Young Writers Society

I'm writing a fantasy trilogy. The first book is about the parents when they were young adults, about 18 years old. The other two books are about their kids who range from ages 5 to 13. Now I'm thinking this might be a problem for the audience. Usually as a series go on the characters get older and the the readers can grow with them. However this trilogy is totally opposite. Do you think this can work?

There have been series in the past that followed several generations that have worked, so it definitely could work. Even if there hadn't been, if it's the best way you can tell your story, then go for it. See what happens, and if things don't work out, there's always the option to rework things.

I've seen books follow a whole kingdom's timeline instead of individual protagonists, and sometimes that includes kids. Still rather popular.

Overall, seconding Kyll. If it's the best way to tell the story, and execute it well, then it shouldn't really matter. Also, since you still have teenagers in there, it's YA.

I don't know, the Harry Potter books and movies started out very kid centered and as it went on started getting more and more mature. If you're working on a fantasy story, then there's no mode of transportation to quickly get your characters from one settlement to another. Travelling takes a lot of time, and if you want to keep continuity you're going to have to account for the passage of time anyway.

My book's world is huge and in the first book my character needs to get from one side of the country to the other, and the country is about the size of the U.S. I devised a way to make travel a little quicker, but it'll still take him from the middle of autumn to the middle of winter to make the whole trip, maybe even longer. The characters in my book are around 17-19 years old when the story starts, and I know before the story comes to an end they'll be well into their twenties.

I believe the trick for you will be to find a way to find a way to make the transition between the years keep from breaking the flow of the story. For me I simply keep the story flowing as it is, and when there's a significant time lapse during my character's trip from, say, one town to another, it happens between chapters and I mention how long they had been on the road somewhere near the beginning of the chapter when they reach their destination. Also, as time passes I sometimes include a date beside the chapter name, like: (name of era) (year) mid-autumn, or late summer, etc. It's a little something to let the readers keep track of the passage of time. It'll come in really handy in the second book when I'm switching between the main character in his current journey and another group of characters whose events unfold around the same time as the events for the main character in the first book. Find a way that works for you.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to go for it! And I'll keep those transition tips in mind, Dynamo.

The Noughts & Crosses series are a good example actually