Young Writers Society

Hi~ It's been a while since I the last time I was here. Things got in between and writing fell to the background once again, but I'm trying to pick it up again. The only frustrating part is that I have a writers block, an issue.

The story I'm writing is based on multiple main characters, 3 of which are based on a real person, me included. These 3 "personalities" were invented 10 years ago and served many purposes in our life. After I discovered that making them alive through animations was impossible due to lack of skill I resorted to writing their stories rather then making them visible, which eventually lead to my current story. The only problem I have now is that, while I got 10 years older, those 3 "personalities" remained the same age (14-16 yo).

I'm finding it hard to continue my story because it seems to become a bit childish. It's not a kind of story that my 20-30 yo friends would like to read, but I have no idea how I can improve the story. Should the characters become older so they are easier to relate to or could the story itself be not interesting enough to read? Has anyone experienced an issue ike this before?

You can change your market.

While it appears childish to you, it likely wouldn't be childish to somebody the same age as your personalities. If you try to get into the mindset of writing a YA, instead of an adult novel, you might have an easier time writing the story?

My key advice would be to start a brand new project. There was a reason you stopped writing, and jumping back into an old project that you struggle to relate to and find interesting is going to drop you right back into a pit of angst.

You've changed, so have your ideas and influences, and it would probably be best to go for a whole new venture. It can be hard, but just leave the old stuff in the cupboard and when you've got into the swing of things you can dig it back out again.

On the other hand if you choose to stick with it; you don't have to be a child to read a story about children. There is a reason childhood biographies sell so well, and I can think of plenty of best selling GF novels with children as the main characters.

As far as simplicity and maturity is concerned then having younger characters with a high level of emotional intellegence is exactly what teenagers need. It's someone they can relate to, who can express their thoughts in a way that both they and those around them can understand.

However if you wrote it when you were that age I expect it would seem quite childishly written.

I'd recommend picking it apart to the bare bones. What's the theme? The characters and their motives? The overall story arch? Take those and build up from there but add in all your new wisdom and experience into it.

I think you should stick to what you can write. If you deem it too childish, then change the age. However, only do this if you're sure you can drive the story with your new set of profiles. See, some writers who drastically change one aspect from a character get a hard time driving the story.

In my opinion, though, your choice of audience depends not on age, but the plot. For example, The Catcher in the Rye's main character, Holden Caulfield, is but a teenager, but the complex plot of the story targeted adults. The result? The book appeals to both age brackets. Another example is Out of Oz, by Gregory Maguire. The main character is a ten year old, but the narrative itself is a bit highfalutin, this only adults can enjoy the beauty of its hard-to-read prose. What I'm trying to say is that there are more aspects other than the characters' age that determine your audience.

And of course, one of those determinants is your choice.