Lovely topic for a first post, isn't it. *waves* I've been lurking for a while.
Anyway, I have a book-length story that I'm probably more than halfway through, which I started because it seemed like a good idea at the time, or at least an amusing one to write. Problem is, it seemed like it had a good ending at the time too. The plot, such as it is, is fairly basic: FMC is a 16-year-old girl who, in a burst of teenage stupidity, runs away from her little Midwestern town by hitching a ride with MMC, a 19-year-old friend who was on his way to the East Coast anyway. Her mother and stepfather (father is long gone) are understandably upset, and the problem is that they're trying to get her to come back, and drag whatever law enforcement they can into it. Doesn't help that her friend isn't fond of the whole law-abiding thing, has ties to the Mafia, and is a legal adult wandering around the country with an underage girl he's not related to; he's really the easier target, just harder to catch.
When I started writing, I planned for a decisive ending, and that meant that FMC needed to concretely break free of her parents' control, legal and otherwise. They aren't going to be talked into it (besides, that feels like a cop-out, to end with a nice long talk and have the antagonist change her mind) and she's too stubborn to give up and go home (another let-down of an ending). So what I initially planned was that her friend proposes a marriage of convenience (though they do end up together by the end) - by marrying him, she is no longer her under her parents' control, he's much less controlling, and she can even divorce him once she hits 18 if she wants. Then the sequel can be what a stupid idea *that* was. But I digress.
The problem: I set it in the modern era and didn't do my homework. See, the only way a teenager can get married these days is if their parents OK it. And that obviously isn't happening. In a few states, if the girl is pregnant (and 17, which she would be by then), no parental consent is needed. The current plan is then to get her pregnant. But the MCs, teenage as they are, are not that dumb. I know it could happen accidentally... I'd just rather it not. I was kind of hoping to write a story where the teenager actually *did* make it to freedom, not another "don't trust older boys" story, true as that message apparently is (when you can't get around it even in fiction? I mean really). And having a kid at 17, even if she did use the marriage way away from her parents, does not really scream liberation and success.
So my question is, can anyone think of some other way for a teenager in this day and age to, without legal help (deliberate legal help, anyway), cease to be under their parents' control? Ideally decisively? Her parents are determined; she isn't going to be able to just fade into the background (which would also be quite anticlimactic).
That was way longer than I thought it would be.
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60,560 / 50,000
Mayo 8, 2008 - 05 51
Run to Mexico and change their names. I mean, getting across the border will be hte hard part, but once they get across hte border, stop as a drug store and get soem ahir dye and scissors. CHange their apperances and then have them start giving a new name for themselves as they progress south. THe trail will be so convoluted adn so cold that it would be really difficult to track them.
----------The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everyone else.
- Umberto Eco
50,084 / 50,000
Mayo 8, 2008 - 11 38
I don't know how feasible this is, but if the guy isn't very law-abiding anyway he might have a friend who could forge legal documents for them. If they want to be legally married, he might be able to forge documentation indicating early pregnancy, so they could use that in court to marry.
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Mayo 10, 2008 - 17 23
Unless things have changed, and they may have, kids at least seventeen years old can get married without parental consent in Lousianna. The older sister (age seventeen at the time) of a friend of mine ran away with her middle eastern (and much older) boyfriend and they went down into Louisianna and were married. THis was some 25 years ago so you should check into it, but it may still be possible.
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Mayo 11, 2008 - 02 07
One way would to end on a bit of a cliffhanger, especially if you are already planning on a sequel.
So the goals are:
- have the MC's (specifically the FMC) be free from parental control
- have the FMC be "free as a bird" so that she can leave the MMC or go home or go anywhere if she chose (no baby)
- provide adequate resolution to the story so it stands on its own
The only "obvious" solution that I can come up with would be for them to "go on the lam" so to speak. If you go with the proposed "change identity" idea then that's entirely do-able in this day and age (especially if the MMC is legally shady) but since this is the information age, it's not really workable.
It depends largely on how far they travel and where they go. If the majority of the story takes place in one state of mainland USA then it makes things *slightly* easier. If they travel clear across the country then they are leaving more 'digital footprints' by which they can be tracked.
Ways to live "off the grid":
- Live on a farm. If they end up finding a kindly family or commune to take them in then they can get food, shelter and clothing without needing to spend money or get a job.
- Live in a place they don't have a title to (either by squatting in an abandoned building or living with a friend / acquaintance). If they are living somewhere they don't have their names down for, then all they need to worry about is to get cash in hand jobs in order to make money. However, they can't have bank accounts that they use as they are too easy to track (especially for law enforcement or bounty hunters) and they have to be fairly sure of the place they live in order to have large sums of money (maybe a months worth at least) lying around.
- Steal new identities. Forged identities are too easy to discover as being false, but being able to use someone else's identity (even if they are still alive) is easier to get away with in the short term.
From the other side of the page, the mother (antagonist) has a variety of ways of tracking where the FMC is, more if she has money. Locating someone (especially if they regularly use the internet or have a bank account that they use) is very easy, or at least where they have been. If the MC's keep moving around then they can stay ahead of the followers, but will be burning money much faster than if they stay in one place.
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Mayo 13, 2008 - 20 35
Thanks everyone! I *think* I have a way to end it now - a combination of switching appearances and going off the grid; I think the marriage idea is too complicated to work without sounding like a lawyer (stupid modern era). Then the romance sub/secondary plot will be the one that ends with a flourish. Thanks again, and if anyone does have any other ideas (for the mom's side too; details are good even if it's all in the girl's POV), I'm always happy to hear them.