped out at me. Recently I did let her read "Chalked Up" by Jennifer Sey (which might be a good book to read if one wanted to get a feel for the life of an Elite gymnast) though there were parts which weren't really age appropriate.

 

[Flossyduck]

Gym Stars - Summertime and Somersaults, Friendships and Backflips and Handsprings and Homework. My dd read these over and over and over and over .... She's 9 now and probably grown out of them, but 7-8 they are perfect.

 

[MaryA]

Oh yes... that's the other series DD read!

 

[2G1B]

for those Go for the Gold books - are they age appropriate for younger kids? I just read one of the excerpts and it did mention an eating disorder, which my girls know nothing about. (It also mentioned Oprah - I'd have to tell them who that is. LOL ) Both girls are advanced readers - my 7 year old has read some of the Chronicles of Narnia books and the first few Harry Potters and my 9 year old has read all of the Harry Potter series; but I just want to make sure that there aren't things that are inappropriate for kids their age, KWIM?

 

[MaryA]

It was several years ago that my DD read them. I think she was 10. Though I just pulled up Balancing Act on my Ipad and it's copyright 2012, so I guess she may have been 11. It seems like a long time since she read them, but maybe not as long ago as I thought. Well, your girls will want to read them eventually, so get the first one and read it and then decide if it's age-appropriate. I must have this series and the Gym Stars series muddled up in my head (the things muddled up in my head are outnumbered only by the things that have disappeared from up there entirely).

 

[thefellowsmom]

We just read the first two in the go for the gold series. My dd is 9 and we read together before bed as a moment of bonding since we never see each other. I love this time and so does she. We snuggle up and have an adventure together for 15 minutes a day.

We read the first of this series out loud. One of the girls does suffer from an eating disorder and the story involves portions about how this effects her gymnastics and relationships with her teammates and coach. The girl with the eating disorder is not the main character in that book (each book is a different girl's story). I thought the whole thing was handled thoughtfully and honestly.

When a book has topics that I feel warrant discussion before or while reading them I usually put them in the pile of books to read together. It worked out fine and I am always glad if there is a good segway into having these types of discussions. Better that someone else brings it up and she asks questions as this helps me frame it in an appropriate way she is ready for. But if you aren't ready for that discussion you might want to put them off till you are.

 

[MaryA]

You sound like a most excellent Mommy, TFM.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Wow! Thanks Mary. That's a huge compliment especially coming from another great mommy.

 

[flips123]

She could be warming up a double full on floor and somebody runs onto the floor in the periphery and she lands, not just TEARING her ACL, but SHREDDING it and tearing her MCL at the same time! (Honestly, the shredded ACL part came from my sister- who managed to do just that... but while sleeping. She has almost completely recovered, but the knee is still weak and she can't do strenuous exercise.)

Completely off topic but how did she manage to do that in her sleep? It must have been one crazy dream...

 

[emilykatherine]

Spotting for Nellie is a good book I'm in high school and it's about a gymnast training for the Olympics but gets in a car crashed after being drunk for a party her sister took her to and has grammatical brain injuries

 

[raenndrops]

Completely off topic but how did she manage to do that in her sleep? It must have been one crazy dream...

She just turned and bent her knee... I saw the images - it was SHREDDED! It was wicked awesome, lol!

 

[Kiwi]

The Junior Gymnasts series is good for young readers, also the American Gold Gymnasts series (though I must admit, some of the gymnastics moves described in these books sounded a bit odd to me). You can get these on Amazon.

 

[Natasha]

I agree with the others that for a gymnast with aspirations to go Elite - gymnastics is her life. It's not just an extra-curricular after school activity. If you are talking about Elite aspirations, then everything revolves around gymnastics for the girl and her family, and would have for a number of years.... It would be very hard to make it not a central part of the character's life and have it be believable.

 

[2G1B]

I agree with the others that for a gymnast with aspirations to go Elite - gymnastics is her life. It's not just an extra-curricular after school activity. If you are talking about Elite aspirations, then everything revolves around gymnastics for the girl and her family, and would have for a number of years.... It would be very hard to make it not a central part of the character's life and have it be believable.

this really is so true. All 3 of my kids are still at compulsory levels; but gymnastics is definitely a major part of their lives already. I mean, to spend 10+ hours doing something per week, you have to consider it extremely important!

 

[Eisengrim]

Thank you all very much. This is exactly the sort of information I need, and I confess I didn't expect to get quite so much good information in such a short time. You've all been incredibly helpful.

Just wanted to reassure you that I quite understand your reservations about my having a gymnast in a novel when I know almost nothing on the subject, but all I can do is assure you that I've considered this and that the plot should work as it is. I'd say more, but unfortunately I find that if I tell my plots to people before I've written a full first draft my thoughts dry up and I end up not finishing the novel. In this case, I've thought about it, and she really does have to be in either gymnastics, cheerleading or ballet. Cheerleading wouldn't work for reasons I can't explain (would be telling too much, sorry), and ballet is... well, frankly, it's a lot more of a cliché. Nevertheless, I'll be making sure not to forget that it would be her main obsession!

That being said, would you have any recommendations for good basic books (or videos) about gymnastics to explain things to the layperson?

Thank you all again for the tremendous help you've been, and I'll be sure to come back for more if I hit a gymnastic-related snag.

 

[<3GymGirl<3]

Go back and read Flossyducks post again.....that's all I have to say.

 

[GymBee97]

Personally I think there is a basic flaw in trying to write a storyline about a gymnast, when you know "next to nothing about gymnastics" and the gymnastics isn't central to the plot. I think you need to pick another sport.

The main difficulty is that gymnastics is absolutely central to every part of life for a girl who is 13 and aiming elite. You perhaps haven't realised that at that age and level girls will be training 20-30 hours (or more) in the gym every week and will probably have been doing so for a few years. Gymnastics at that level is central to pretty much every part of life by then - school life, home life, family and friends, it's all arranged around gymnastics.

The girl would need to have more than "basic talent" at that stage - good grief! I don't know much about the names in USA juniors/espoirs, but if you youtube Ellie Downie, or Catherine Lyons, or Tyesha Mattis routines this year- they are UK 13 year olds at the sort of level you are talking about. Those girls live and breath gymnastics and much of the rest of their life is just a support network for gymnastics.

I'm sorry, but I just don't think you will convince anyone with an idea of an injury and some "bluff".

Worth repeating.

All I can think of is the Make it or Break It series with drama that really isn't gymnastically a reality for any gymnasts I know of. I liked the soap opera dramas but to say it was about "real life" elite gymnasts and gymnastics ..... Um Nope.

 

[MaryA]

Maybe you could find a coach or former gymnast to be a consultant or even 2nd author. I don't think you will be able to "fake" the gymnastics part of things.