Bonfire Masquerade- #5 NDGD/HBUB Supermystery book

[MacGyver]

And here's the text of the article from the June 2005 issue of Harper's Magazine that the previous article references. This gives a look into the writing guidelines for The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers series. Interesting to compare the guidelines with the current final product, eh?

Boys, uninterrupted.(book by Franklin W. Dixon)(Book Review).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper's Magazine 310.1861 (June 2005): p21(2). (750 words)
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Document Type: Magazine/Journal
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Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2005 Harper's Magazine Foundation
From "The Writer's Guide to Hardy Boys Rack Books," distributed to writers of the series. The books, aimed at ten- to fourteen-year-old boys, have been published since 1927 under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

Start your work by setting aside all those memories of what the Hardy Boys were like when you were young. Frank and Joe Hardy are no longer goody-goody carbon copies of each other. Each one now has a distinctive, hard-edged personality and approach to crime fighting.

Although the characters are now portrayed more realistically than at any time in the past six decades, remember that there are limits to how far they (and you)can go. At times, the Hardys experience doubts about their personal and professional activities, but these introspective moments are necessarily limited, due to the fast pace of their action-filled lives. There's nothing that could drive Frank or Joe to tears because they're too gutsy and determined to behave that way.

Dialogue no-no's include long speeches, cursing, vulgar references, and taking the Lord's name in vain (including the term "jeez"). For example:

Positive, upbeat: "Wow!" "All right!" "Great!" "Believe it!"

Negative, sarcastic: "Rats!" "Yeah, right," "Yeah, yeah," "Yuck!" "Oh, boy."

Grunts and groans can be substituted for expletives when a character is undergoing a great deal of stress or pain. So when someone slashes Frank's hand with a knife, he can say "Unnnh!" instead of "#&@*#!" You can also use a character's name in place of an unacceptable phrase. Frank can say, "Joe, you messed up," instead of, "Damn it, you messed up." Finally, despite the necessity for wholesome expletives, please omit terms such as "darn," "shucks," "goody," and positive sounding "oh, boys."

As mentioned previously, this is a modernized series, with a healthy dose of realism. This has to carry over into the types of crimes that the Hardys tackle. Without exception, these crimes should be major, modern, and filled with action. Examples include armed robbery, arson, international espionage, kidnapping, and terrorism. Murder is acceptable, as long as you restrain yourself from passing along all the gory details. In other words, someone can be shot and killed, but the reader's eyes must be averted from the resulting puddles of blood.

Each fight scene should be no longer than one to two pages. These fight scenes can include fists, knives, guns, grenades, and bombs. Descriptions of pain can be included. As with murder sequences, make sure that you don't pile on the gore. The victim of a knifing will bleed, but not profusely. Although Frank and Joe may lose some of these battles by being knocked out or captured, they will eventually win the final battle and the war itself.

Now let's move on to lifestyle considerations, starting with sex. There isn't any, not even in the Hardys stories of today. Bayport's teenagers do display a healthy interest in the opposite sex. Romantic situations, however, can never be allowed to develop beyond the kissing and hugging stage. And since Frank and Joe spend much of their time tracking down criminals, their socializing time is necessarily limited.

Two other prohibitions should be noted. First, sexual references, off-color remarks, and "mature" double entendres are prohibited. A mild double entendre such as a play on the word "dangerous" is allowable on an occasional basis. Second, no drugs. No drug usage or references are allowable, even if a character is making an antidrug statement.

Aside from the prohibitions, Bayport's teens behave like real-life teens. They spend time at parties, shopping malls, video stores, ski resorts, beaches, etc. They especially love to spend time at fast-food joints, where they gorge themselves on hamburgers, fries, pizzas, and fried chicken. Higher-class food is reserved for grown-ups.

You should stay away from overly complicated plots. Once in a great while, a flashback can be used, but check with us first. Second, every chapter must end with a cliffhanger. On the spectrum of cliffhangers, the best are those involving physical danger. Next best are perceived threats--a mysterious shadow, a scream, the sight of a gun, the earth rumbling. Last on the list is the moderately acceptable dramatic realization, such as "he's been lying to us all along" or "she's the real spy." Concentrate your cliffhangers in the former two categories, since your story should be filled with action/ adventure sequences, with leisure-time episodes as breathers between battles.

End your penultimate chapter with a major cliffhanger. The final chapter then features the villain being foiled, killed, and/or captured, as our heroes bask in glory.

Named Works: The Writer's Guide to Hardy Boys Rack Books (Book) Book reviews
Source Citation
"Boys, uninterrupted." Harper's Magazine June 2005: 21+. General OneFile. Web. 13 May 2011.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Just found a really interesting article related to this- http://www.albertmohler.com/2005/06/02/the-hardy-boys-and-the-rainbow-party/
The article is from the President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and he's comparing two a recent book to The Hardys Boys series, both of which were both published by Simon & Schuster. (Note to younger readers- this other books has a pretty lurid plot that is discussed)
         Anyway- I appreciate how he pointed out that the Hardy Boys have long been bastions for Christian values. They may not have always specifically identified as such and I'm totally sure if Edward Stratemeyer even was a Christian- but it's pretty obvious they hold to many values The Bible certainly commands as well. (Though I'm sure you could make the case for various religions as well.)
    The main thing I found interesting was the leaked guidelines for the writers- and note that this article is from 2005, so the new Hardy Boys series he's referring to must be the Undercover Brothers series. Wow- if those are the guidelines for the writers, I don't think they've been holding to all of them lately...

