I just began writing the third book in my Rosemary Series of children’s books.
Since I’m trying to document the process of writing and publishing, I thought I’d share in a series of posts how the writing of the book progresses. This is the first post in that series.
In the beginning, there was only a title.
The Rosemary Series is about two girls who are involved in various environmental adventures. It is quite a political series of books for children from 6 to 10, which aims to teach them something about society, ecology, corruption, and what citizens should do to make the world a better place. There are fairies in the books, but they are not essential. The cases are always solved by the kids, not by magic or by the grown-ups.
The first book is “Nuclear!” which deals with corruption at a nuclear power plant.
The second is “Summer Island,” (Pinterest board here!) which shows the lives of Syrian refugees in a Greek refugee camp.
And the third I wanted to write about the Amazon Rainforest and its destruction.
Rainforest: Dramatis personae
It was easy to come up with the title. The titles are all short, one or two words, because they must fit on the cover in a big “Impact” font. After “Nuclear!” and “Summer Island,” “Rainforest!” was an easy choice.
I also know the protagonists and the other series characters.
- The two friends, Rose and Mary, are the same in every book. Here they are:
- Mary’s father is a priest, and in the past he was a missionary in India. He was introduced in Summer Island, and he has a role in the third book too.
- Scooter is Mary’s adopted brother from India. He’s always out to do “interesting” things, like creating all sorts of mischief, or coming up with crazy plans.
Research
Next came a phase of research. I don’t know much about the Amazon rainforest, except that it spans multiple countries, that it is one of the greatest and most important natural resources on Earth, and that it is in danger, primarily from illegal logging and cattle ranches.
This already provides a first frame for the plot.
- Mary’s dad, the priest, is asked to take over the Amazon mission for two months, until a new, regular priest can be found.
- He takes the two girls, who have their summer holidays, along. They will only stay for three weeks, then return home.
So now we’re at the Amazon. What happens?
Next I spent a few hours researching “Amazon rainforest” on Google. I found tons of information, including whole Greenpeace reports about the rainforest and its problems.
This made clear who the villain would be: illegal loggers, who ruthlessly cut down the trees for profit and terrorise the native population. I need them to be really evil, so that when the children start acting against them, the villains don’t get any of the reader’s sympathy. These are bad men, and they deserve what they get. And this must be very clear from the beginning.
Of course, we also need to get some insight into who the native people are. We need to connect with them in some way, and they will teach the children all they need to know about the situation (because the kids, having just flown in from England, have no idea what’s happening). In the Summer Island two refugee children played that role of introducing Rose and Mary to their world and their problems. Here it will, naturally, be a native child from one of the Amazonian tribes.
A little more research brought up the Yanomami people. There’s even a book from someone who lived among them: Growing Up Yanomamo. Going a little deeper into the topic, I found that they live in communal structures called Shabono, a kind of big, circular or elliptical community house. And they have a reputation for being reclusive and fierce fighters.
I’ve posted some of the more interesting pictures I found on Pinterest.
So the kids’ contact will be a Yanomami boy. How do they connect with him, given that the Yanomami don’t exactly love strangers? Of course, they save his life. At the mission hospital (so that we bring in the mission house as a setting, and Mary’s father). His father will then pick him up from the hospital, and will be grateful to the kids for saving his son. In exchange for their kindness, he will offer to show them the Shabono. So it comes about that Rose and Mary get involved as friends with the Yanomami.
The first rough outline
Now I have arrived at the first rough outline of a possible structure for the tale. Here’s the plot column of the spreadsheet outline so far:
| Arrival at the mission (fly over the Amazon) |
| The mission. The problems (gold digging, bad laws, corruption, illegal logging by big companies, taking away the Y’s land! |
| ?? |
| ?? |
| In the mission hospital, they meet a young boy from the tribe and take care of him |
| They meet his father, who is coming to pick him up, and they all talk. Father invites them to see the Shabono. |
| They visit his home: the Shabono |
| Illegal loggers approach and start cutting trees. Fight, but the Y cannot win. |
| They all discuss what to do. R&M have an idea. Instead of openly fighting, why not do it stealthily? |
| ?? |
| They steal tools and send them back to the headquarters of the company in the capital (where they are useless). |
| They put petrol into the diesel tanks of equipment. |
So there you have it: sabotage. Illegal acts. The kids are going to destroy stuff, as I think that they should. This is why we need the evil guys to be really evil and lawless. If the loggers had even a little bit of legitimacy, then the readers could rightly protest that the children should call the police, or do any of the other well-behaved things we do in our countries instead. But this is the jungle. There is no police. The only way to resist is to be cleverer. If this means destroying the logging equipment, then this is what the kids will do.
Although I’ve not yet finally decided on this. I might stop short of actual guerilla actions. In any case, the kids win, and they drive the bad guys out of the rainforest. The tribe gets their ancestral lands back. And the end, as in every book of the series, is a big party, where all celebrate their victory and their new life together.
Coda
That’s the plan for the book as of this moment, March 14, 2018. Until the end of this week, I’d like to have a more or less complete outline.
Thanks for reading, and I’d be thrilled if you’d leave a comment.
What do you think of the story?
Should the kids use illegal means to fight the villains?
Thanks for any opinions!