Thanks for the information. Yes, that's for the new series. They sure aren't following them.

And here's the text of the article from the June 2005 issue of Harper's Magazine that the previous article references. This gives a look into the writing guidelines for The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers series. Interesting to compare the guidelines with the current final product, eh?

Boys, uninterrupted.(book by Franklin W. Dixon)(Book Review).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper's Magazine 310.1861 (June 2005): p21(2). (750 words)
Hide details Show details
Document Type: Magazine/Journal
Bookmark:  Bookmark this Document 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2005 Harper's Magazine Foundation
From "The Writer's Guide to Hardy Boys Rack Books," distributed to writers of the series. The books, aimed at ten- to fourteen-year-old boys, have been published since 1927 under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

Start your work by setting aside all those memories of what the Hardy Boys were like when you were young. Frank and Joe Hardy are no longer goody-goody carbon copies of each other. Each one now has a distinctive, hard-edged personality and approach to crime fighting.

Although the characters are now portrayed more realistically than at any time in the past six decades, remember that there are limits to how far they (and you)can go. At times, the Hardys experience doubts about their personal and professional activities, but these introspective moments are necessarily limited, due to the fast pace of their action-filled lives. There's nothing that could drive Frank or Joe to tears because they're too gutsy and determined to behave that way.

Dialogue no-no's include long speeches, cursing, vulgar references, and taking the Lord's name in vain (including the term "jeez"). For example:

Positive, upbeat: "Wow!" "All right!" "Great!" "Believe it!"

Negative, sarcastic: "Rats!" "Yeah, right," "Yeah, yeah," "Yuck!" "Oh, boy."

Grunts and groans can be substituted for expletives when a character is undergoing a great deal of stress or pain. So when someone slashes Frank's hand with a knife, he can say "Unnnh!" instead of "#&@*#!" You can also use a character's name in place of an unacceptable phrase. Frank can say, "Joe, you messed up," instead of, "Damn it, you messed up." Finally, despite the necessity for wholesome expletives, please omit terms such as "darn," "shucks," "goody," and positive sounding "oh, boys."

As mentioned previously, this is a modernized series, with a healthy dose of realism. This has to carry over into the types of crimes that the Hardys tackle. Without exception, these crimes should be major, modern, and filled with action. Examples include armed robbery, arson, international espionage, kidnapping, and terrorism. Murder is acceptable, as long as you restrain yourself from passing along all the gory details. In other words, someone can be shot and killed, but the reader's eyes must be averted from the resulting puddles of blood.

Each fight scene should be no longer than one to two pages. These fight scenes can include fists, knives, guns, grenades, and bombs. Descriptions of pain can be included. As with murder sequences, make sure that you don't pile on the gore. The victim of a knifing will bleed, but not profusely. Although Frank and Joe may lose some of these battles by being knocked out or captured, they will eventually win the final battle and the war itself.

Now let's move on to lifestyle considerations, starting with sex. There isn't any, not even in the Hardys stories of today. Bayport's teenagers do display a healthy interest in the opposite sex. Romantic situations, however, can never be allowed to develop beyond the kissing and hugging stage. And since Frank and Joe spend much of their time tracking down criminals, their socializing time is necessarily limited.

Two other prohibitions should be noted. First, sexual references, off-color remarks, and "mature" double entendres are prohibited. A mild double entendre such as a play on the word "dangerous" is allowable on an occasional basis. Second, no drugs. No drug usage or references are allowable, even if a character is making an antidrug statement.

Aside from the prohibitions, Bayport's teens behave like real-life teens. They spend time at parties, shopping malls, video stores, ski resorts, beaches, etc. They especially love to spend time at fast-food joints, where they gorge themselves on hamburgers, fries, pizzas, and fried chicken. Higher-class food is reserved for grown-ups.

You should stay away from overly complicated plots. Once in a great while, a flashback can be used, but check with us first. Second, every chapter must end with a cliffhanger. On the spectrum of cliffhangers, the best are those involving physical danger. Next best are perceived threats--a mysterious shadow, a scream, the sight of a gun, the earth rumbling. Last on the list is the moderately acceptable dramatic realization, such as "he's been lying to us all along" or "she's the real spy." Concentrate your cliffhangers in the former two categories, since your story should be filled with action/ adventure sequences, with leisure-time episodes as breathers between battles.

End your penultimate chapter with a major cliffhanger. The final chapter then features the villain being foiled, killed, and/or captured, as our heroes bask in glory.

Named Works: The Writer's Guide to Hardy Boys Rack Books (Book) Book reviews
Source Citation
"Boys, uninterrupted." Harper's Magazine June 2005: 21+. General OneFile. Web. 13 May 2011.

That just confirms it. There had been some drugs statements, too! Number nine in the UB paperback series comes to mind, and the swearing. Which I won't go into, again.

[JoeHardyRocks]

What page is that on?

I don't recall the exact page number, but it was within the first 3 pages of Joe's first chapter.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I don't recall the exact page number, but it was within the first 3 pages of Joe's first chapter.

I just saw it. That's just sick. Aren't these children's books?

[JoeHardyRocks]

Yeah, but then again, it's not like the kids of today haven't heard those words before. (I'm not saying that the cursing is okay, I'm pointing out the lack of... refinement(?) kids today have..... )

[MacGyver]

Yes- and that's just the problem. The books clearly state that the intended age range is 8-12. And of course, I think kids even younger than that might read these (at least I know I was reading The Hardy Boys when I was younger than those ages.) And in any case, they're violating their own writer's guidelines. Crazy.

[JoeHardyRocks]

I guess the writer think they're appealing to the kid's desire to be.. mature? I know kids that say a LOT worse words than "hell" and they say them because they think it makes them seem older, when it actually makes them seem very crude and immature...

[MacGyver]

Yeah, but then again, it's not like the kids of today haven't heard those words before.  (I'm not saying that the cursing is okay, I'm pointing out the lack of... refinement(?) kids today have..... )

Yes, I know- and I've always hated that argument for allowing things. Just because others have lowered standards and exposed kids to things they don't need to be exposed to (and neither do teens or adults for that matter)- doesn't mean that everyone else should lower their standards too. I like to look to The Hardy Boys and think that this is one crew I can count on to not compromise on moral values and maintain the same core values they've had since 1927.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Yes- and that's just the problem. The books clearly state that the intended age range is 8-12. And of course, I think kids even younger than that might read these (at least I know I was reading The Hardy Boys when I was younger than those ages.) And in any case, they're violating their own writer's guidelines. Crazy.

I don't get it either. *shakes head* If anyone wants to write them or something, I'll throw what I think in, too. I was going to introduce my nephews to the Hardy Boys UB series. But, now, I think I'd better not.

[MacGyver]

I think I'd rather introduce kids to the Original or Digest stories. And when they're older (i.e. 11 or 12 or so to teenager), the Casefiles.

[JoeHardyRocks]

Yes, I know- and I've always hated that argument for allowing things. Just because others have lowered standards and exposed kids to things they don't need to be exposed to (and neither do teens or adults for that matter)- doesn't mean that everyone else should lower their standards too. I like to look to The Hardy Boys and think that this is one crew I can count on to not compromise on moral values and maintain the same core values they've had since 1927.

Same here, that seems to be an excuse for alot of things. Just because they've heard it/done it before, still doesn't make it right. I just get really confused when I see 10 years olds walking around with piercings, dyed hair, inappropriate clothing, obscene language, and bad attitudes. I think, what is up with these childrens' parents? Don't people have ANY moral values these days?!?

[MacGyver]

Well, I don't know about piercings and dyed hair- I guess it depends on what kind you're talking about. If that's someone's style, I wouldn't be so concerned about that (though I probably wouldn't let any kids I had do that... unless we're talking little cute earrings for a girl)
But yeah- I know what you're talking about otherwise. And sadly, many folks have not grown up with any clear moral values and are raising their kids the same way- It reminds me a lot of Judges 17:6 and 21:25.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Well, I don't know about piercings and dyed hair- I guess it depends on what kind you're talking about. If that's someone's style, I wouldn't be so concerned about that (though I probably wouldn't let any kids I had do that... unless we're talking little cute earrings for a girl)
But yeah- I know what you're talking about otherwise. And sadly, many folks have not grown up with any clear moral values and are raising their kids the same way- It reminds me a lot of Judges 17:6 and 21:25.

I second that and it's too bad.

[JoeHardyRocks]

Well, I don't know about piercings and dyed hair- I guess it depends on what kind you're talking about. If that's someone's style, I wouldn't be so concerned about that (though I probably wouldn't let any kids I had do that... unless we're talking little cute earrings for a girl)

I was talking about the snakebites, gauges, nose rings, and other random piercings... And the unnaturaly dyed hair, like jet black, emo, bright reds, etc......

[AlwaysAJoefan]

Same here, that seems to be an excuse for alot of things. Just because they've heard it/done it before, still doesn't make it right. I just get really confused when I see 10 years olds walking around with piercings, dyed hair, inappropriate clothing, obscene language, and bad attitudes. I think, what is up with these childrens' parents? Don't people have ANY moral values these days?!?

I see that all the time around town and on my bus route. I find it sad that parents will bend to the wishes of the child, even if it is not healthy for the kids. Since Dr. Spock, we have become afraid to say "no" or have any discipline in our homes.